It is not uncommon for jobseekers to have taken numerous short term contract or temporary roles whilst waiting for that perfect job opportunity, especially if you’ve just finished studying, but how you handle them in your CV is important.

We discussed in an earlier blog entry that your CV is your “marketing tool” (Is there a “right type” of CV? – http://www.wh-employment.co.uk/blog/career/the-right-type-of-cv/) and not somewhere to list all of the positions you have had in the past, so what is the best way to handle these short term positions and convey your flexibility, transferable skills and experience in a beneficial way to future long term employers? Here are a few of our tips:

Be truthful – you may be tempted to “leave out” your temporary positions from your CV altogether so as not to appear to be a “job hopper”, however this should be done with caution. It is better to explain career gaps rather than lead future employers to use their imagination.

Think format – including specific dates for roles may make short term positions appear to be more noticeable, however using a month and year format, i.e. March 2012 is just as acceptable.

Bring it together – if you have been in a number of short term positions over a certain period, reference them in one area of your CV; for example:

Commercial Temporary Work: White Horse Employment, April 2012 – August 2012

Various office based positions including, Customer Service Executive, Office Administrator, Data Entry Executive.

When looking at short term positions, it is essential that you remember you are “selling yourself”, if you have held a temporary position that is relevant to the position you are applying for, leave it in, if it’s not relevant and you need to make your CV more concise, remove it.

Remember – short term positions go a long way to improving your skill set, so focus on the benefits that temporary work brings.