Results tagged “career advancement” from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters Tips Blog

This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:

Glenis writes:

I read your blog regularly, but recently it has become of more interest to me because my son is job-hunting. He has been a financial-aid counselor at two universities, having moved to take the position at the last one because it was a career advancement. Unfortunately his position was eliminated due to budget cuts.

After being unemployed for a 6 months, he decided to take whatever employment he could get just to help pay the bills, which happened to be at minimal pay. He has not included this employment history on his resume because he feels it would not look good. He has interviewed with 2-3 universities but so far no offer of employment.

Do you think the lack of employment information for the last year is affecting his chances of being hired?

The Career Doctor responds:

I hope by the time you are reading this column that your son has a new job in his career field, but if not, let me make a few observations.

I think there is a possibility of three things happening here that your son needs to address.

First, the stigma of being fired. We can call it something prettier — his job was eliminated — but the bottom line is that he was forced to leave his place of employment. He needs to focus on this issue and make sure he is totally over the trauma of the experience — especially since he was let go through no fault of his own. He obviously has valuable skills since he was able to move forward in his career.

Second, he needs to deal with his resume — and the reality he is living. A lot of displaced job-seekers in this current economy have been forced to take survival jobs so that they don t end up homeless and bankrupt. Most prospective employers would rather see an applicant that has been doing something productive — even if outside his or her field — than a large gap on the resume. Of course, if he has been doing any kind of consulting or volunteer work in his field, he should put that on his resume.

Third, perfect interviewing skills. If he has gotten a few interviews, then at least some of the colleges are not bothered by the gap on his resume enough to not interview him, so if he is not having success in the interview, then he is either not interviewing well or not following-up his interviews. He may want to conduct a mock interview with a career professional to judge the quality of his interviewing skills.

I suggest he read, Getting Fired: An Opportunity for Change and Growth, published on Quintessential Careers.

He may also want to read this article on Quintessential Careers: The Pros and Cons of Taking a Survival Job. What Should You Do?

Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.

This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:

Randle writes:

My question for you is how heavily do prospective employers consider the fact that you have been fired? I have asked others whether I should I remove this place of employment from my resume, and most have said no because it will leave an unexplainable gap in my employment. I was only employed there for 6 months and was terminated because I didn’t fit in. I was told there was no room there for me anymore and they were going to hire someone else.

The Career Doctor responds:

Your letter just goes to show how callous some employers can be. So sorry, we don’t really like you and you don’t fit, so see you later. Of course, in some ways, that employer did you a favor because it’s certainly better to find out sooner rather than later.

My opinion is that as long as this was not a dead-end job, that you should include it on your resume.

There are several ways to judge whether you should put this job on your resume. You need to decide how important it is to your career advancement. If this was your first job in your field, then you need to use it to show you have experience… If you gained valuable skills from this job, you need to include it. And if you have solid accomplishments, you need to include the job.

On the other hand, if you were taking classes or volunteering at the same time as this job — and you have something to fill the gap, then you might consider omitting it.

Most importantly, do not call attention to it. Don’t say you were fired. Simply list it as you do any other employment on your resume. Remember: no negative information on your resume.

Once you get to the next level of your job search — the job interview — you will need to have an explanation about the short stint. And what employers are looking for is not any kind of excuse; what employers want to hear is what you learned from it, so always look for a positive lesson.

Being fired can certainly be traumatic, and job-seekers sometimes feel as though they have been branded with a big “F” on their foreheads, but you need to clear your head and move on, otherwise your lack of confidence will come through in your job search.

Read more in my article, Getting Fired: An Opportunity for Change and Growth, published on Quintessential Careers.

Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.

This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:

Janet writes:

When should you use a chronological resume? When should you use a functional resume?

The Career Doctor responds: