How to Address Gaps in Your Employment History-2

Thursday, 21 October 2010


By Peter Newfield


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Clearly, some reasons are not viewed as favorably as others, even in this enlightened, politically correct employment era. But whatever the reason, do not make the mistake of including gaps in employment history on your resume. If you can explain the time away from employment and feel that it would be important for a prospective employer to know this information, include it briefly in your cover letter.
Although a standard Reverse Chronological or Modified Functional resume works best for those who have consistently climbed the ranks in a particular industry, these formats are not appropriate for job seekers with employment gaps. The best type of resume for individuals with gaps in employment history is the Functional Format because it provides the platform for you to showcase your varied strengths, talents, and experiences. It prevents a job candidate from being pigeon-holed into one specific field or level of experience or penalized for gaps in employment, per se.
For example, let’s say you have been out of the workforce for several years and are now looking for a job. Your resume should start out with a brief "Summary of Qualifications," which is a three- to eight-sentence overview of skills and areas of experience. It would then present a section entitled "Areas of Strength," which either lists key words appropriate to your professional experience or is broken down into several distinct areas of experience with bulleted items. Maybe your "Areas of Strength" include Sales and Public Relations or Teaching and Office Administration. You can make each one a separate category and list three or four items under each heading to indicate your experience and skills in these areas.
The next section, "Professional Experience," lists related jobs, titles, and responsibilities. Do not omit the dates! By leaving off dates of employment on a resume, you will raise more questions than if you list dates from the 1970s or 1980s.
In the time that you were not formally employed in your field, you may have gained additional experience while you were out of the workforce. Include this experience on your resume within a section called "Additional Experience." Were you Treasurer of a civic organization for the past five years? Were you an unpaid docent in the local museum? Did you direct or plan activities as a volunteer for an after-school center? Were you a sports coach or Scoutmaster on the weekends or during the evenings? List this experience, dates, and responsibilities under "Additional Experience," then end the resume with a "Computer Skills" and/or "Education" section.

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