Beginning and end dates of work over 15 years ago: Importance of accuracy?

[Gauss44]

First of all, I wasn't working that long ago, lol! I am asking on someone else's behalf. This is for the AMCAS application. Applicant is having difficulty remembering and figuring out what those dates were and may need to guess.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

You don't have to remember. Have them call the HR departments and ask. They typically keep those records for a long time.

 

[Mad Jack]

You don't have to remember. Have them call the HR departments and ask. They typically keep those records for a long time.

Several of the places I worked for went out of business lol. I mean, at this point I could claim I was regional manager and no one would be any the wiser.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Several of the places I worked for went out of business lol. I mean, at this point I could claim I was regional manager and no one would be any the wiser.

I mean at that point, you just have to estimate and list yourself as the contact unless you kept in touch with someone who knew you at the time. *shrug* I don't think it's that big of a deal unless you're grossly misrepresenting yourself. I'd err on the side of conservative estimates so it doesn't look like you're exaggerating (not you specifically, @Mad Jack).

 

[Mad Jack]

I mean at that point, you just have to estimate and list yourself as the contact unless you kept in touch with someone who knew you at the time. *shrug* I don't think it's that big of a deal unless you're grossly misrepresenting yourself. I'd err on the side of conservative estimates so it doesn't look like you're exaggerating (not you specifically, @Mad Jack).

I've been doing resumes for so many years that I basically came up with a standard guesstamite of when I was where and for how long. Most people don't really care about where you were ten plus years ago, so being off by a month or two doesn't really make a difference so long as you're doing your best.

 

[darmalee]

I cannot imagine it mattering if your best guess is a little off. Just think - if you don't have a way to figure out exactly when it was, how on earth would anyone else verify it anyway? Think about how long these applications are and how many of them every admissions office gets every year. Be honest, but as someone who has read a bunch of these applications as an interviewer - I can just about promise that no one will even think twice about the dates that you put down.

 

[CastleG8]

I just put down rough estimates. I'm sure many entries were wildly off. I didn't sweat it. I had over a decade of job hopping.
I couldn't recall any of it with accuracy.
No one cares to check up that I was a Walmart cartpusher in 2004 or a security guard in 2006. Lol