You’re applying for that coveted engineering job, but your resume has the dreaded “employment gap.” These interruptions in your employment history have been known to raise an eyebrow among HR and hiring managers. In some cases, these gaps can cause candidates to lose the job to lesser qualified candidates.
The most common reasons for employment gaps are taking time off to have a baby; returning to school to pursue an advanced degree or certification; being called to active military duty (for those in the reserves); being hospitalized due to an accident or illness; caring for an elderly parent or sick child; or being in a rehab facility for substance abuse.
To overcome the stigma of an employment gap, it’s sometimes wise to include a brief explanation in your cover letter. After that, you need to consider using a resume format that’s more conducive to your situation—the Functional Format.
This format lets you showcase the talents and experiences that apply to the specific job. Start with a short (about 5 sentences) "Summary of Qualifications," listing your skills and areas of experience. Next, would be a section on your "Areas of Strength," which would include the keywords HR managers and certain software programs will flag as required or appropriate for the position. After that, include a "Professional Experience" section, where you’ll need to list all jobs that apply, complete with titles, responsibilities and dates.
You can handle gaps in your resume with positive, career building remarks. If you performed volunteer work, published articles, taught at a church or school, or took certification classes and exams, include them in the gaps.
For an added perspective, check out this video:
Got any thoughts on how to address employment gaps? Include your comments in the section below.
Alex A. Kecskes has written hundreds of published articles on health/fitness, "green" issues, TV/film entertainment, restaurant reviews and many other topics. As a former Andy/Belding/One Show ad agency copywriter, he also writes web content, ads, brochures, sales letters, mailers and scripts for national B2B and B2C clients. Please see more of his blogs and view additional job postings on Nexxt.
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