[gregkerzhner]

An alternative to hacking your resume is simply leaving the short position off altogether. Your resume doesn't have to be a total transcript of your career. It should just be a highlight of most relevant experiences for your desired job.

The same goes for really old jobs too btw - having a detailed explanation of your exploits in Java Swing on page 4 of your resume is likely distracting and irrelevant. Consider making your resume a single page with older jobs grouped together like "1999 - 2008 Various software gigs for Employers1 thorough Employer5"

[dgfitz]

I would personally not want to explain the gap in employment.

"Why did you not work for a year?"

Either you lie (I took a personal leave of absence) or tell the truth (the company was a shitshow and I didnt stay long).

I'm not big on lying, and if I tell the truth I'd expect to get "Well why did you leave it off the resume?" And from there I expect the conversation to go poorly.

[jon-wood]

It coming up at all is going to vary wildly between interviews. From my perspective your CV is what gets you into the interview process, and will come up in an initial screening call where I have a conversation with you about the last few years of work you've done. Unless you explicitly bring it up, or the work seems massively relevant to what we're doing, I'm unlikely to touch on anything more than a year or two into the past.

Once you're through that initial screening call the only influence your CV is going to have is if our interview process covers particular things you've mentioned knowing about in your CV and then you can't answer questions on them when they come up. Not knowing a thing I'm generally fine with, claiming to know it but not being able to answer simple questions on it is going to get you screened out very quickly.

[ianai]

Further, the first few months absolutely are a two way street on “fit”. Hopping out quickly shouldn’t be a red flag. Having 12 employers in 6 years could be a problem or even just standard for certain contractors. Also maybe something better came along.