Twice a week we publish problems that will feature in a forthcoming Dear Jeremy advice column in the Saturday Guardian so that readers can offer their own advice and suggestions. We then print the best of your comments alongside Jeremy’s own insights.

I am looking for a new job because my current one is a fixed-term contract, which will soon be coming to an end. I have had a number of interviews, but I have noticed increasingly that the interviewers are disproportionately interested in an episode in my work history from 10 years ago, when I spent 18 months as a police officer.

This was something I tried but found not to be right for me, and I left without completing my probationary period. It stands out on my CV because all my other work experience has been in office administration and customer service jobs. I can understand why interviewers find it interesting, but I don’t want to be defined by a job that I did so long ago, or spend time in interviews discussing something that didn’t work out.

I am thinking of taking the police officer role off my CV. The company I worked for prior to that has closed down and cannot be contacted, so it would be easy to extend the period of time I was there on my CV to avoid gaps in my employment history.

I know this amounts to lying and it is possible that I’m getting interviews on the basis that I have had an “interesting” job, but I don’t feel it reflects who I am now or what I have to offer. What do you advise?

Do you need advice on a work issue? For Jeremy’s and readers’ help, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@theguardian.com. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or to reply personally.