Would you include this job on an application form?

[YouBoughtMeAWall]

I was self employed for the last 8ish years until covid hit. I managed to find an employed job in the summer in an admin type role but it became clear very quickly there were serious problems in the company, high staff turnover and really bizarre, bullying behaviour from the manager that was directed at me almost immediately (others shared that she had always been like that donut wasn’t just me) I was miserable so left after 2 months. I’m applying for similar roles again, and wondering if I should leave it out of the application. If I put it on I would have to put that manager as a reference as my most recent employer.

Nope

I think you can just put the company HR as a reference for the employer.
Whether you include it depends on whether the experience is relevant to the jobs you are applying for.

No I'd leave it. You can always explain at interview or later down the line of the application process if needs be.

There is no company HR. It’s a small company. This manager would be the one providing any reference.

On paper the experience would be relevant but in reality I was given nothing to do and prevented from doing anything useful.

Thanks all, I’ll leave it off.

Leaving off a job can be used as an excuse to get rid of you later on, as it is falsifying an application. There is also concern about CV gaps, certainly in normal times, as disguising something, such as being in the black economy, drug dealing or supporting terrorism.

I'd think twice as no-one is going to be questioning a short-term job in the current economic climate.

So what would you give for reason for leaving last job @ruabon12?

Lack of work you have described could be one.

Can’t you just say your self employed job lasted a bit longer than it did?

I could Christmas but that job has no relevant experience for the jobs I am applying for. I’m not sure if there would be any benefit in saying it ended more recently?

As far as I know, leaving off a job from your CV isn’t falsifying an application. A CV is meant to summarise your skills, qualifications and relevant experience. It’s ok to omit jobs that are not relevant, very short term, or are so far back they do not matter. For example, I no longer list my university placements or my internship because I’m well beyond that and they were thirty years ago. I also don’t list my side hustle job- I was a dance instructor for twenty years. Why should I list it? It has zero relevance to my being an engineer.

You only are falsifying an application if the employer asks you to fill in an application with “all jobs you’ve had in past x years” at that point, you have to list every job you did over those x years. If you omit a job, then that is falsifying an application.

It also may not be a good idea to omit a job on the CV if that creates a gap in your CV. But this year of all years the stigma of gaps is a lot less due to the job losses caused by Covid.

If you have kids I'd put something vague about a couple of months unemployed for childcare reasons that have since been resolved.