When you hand over a resume to a prospective employer, you want it to be as complete as possible, right? You never know which detail will make you the perfect fit for an employer. But what about jobs you only stayed at a short time? If you worked for a company less than four months, most resume writers will advise you to leave it off.

Employers tend to dislike hiring employees that seem likely to quit relatively soon – just reading on your resume that you left a position in under four months implies that you might do it again. Because of this, the four month rule has evolved.

There are many exceptions to the four month rule, though.

Say you’re a recent graduate. Your only work history is from summer jobs, which you held for three months at a time. You are definitely an exception to the four month rule: since you want to make sure that prospective employers know that you actually have real world experience. Keep in mind, though, that you may want to emphasize that you are looking for a permanent position now – either in your cover letter or in your objective.

If you have an internship on your resume, you’ve got another exception. You definitely want to include your internship on your resume, but it probably lasted somewhere between three and six months. As long as you have other work history listed, try moving your internship to the education section of your resume.

What if you’ve worked as a freelancer or a consultant? It’s usually inappropriate to list out specific projects you’ve done individually. Even if you only worked as a contractor on a few big projects, you’re better off if you list them all as one work history. If you can, list them under the name of the company you worked as, like “John Smith, Consultant.”

There are plenty of other reasons that you might want to include an employer that you worked for less than four months. You can include them if you want – the four month rule isn’t hard and fast. Make sure the benefits outweigh the issue of reliability. You can also take your cover letter as an opportunity to explain why you might have a spotty employment record – maybe your spouse’s job forced you to move often or maybe you experienced a period of poor health.

You can also use alternative formats to downplay the length of time you spent with specific employers. Consider simply listing employer’s name, job title and length of time in your work history section at the bottom of the page. Devote the top sections of your page to describing your skill sets.

Despite the alternatives, however, keep in mind that there is a reason for the four month rule. If an employer sees that you regularly leave positions in four months or less, she will be reluctant to hire you – no matter why you left. Most employers think that if you did it once, you’ll do it again, and they don’t want to be the one left in the lurch.