This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Nancy writes:
Do you have any suggestions on how to explain/validate long periods of professional work gaps in a resume? I am a stay-at-home mother and need some convincing and creative ways to describe this recent position on my resume. I would appreciate any input.
I know I risk the wrath of some of the women reading this blog, but I don’t really like to see resumes that under experience list something cute, such as “Household Manager” or “Domestic Coordination Specialist,” as job title for women who stay at home to manage their households and parent their children. Of course, with a traditional chronological resume, if you don’t list something for when you stayed at home, you will have huge gaps between jobs.
So, you really have three options. First, you can take the approach listed above and make your time at home a category under experience. And while I realize there are many responsibilities involved — I was fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home dad for a few months a long, long time ago — I still don’t think, from an employer’s prospective, that it qualifies to go in this section.
Second, you can consider experimenting with reorganizing your resume into a chrono-functional or hybrid resume that is organized around skills clusters (such as communications, leadership, organizational, etc.) rather than specific jobs and experience. Unfortunately, this style of resume is a bit on the outs right now because employers fear you are hiding something by taking this approach.
Third, you can look beyond your household and compile all the volunteering, freelancing, or other part-time or educational experiences you may have had and use those to show that you were still using and perfecting your skills.
Remember that the goal of your resume is to get your foot in the door — to get you that job interview — and once in the interview, you can decide how to position yourself — your experiences, skills, and accomplishments — in order to sell the employer on your candidacy.
Learn more about mastering resumes by using one of more of the excellent resources found in the Resume and CV Resources section of 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:
SEH writes:
How do you build a ‘“good resume” if you have LOTS of gaps in your job history?
I know that in order to get in to explain to someone face to face, you need a way to get your foot in the door, and trust me, with my resume, I’m not going anywhere!
Employment gaps are always a challenge when developing a resume. Small gaps are not that unusual anymore as the employment landscape has changed over the last decade or so. If you have a large gap — or multiple gaps — however, you will need to be a bit creative in dealing with the issue.
The ideal situation is when you can show you were doing something productive during your employment gap — getting additional training, education, certifications or working part-time, freelancing, consulting, or volunteering.
If you were ill or dealing with a family emergency, or simply out of the workforce by choice, your best bet may be to develop a functional resume. A functional resume is organized around three or four skills areas (such as communications, leadership, customer service, project management, etc.). You then list key accomplishments from all your experiences within each skills cluster (such as, directed marketing campaign that doubled annual sales over a three-year period while industry growth remained stagnant).
Be forewarned that employers and recruiters look suspiciously at chrono-functional resumes. However, for some job-seekers, a chrono-functional resume is really the only choice; thus, the key is then developing a superior resume that wins over even the most diehard skeptic (and keeping your chronological resume handy in case the chrono-functional version isn’t effective).
For more tips and advice, read this article from Quintessential Careers: How to Handle a Gap in Your Job History.
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:
Sharnjit writes: Hello! I need to apply for a position as a staff accountant, but many firms are looking for applicants with prior experience. I have very little experience. About 6 months is max.
Also, what is the best way to write a general cover letter?
The Career Doctor responds: A two-part question, so let me answer in two parts.
First, the experience issue. One solution may involve using transferable skills from your past jobs and education to show that you indeed have the critical experience. Read: Strategic Portrayal of Transferable Skills is a Vital Job-search Technique. Another solution is get the experience now through volunteering your accounting services to local non-profit organizations; you help a worthy organization and gain the experience you need to move to a better job.
Second, the cover letter issue. I know you didn’t mean it, but your question is one of the biggest problems we see with cover letters. There is NO such thing as a general cover letter; well, there is, but we call it a BAD cover letter. Cover letters are all about specifics — about showcasing how you can make a difference to the company. You really need to read Cover Letter Success is All About Specifics, written by my partner, Katharine Hansen.
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:
Reena writes:
I got my PhD degree in microbiology a year ago. Since I am an international scholar, I had to wait for my immigration papers to get processed for my permanent-resident status (that I got through marriage to an American citizen) for a year. I was not legally allowed to work (earn any money) for a year. Now that I have got my permanent-resident status I have started sending out job applications, and I keep getting asked what work I did for a year since I got my PhD. I did do some volunteer work off and on during my year off, and I also did a lot of traveling. Do I need to explain my year off in the applications that I send out? How do I explain it? I am just afraid that potential employers will not understand this explanation since none of them had to go through this themselves (some of them are really rude when they demand an explanation).
The Career Doctor responds:
While yours is a very specific question, I include it in the blog because there are some lessons here that all job-seekers should learn.
Employers want to hire productive employees, and so any unexplained gaps on a resume or vitae send out a large caution flag to hiring managers. As a job-seeker, your goal is to show that you were productive during any and all gaps — pursing further education or credentials, volunteering or freelancing, in some way staying active in your career field.
