I have recently been offerd a position with a company and they are doing a background check with my past employers. Passed the physical/drug screen. The problem I'm having is that the dates on my resume don't coincidie with my actual dates according to previous employers. Will this result in them rescinding their offer or am I panicking and over thinking too much?

I've been with my past emplyer for almost 7 years now and the two previous jobs date back to 1999. I tried my best to recall the dates from that long ago but obviously I was incorrect.

How far off are they? Generally I don't put dates on a resume, but month and year. If the employment is more than 5 years previous I might even just put a year.

We can't answer how the variance will affect their perception of you and, in turn, the offer. They may view this, at best, as sloppy record keeping and wonder if that carries over to your job. At worst, they may feel you were falsifying data and you know how that will look. Or they may just chalk it to faulty memory from long ago.

A lot of times when I help people with resumes, especially with functional/skills-based ones, I don't even put dates on, but let that be a topic for the interview. All the resume is supposed to do is tease and intrigue them enough so you get an interview. It isn't supposed to be a perfect record of your work history.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

How far off are they? Generally I don't put dates on a resume, but month and year. If the employment is more than 5 years previous I might even just put a year.

We can't answer how the variance will affect their perception of you and, in turn, the offer. They may view this, at best, as sloppy record keeping and wonder if that carries over to your job. At worst, they may feel you were falsifying data and you know how that will look. Or they may just chalk it to faulty memory from long ago.

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Ok, let me give you the break down so you have the info I'm dealing with.
According to my resume it shows as follows...

Current employer----March 2004-present (it's actually March 2005-present
2nd employer---------Sept 2002-March 2004 (it's actually April 2004-March 2005)
3rd employer----------Feb 1999-Sept 2002 (it's actually Feb 1999-not sure of my exact quit date) Now in regards to this I talked to my old boss there and he is going to verify, when they call today or tomorrow, that my end date was April 2004 so it all matches up according to the correct timeline that was already verified. Obviously that's a big gap to make up but he will verify those correct dates with the service when they call. We're talking 8-12 years ago in regards to this job.

Thoughts? Opinions?

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Originally Posted by twanster

Current employer----March 2004-present (it's actually March 2005-present

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This one bothers me the most. It looks like you are inflating your time with your present employer and it should be info you knew accurately.

Then the other dates look like you were just trying to show no gaps. If there is another viable candidate, I would withdraw the offer.

I also asked my HR Mgr for her opinion and she had the same response.