Quick Resume Question

So just wanted to get peoples opinions on this, back in 2011 I left a sales job in February and decided that I was never going to work another sales job again. At this time I thought I really didn't have any hope of getting into IT until I was done with my AAS degree. After completing some work at home I went back to work in May of 2011 after debating 3 different non IT job offers. It wasn't until I got to that position that I realized I could indeed pass the A+ and that working this customer service job was really just a waste of time. So I passed the A+ in July and was able to land a NOC role in August of that year.

My question is should I take that customer service job off my resume now? I still go back 5 years on my resume, but if I took that job off I would have a gap of employment at 5 months instead of 3 months. However, the only real thing I can list for this job I took in Customer Service was that I just trained for 2 1/2 months because I never even got to my real job duties since their training was really disorganized. My theory is that if I take it off I can indeed say that hey I made the jump right into IT without having to explain why i dove back into something non IT related and than went to IT. However a 5 month gap looks worse than 3 month one. If anyone has any insight it would be greatly appreciated!

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Comments

NetworkVeteran

If you feel your story is stronger without the 2-month job, I'd remove it. I don't personally see much difference between a 3-month gap and a 5-month gap. Either way, you may have to explain what happened to the previous job, why you didn't/coulldn't get a new job immediately, and whether your skills deteriorated from the idle time. That last concern is now irrelevant since enough time has passed and you have been working. A gap is not anathema if you have a good explanation.

Keener

Don't forget that you passed your A+ during the gap. Doing something productive like learning new skills, giving back/volunteering and similar activities are good gap fillers. They help show that you just didn't sit around and do nothing during the break. You bettered yourself on your own which employers like to see as well.

I agree with taking it off your resume as well.

baseball1988

You can put those customer service skills down on your resume. Customer service skills is part of IT Support.

If that job was a short period of time...prepare to answer "Why did you leave that job?"

Nemowolf

I put my customer service skills but not so much the jobs anymore because the soft skills learned in doing customer service type jobs is critical to show that you know how to provide service with a smile. Depending on the format of your resume, i would find some way to highlight that you have X number of years of customer service under your belt.

kurosaki00

I have sort of a year "hole" in my resume
it was my suckfest year where I worked in call center for a phone company and I also sold phones at some other job
before landing my current job

I dont really list those jobs in my resume, I just list that I studied for certifications (and got A+ and N+)
Ive had like 3 interviews recently and only one asked me about that period
after I told me he was like oh ok ok and we kept talking about something else

I think if you want to write it do it, if not dont.