Positive Ways of Describing Employment Gaps in Your Resume
Describing significant employment gaps in a resume can be challenging. Reasons for this type of absence may include:
- Working in another industry
- Unemployed
- Illness
- Holiday/backpacking
- Just wanted a rest
From a career standpoint, prolonged breaks are undesirable because they may raise questions about your commitment, your personality and/or whether your skill set is current.
We have put together a page of tips on how to address time gaps in your resume in a positive way. Most importantly we try to describe the situation in relation to the advertised job. Because, after all, the employer is interested in how those gaps affect him/her - not you.
Many people wonder whether to leave the gap out altogether but that strategy may raise more questions than it answers which in turn may discourage employers from progressing your job application.
Employment Gaps Do's.
1. Make your description positive – This approach shows energy and enthusiasm and will help to attract the employer to your personality.
2. Use positive adjectives - For example, if your absence was due to unemployment, describe it as 'Searching for Work'. If it was a prolonged period of unemployment (years), briefly mention steps you took to change your situation. If the absence was due to home duties such as looking after children, or as a carer for an adult describe it in terms that will help the employer relate the skills to his/her position. For example - use the word 'Managed a household'. Another positive term that may help the employer to relate is 'Took responsibility of…'.
3. Show energy and enthusiasm - Returning to work or the industry is a positive and exciting prospect. Reflect that enthusiasm in your resume. Once again, this helps the employer to establish how this relates in terms of the attributes he/she is searching for in a candidate.
4. Have a can do attitude - Verbs (aka action words) help to portray a can do attitude.
5. Be prepared to talk about the employment gaps in your interview. Ensure that you take the same approach to the interview - positive, energy, friendliness and enthusiasm. Be prepared to describe the time period but try to describe it in terms of goals, reaching milestones and actions. Practice your response before the interview.
6. Say how you tried to improve during your absence from the industry. Some ways to describe self improvement include:
- Home projects related to the job such as writing a web page or fixing a computer.
- Training
- Reading industry books or magazines
- Research on the Web
- Helping Friends with tasks that are related to the job such as computer problems.
7. Mention relevant skills gained/demonstrated. For example. If you worked in other industry you may have been responsible for;
- Money
- Time management
- Other people
- Equipment
- Opening/closing
- Self management
Employment Gaps Dont's
1. Be negative - The reality may be that your time gap was a tough period in your life. But describing these trials may turn off an employer because he/she feels that you may bring baggage with you to your new job. It may also reveal personality traits that may be undesirable.
2. Sound desperate - Don't forget that the employer is hiring to benefit him/her - not you. Write your resume in terms of benefits to the employer.
3. Write about hardship - Once again - the employer is hiring to benefit him/her - not you.
4. Try to be funny - Descriptions such as 'was attacked by a feral pig while hiking, complained about it in hospital and was given a lobotomy' can bring your maturity into question.
Conclusion
We hope that this will help you to describe those difficult employment gaps in your resume.
But remember - Don’t over do it….a quick summary of the gaps with some benefits is all that is necessary. Concentrate the majority of the resume on your time in the industry.
