Dealing with gaps in employment
I have a pretty significant gap in employment on my resume, and I’m wondering if it prevented me from getting as good of a job as I could have. So what is the best way to explain gaps in employment?
One way to deal with them is to format your resume so that it highlights what your actual skills and accomplishments are, instead of organizing things by former jobs. This is called a functional resume. In practice I’ve found that that type of resume makes people wonder, and not in a good way. (I’ve actually been asked “Why did you format your resume this way?”) It seems to draw attention to the lapse in employment instead of focusing attention on what you really want to highlight: your skills and accomplishments. It could possibly look like you’re trying to hide or minimize something. (Of course, it could also just be that you’re trying to highlight your skills.)
The other way to deal with gaps are simply to mention them and frame what you were doing during the gaps in a positive way. I’m going to give this method a shot when I next reformat my resume. Short breaks are probably easiest — you can simply say that you took time off to do ______ (care for a sick relative, travel the world, learn meditative yoga, etc.) Longer breaks may require you to mention what you were doing to keep your skills up (such as consulting work, education, etc).
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April 12th, 2007 at 7:42 am
I had a huge gap, when staying home to take care of my babies and help first husband get business off the ground.
I decided to fill the gap, with the truth. I was working, harder than anyother job I ever had, or have had since. I listed my responsibilities and duties as though I worked for a business, with a touch of humor. It actually helped to get my first job back out. Creating a personality for me on the document. Something a lot of resumes lack.
I guess it would depend on your career choice, and whether it is appropriate or not. Plus, if you are creative enough, to put together a business looking description for a domestic position.
Of course, you could just record a domestic position. :-)
I say be creative and truthful.
April 13th, 2007 at 7:15 am
You’ve got a great point about creating a personality on the document. I would love to have seen what you wrote, I bet it was very creative.