3 Tips to explain employment gaps on your resume
You’re not alone if you’re concerned about gaps when resume writing. This is one of the most frequently mentioned concerns, as well as a popular topic of discussion on web forums and social networking sites.
The good news is that gaps in resumes aren’t as concerning as they formerly were. Our economy has evolved, and the world of labour has changed along with it. Even for those with the most successful careers, people are keeping jobs for shorter and shorter periods of time, and spells of unemployment are relatively prevalent.
However, minimising any negative impact is still a good idea, so here are three basic tactics I employ when preparing resumes for clients.
Show only years instead of months
If you have a resume gap of less than a year, you can easily hide it by omitting months of employment. Instead, only show years (2009–2012 for example). Some interviewers will inquire about your months of employment, but if you’ve made it thus far, this strategy has already served its purpose: you’ve passed the first screen and been given the opportunity to explain yourself in person.
Explaining the gap
Years alone will not always be enough to close the gap. Maybe you went back to school to finish your degree or took a few years off to raise your children. You don’t want potential employers to assume you’ve been unemployed for a long time in these situations, so I find it’s better to be upfront and honest about what happened.
When I’m resume writing for a client, I normally only write three or less lines to explain why there was a gap in employment (along with any volunteer activity). This explanation goes in the professional history portion of the resume, which is ordinarily where the gap would go. Here’s an illustration:
NOTE:Between 2008 to 2011, I took a job break to pursue a Master’s degree in Organizational Development full-time. During this period, I also volunteered with numerous local non-profit organisations.
Or, here’s one for a stay-at-home parent
NOTE:I took a career sabbatical from 2008 to 2013 to raise my children.
Finally, here’s an example of a resume I created for a client:
NOTE:I retired from work in 2010 with the intention of relaxing and taking it easy. But I immediately realised that I’m not the sort to ‘take it easy.’ Since 2011, I’ve been volunteering 30–40 hours per week and am now looking for a full-time leadership role where I can make a significant difference.
Each of these explanations is truthful, and each of them entirely dispels the employers’ concerns (which are all about whether you were just out of work for a really long time).
Including unpaid work in your career history
If you worked as a freelancer or volunteered for free during your gap year, you can include them as regular jobs and describe them the same way.
This is effective because it not only fills the gap, but it also assures that you receive credit for significant work experience. Just because you weren’t paid doesn’t mean you didn’t learn new abilities, gain experience, or produce outcomes; don’t fall into the trap of believing that experience isn’t worth anything unless you were compensated.
Consider mentioning “Freelance Web Designer” in your job history, along with a list of the projects you worked on, if you’re a web designer who conducted unpaid work for pals. You can show work experience if you were a stay-at-home parent who volunteered at your children’s school or helped run the PTA.
In summary
Although gaps in your resume aren’t always a major problem, they can impair your prospects with some resume screeners. As a result, employing one of these three simple methods can be the difference between being interviewed and being ignored.
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