Life happens. Layoffs happen. New babies happen. Relatives become sick, people take time off from work to go to school, and many other things occur which could result in a significant resume gap.
A gap in your work history is a reality many job seekers face.
So how do you handle employment gaps so they do not impede your chances of winning a great job opportunity?
Unexplained Employment Gaps – are your Gaps really Gaps?
Never leave employment gaps up for the hiring manager’s imagination to explain! In many cases the gaps are not really “employment” gaps but are due to other reasonable explanations such as:
1. Working towards a degree or certification
2. Having and/or caring for children
3. Taking time off to handle a personal health issue
4. Dealing with a serious illness in your immediate family
Many people will experience at least one of these instances throughout their work history and by simply explaining why there is a gap in your work history you will mitigate many concerns the hiring manager has.
How to explain your Employment Gaps
Many recruiters will tell you to be prepared to explain your employment gaps during the interview. I DISAGREE.
In today’s market, only a small percentage of applicants make it to the interview stage. I recently posted an in-house Data Entry position and received 772 applicants for that one opportunity. As the hiring manager I had to be smart about which candidates I would speak with and unfortunately, those candidates who had a trend of short job tenured positions and unexplained employment gaps were the first to be culled from the applicant pile.
So how do you win the interview even though you have gaps in your work history? Be up front about your situation. Write a cover letter which clearly and succinctly explains your employment gaps. Additionally, be sure to speak to how you have kept your skills up even though the gaps exist.
By taking just a few extra moments of time at the submission stage you will be more likely to be awarded that coveted interview.
Should you attempt to hide your Employment Gaps in your resume?
I will make this one super simple – no.
Recruiters and Hiring Managers are wise to the many tricks people use with their resumes to hide their employment gaps. It is always better to be open about your past work history and your current situation. Some simple things to think about:
1. Don’t “stretch” the dates of employment of previous positions to cover gaps in your work history. When a background check and employment verification is performed it will become clear you falsified your resume and this will be a deal breaker.
2. Don’t eliminate the dates of employment for your previous positions. Additionally, don’t only use years (and not include months) when listing work dates on your resume. While this practice can cover several months of unemployment it is clear to the hiring manager you are hiding something.
3. Don’t get fancy with the formatting of your resume hoping this will hide your gaps. Not using traditional formatting can make it more difficult for the hiring manager to see your qualifications too!
4. Don’t worry about explaining gaps that happened 10 years ago. Employers are more concerned with your recent work history.
I hope you find this article useful and if you have any experiences to share, suggestions or questions please feel free to comment.
Investing in a Lifetime of Success
Angela Roberts
www.craresources.com
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What about a career change and going back to your old career?? How does one handle that
This is an incredible question. The first thing I would state is just be honest about the change. A hiring manager will want to know why…so if you can address that in a cover letter I would highly recommend it. You always want to anticipate the hiring manager’s questions and/or concerns and address them up front. Some ways you can do this in the situation you have mentioned:
First: In this instance it is going to be critical you write a cover letter explaining your change in career. Talk to your passion and why you are so excited to get back into your old field of work.
Second: In your cover letter be sure to relate how your excitement, your passion, and the experience you gained in your other field will relay to the job you are applying for.
Third: You may want to create something called a ‘functional’ resume, which groups your experiences according to categories.
I hope this helps – perhaps a new article idea for our team is how to write a powerful functional resume!
Angela