In your situation, newly minted PhDs are supposed to be at one of their most productive peaks, so appearing to take a year off of research would be very worrisome to prospective employers who want to hire a research workhorse. And those that don’t go to work right after the degree often to some post-doctoral work.
I would avoid the whole immigration issue — mainly because employers never want to hear complications… they simply want workers who will show and work.
So, I think you do need to show that you were somehow working during that year… perhaps through the volunteering, perhaps through some pending research or publications.
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:
Nancy writes:
Do you have any suggestions on how to explain/validate long periods of professional work gaps in a resume? I am a stay-at-home mother and need some convincing and creative ways to describe this recent position on my resume. I would appreciate any input.
I know I risk the wrath of some of the women reading this blog, but I don’t really like to see resumes that under experience list something cute, such as “Household Manager” or “Domestic Coordination Specialist,” as job title for women who stay at home to manage their households and parent their children. Of course, with a traditional chronological resume, if you don’t list something for when you stayed at home, you will have huge gaps between jobs.
So, you really have three options. First, you can take the approach listed above and make your time at home a category under experience. And while I realize there are many responsibilities involved — I was fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home dad for a few months a long, long time ago — I still don’t think, from an employer’s prospective, that it qualifies to go in this section.
Second, you can consider experimenting with reorganizing your resume into a chrono-functional or hybrid resume that is organized around skills clusters (such as communications, leadership, organizational, etc.) rather than specific jobs and experience. Unfortunately, this style of resume is a bit on the outs right now because employers fear you are hiding something by taking this approach.
Third, you can look beyond your household and compile all the volunteering, freelancing, or other part-time or educational experiences you may have had and use those to show that you were still using and perfecting your skills.
Remember that the goal of your resume is to get your foot in the door — to get you that job interview — and once in the interview, you can decide how to position yourself — your experiences, skills, and accomplishments — in order to sell the employer on your candidacy.
Learn more about mastering resumes by using one of more of the excellent resources found in the Resume and CV Resources section of 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:
SEH writes:
How do you build a ‘“good resume” if you have LOTS of gaps in your job history?
I know that in order to get in to explain to someone face to face, you need a way to get your foot in the door, and trust me, with my resume, I’m not going anywhere!
Employment gaps are always a challenge when developing a resume. Small gaps are not that unusual anymore as the employment landscape has changed over the last decade or so. If you have a large gap — or multiple gaps — however, you will need to be a bit creative in dealing with the issue.
The ideal situation is when you can show you were doing something productive during your employment gap — getting additional training, education, certifications or working part-time, freelancing, consulting, or volunteering.
If you were ill or dealing with a family emergency, or simply out of the workforce by choice, your best bet may be to develop a functional resume. A functional resume is organized around three or four skills areas (such as communications, leadership, customer service, project management, etc.). You then list key accomplishments from all your experiences within each skills cluster (such as, directed marketing campaign that doubled annual sales over a three-year period while industry growth remained stagnant).
Be forewarned that employers and recruiters look suspiciously at chrono-functional resumes. However, for some job-seekers, a chrono-functional resume is really the only choice; thus, the key is then developing a superior resume that wins over even the most diehard skeptic (and keeping your chronological resume handy in case the chrono-functional version isn’t effective).
For more tips and advice, read this article from Quintessential Careers: How to Handle a Gap in Your Job History.
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:
Sharnjit writes: Hello! I need to apply for a position as a staff accountant, but many firms are looking for applicants with prior experience. I have very little experience. About 6 months is max.
Also, what is the best way to write a general cover letter?
The Career Doctor responds: A two-part question, so let me answer in two parts.
First, the experience issue. One solution may involve using transferable skills from your past jobs and education to show that you indeed have the critical experience. Read: Strategic Portrayal of Transferable Skills is a Vital Job-search Technique. Another solution is get the experience now through volunteering your accounting services to local non-profit organizations; you help a worthy organization and gain the experience you need to move to a better job.
Second, the cover-letter issue. I know you didn’t mean it, but your question is one of the biggest problems we see with cover letters. There is NO such thing as a general cover letter; well, there is, but we call it a BAD cover letter. Cover letters are all about specifics — about showcasing how you can make a difference to the company. You really need to read Cover Letter Success is All About Specifics, written by my partner, Katharine Hansen.
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.
Have health goals in 2010, but no time to exercise and eat right?
Propose a flexible work arrangement and you'll have the margin of time to prepare healthier meals, work out more often and lose weight as a result. Learn more.
|
Job Search: |
Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, a subsidiary of
EmpoweringSites.com -- DeLand, FL 32720
Home Page: http://www.quintcareers.com/
Email: randall@quintcareers.com
Copyright © Quintessential Careers. All Rights Reserved
Serviced by Movable Type Solutions Company