I’m a 26M Computer Science graduate trying to figure out the best move for my resume.
Most of my work experience has been in e-commerce operations. My first job was as an administrative assistant for about 3 years. After that, I worked for another e-commerce company for 4.5 years — starting in customer service, then moving into their product data team. I eventually took on more lead/supervisory responsibilities before being laid off during restructuring.
After my family moved to a lower cost-of-living area, I started working for a smaller e-commerce business and stayed there for about a year. I was recently fired, officially for “performance” and “inappropriate use of the work phone.” In reality, I consistently met or exceeded targets, and the phone issue was mostly using it for music while working in a hot warehouse environment. Overall, it was a toxic workplace with poor management, high turnover, and low morale.
Now I’m unsure whether I should include this most recent job on my resume.
If I include it:
- It fills the last year of employment.
- I gained useful experience with eBay, Amazon, Shopify, listings, inventory, and online marketplace operations.
If I leave it off:
- I avoid questions about why I left.
- But I create a recent employment gap.
I’ve considered just extending the dates at my previous long-term job by about a year to make the timeline cleaner, or using experience helping with my dad’s trucking business/LLC in a more formal way on my resume. I know honesty matters, so I’m trying to figure out the smartest realistic option.
I’ve also considered focusing fully on Python projects for a month and using that time to strengthen my resume for IT / tech roles. I’m also actively working on my interview skills.
What would you do in my position? Include the job and keep the explanation simple, or leave it off and focus on repositioning myself for tech?
TL;DR: CS grad with strong e-commerce experience got fired after 1 year from a toxic small business job. Unsure whether to include it on resume for experience or leave it off to avoid awkward questions. Trying to pivot into tech/IT roles eventually if I can. It just sucks it’s been 2 years since graduating and I haven’t gotten a tech job.