Should I mention this during an interview?

[wolverinefan27]

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Hi everyone, so I have a dilemma and I was hoping I could get some advice.

I have an interview with a large retail chain next month. The strange thing is I haven't worked with the company for about 1 year. I never technically left the company, I'm on "leave" with them and I still get training updates / shift coverage info. The reason I don't work with them is that I'm attending a pharmacy school far from this district and floating is too difficult (hard to get hours where I go to school).

So to supplement my income I work at another large retail chain. I know this is a big no no, but I need intern hours and some cash for rent/food.

Do I mention during my interview and on my CV that I worked at the 2nd chain. I'm thinking this is HIGHLY frowned upon and will basically get me fired/not hired. But on the other hand, I don't know how to explain how I basically did not work for 1 year??

Thoughts? Any insight would be helpful.

 

[type b pharmD]

Hi everyone, so I have a dilemma and I was hoping I could get some advice.

I have an interview with a large retail chain next month. The strange thing is I haven't worked with the company for about 1 year. I never technically left the company, I'm on "leave" with them and I still get training updates / shift coverage info. The reason I don't work with them is that I'm attending a pharmacy school far from this district and floating is too difficult (hard to get hours where I go to school).

So to supplement my income I work at another large retail chain. I know this is a big no no, but I need intern hours and some cash for rent/food.

Do I mention during my interview and on my CV that I worked at the 2nd chain. I'm thinking this is HIGHLY frowned upon and will basically get me fired/not hired. But on the other hand, I don't know how to explain how I basically did not work for 1 year??

Thoughts? Any insight would be helpful.

dont bring it up, and if they ask, tell them you were in school!!!

reason for not working for a year? : Pharmacy school.

 

[owlegrad]

dont bring it up, and if they ask, tell them you were in school!!!

reason for not working for a year? : Pharmacy school.

I respectfully disagree. Do NOT lie. Just tell them the truth. I assume you have a good reason for wanting to go back to company A after working for company B, right? Then tell them what it is. In my experience, lying will always come back to haunt you. Better to be honest upfront.

Also, why do you have an interview for a company you already work for? Are you interviewing for a transfer or something? More information would be nice.

 

[type b pharmD]

I respectfully disagree. Do NOT lie. Just tell them the truth. I assume you have a good reason for wanting to go back to company A after working for company B, right? Then tell them what it is. In my experience, lying will always come back to haunt you. Better to be honest upfront.

Also, why do you have an interview for a company you already work for? Are you interviewing for a transfer or something? More information would be nice.

if he tells them, he is going to get fired. from what ive heard this type of thing is written explicitly in the employment contract.

 

[Jabberwocky12]

Believe it or not it's not that black and white. it kinda depends on what the pharmacies are and I believe it is somewhat to the DM discretion.

Example: My non-manager pharmacist at CVS was offered a management position as a pharmacy manager at a Sams pharmacy like 30 mins away from the current CVS. He talked to his CVS DM and asked if he could still work part time. The DM said that it wasn't considered working for direct competition like Rite-Aid or Wal-greens so it was okay, also he said that it wouldn't have been acceptable if it was the sams pharmacy that was right down the road. So if it is one of the like- pharmacies (Wags, RA, CVS) then it's a bigger deal than a pharmacy like Sams.

So that is something to throw out there. If you're legitimately concerned then you can try and talk to your HR department of the pharmacy you are at leave with and ask how your contract works. But if you were away from the pharmacy with school and there wasn't a lot of work done, I think you should be fine.

 

[owlegrad]

if he tells them, he is going to get fired. from what ive heard this type of thing is written explicitly in the employment contract.

So the solution is to lie? No. All he has to do is explain that he wants to come back to company A. He can't work at both companies simultaneously (probably) but there is nothing stopping him from leaving one company for another. Lying=bad idea. If they find out, he will likely never be allowed to come back to company A (I am assuming that his employer frowns on dishonesty).

Why not just explain that you started at company B because you needed hours/money but you would rather work for company A? Or lie and see what happens. And you will ALWAYS have it hanging over your head that they could discover your deception at any time and you will likely be black listed from that company. How is that a hard choice?

 

[Jabberwocky12]

I'd go ahead and tell them. I assume employment verifications are done at these pharmacies (unless you're CVS then you don't need a license to practice as a pharmacist apparently 😛) which would show similar employment dates. If that shows up without you saying anything then it looks even worse for you. This is the kind of reason why you should show your transcripts from all schools even if one looks bad; it'll show up usually on a background check.

Not to mention that retail uses an extra precaution in background checks with Lexis Nexus known as the esteem database. This database is pretty much solely for retail and is used for employment verification and terminations for stealing/dishonesty/attendance (I think) in order to make sure that you aren't a financial risk in an area with a lot of product. Therefore, when you are applying to work there you have a whole extra page of information that could reveal you worked at the other pharmacy.

Morally, I think you should tell them. However, that isn't enough for some people so I'm also saying there is a damn good chance they'll find out anyway and then you don't have a say and start off with a bad impression.

Just throwing that out there... I know CVS, WAGS, Target, and RA use esteem. I would assume Wal-Mart and other major chains use it as well.

 

[wolverinefan27]

Also, why do you have an interview for a company you already work for? Are you interviewing for a transfer or something? More information would be nice.

I never officially quit the company. I was placed on "leave" by my pharmacy manager and i still would be able to float tomorrow if I wanted to. So technically.. I was on the books for both companies at the same time.

Just throwing that out there... I know CVS, WAGS, Target, and RA use esteem. I would assume Wal-Mart and other major chains use it as well.

from my own limited research. I see esteem is strictly a system where offenses are placed into a database? Sort of like a compiled list of "blacklisted" individuals. Would my work history come up if I left the company on good terms. I don't work for the 2nd company anymore.

 

[owlegrad]

I never officially quit the company. I was placed on "leave" by my pharmacy manager and i still would be able to float tomorrow if I wanted to. So technically.. I was on the books for both companies at the same time.

So what is the interview for? If you never left then you are still an employee. What exactly are you interviewing for?

I wouldn't worry about that technicality. Honesty is the best policy. It's not like you were actively working for both at the same time, and even if you were I doubt it would be as big a deal as some people seem to think. Think of it this way: company A is not likely to care that you have been working at company B, but they almost certainly will care if you lie about it.

Your situation sounds simple enough to me. You used to work for company A. Then you moved (geographically) and started working for company B. Now you want to go back to company A. There is nothing special or unusual about this, and there certainly isn't any reason to lie about it. Why would you lie about something like this?

 

[wolverinefan27]

I'm interviewing next month for an Rph position. And i'm worried about it because I know being on the books for two competing chains is a "conflict" of interest and can get you fired.

And i'm not going "back" to company A. From what they know.. i was always with them.

I know this is all my fault and I shouldn't have been so shortsighted, but... I just feel so stupid for getting myself in this situation.

 

[J ROD]

dont bring it up, and if they ask, tell them you were in school!!!

reason for not working for a year? : Pharmacy school.

I agree with this........

dont ask, dont tell

 

[owlegrad]

I'm interviewing next month for an Rph position. And i'm worried about it because I know being on the books for two competing chains is a "conflict" of interest and can get you fired.

And i'm not going "back" to company A. From what they know.. i was always with them.

I know this is all my fault and I shouldn't have been so shortsighted, but... I just feel so stupid for getting myself in this situation.

Ah, interviewing to be a Rph. Now I understand why you are so nervous, I would/will be too. I still think you are making it more complicated than you need to. You were on leave, right? So....I just don't think this would be a big deal. It's pretty common to be put on leave rather than terminated if you leave on good terms, is it not? So what that you worked somewhere else? You had your reasons, it's just not that bad. I just cannot see being dishonest about this.

Well, good luck whatever you decide! 👍 Let us know how it goes.

 

[Jabberwocky12]

from my own limited research. I see esteem is strictly a system where offenses are placed into a database? Sort of like a compiled list of "blacklisted" individuals. Would my work history come up if I left the company on good terms. I don't work for the 2nd company anymore.

From what I understand it mentions where you work and then mentions if there were any issues or not. I'm not 100% certain since they try to keep things like that a little under wraps. That would be something to talk to a hiring manager or DM about who have seen applications before.

You can also get your free background check from lexis nexus that everyone can get each year and see how it formats. Then you know for sure.

 

[SHC1984]

So the solution is to lie? No. All he has to do is explain that he wants to come back to company A. He can't work at both companies simultaneously (probably) but there is nothing stopping him from leaving one company for another. Lying=bad idea. If they find out, he will likely never be allowed to come back to company A (I am assuming that his employer frowns on dishonesty).

Why not just explain that you started at company B because you needed hours/money but you would rather work for company A? Or lie and see what happens. And you will ALWAYS have it hanging over your head that they could discover your deception at any time and you will likely be black listed from that company. How is that a hard choice?

You should never flat out lie BUT you should NEVER volunteerly bring up things that's not in your favor either!!! If the interviewer NEVER flat out asked,"so did you work for company B last year?" then I would NOT bring it up. Why bring something up that's not in your favor? Now I agree if the interviewer asked striaght up, "did you work for company B last year?" then you shouldn't flat out lie and say no, but please for heave sakes never bring stuff up that is not in your favor.

I mean if you cheated on your ex-girlfriend before will you tell your current girlfriend that you were a cheater if she never brought that up? OF COURSE NOT!! Don't bring stuff up that makes you look bad! lol....

 

[Sparda29]

Don't bring it up, just say you were in school.

 

[PharmDstudent]

I work for a large chain, and my prospective mortgage company at the time (getting a mortgage was a biatch!) was able to verify my employment through The Work Number. The period of time that I worked for two large chains was on there

You can verify your own employment through The Work Number. They'll email you a report.

I agree with this........

dont ask, dont tell

You should never flat out lie BUT you should NEVER volunteerly bring up things that's not in your favor either!!! If the interviewer NEVER flat out asked,"so did you work for company B last year?" then I would NOT bring it up. Why bring something up that's not in your favor? Now I agree if the interviewer asked striaght up, "did you work for company B last year?" then you shouldn't flat out lie and say no, but please for heave sakes never bring stuff up that is not in your favor.

I mean if you cheated on your ex-girlfriend before will you tell your current girlfriend that you were a cheater if she never brought that up? OF COURSE NOT!! Don't bring stuff up that makes you look bad! lol....

Don't bring it up, just say you were in school.

Don't listen to these people!!! (as least without looking at The Work Number first)

ETA: ROFLMAO 🤣 I found CVS, KMart, RiteAid, Sam's, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart on The Work Number.

 

[ronkoshy]

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[wolverinefan27]

Thanks for your advice everyone!

I've come to the conclusion though that its best just not to mention it. Its true if they wanted to, they could verify I've worked elsewhere, but if I tell them off the bat my instincts are telling me my DM will look at that very "unfavorably" and if I straight up lie about it thats basically going to kill my chances. So i'm going to leave it out unless they explicitly ask me, then I'll "sleep in the bed I made" so to speak...

 

[PharmDstudent]

Thanks for your advice everyone!

I've come to the conclusion though that its best just not to mention it. Its true if they wanted to, they could verify I've worked elsewhere, but if I tell them off the bat my instincts are telling me my DM will look at that very "unfavorably" and if I straight up lie about it thats basically going to kill my chances. So i'm going to leave it out unless they explicitly ask me, then I'll "sleep in the bed I made" so to speak...

...Or you could just tell them that you had quit your other job and don't know why they still have you on as an employee?! Lol

 

[owlegrad]

Thanks for your advice everyone!

I've come to the conclusion though that its best just not to mention it. Its true if they wanted to, they could verify I've worked elsewhere, but if I tell them off the bat my instincts are telling me my DM will look at that very "unfavorably" and if I straight up lie about it thats basically going to kill my chances. So i'm going to leave it out unless they explicitly ask me, then I'll "sleep in the bed I made" so to speak...

I think this is a good plan. Don't bring it up but also don't lie about it. You sure got a range of responses didn't you?