Search Results for: resume tips

Five Tips for Getting Past Résumé Gaps

A reader recently asked a great question in response to our post about telling the truth on your résumé . She asked what to do when you have a spotty work history with many employment gaps but for good reason. We think this is a great question.


Employment gaps happen to a lot of people for a lot of reasons. Those who’ve been stay-at-home parents, had the opportunity to travel, attend school, serve as a volunteer, or be a care-giver for a loved one, often choose to return to the workforce after a period of time. Unfortunately, because employment gaps are typically associated with poor performing workers, employers tend to look negatively on all applicants whose résumés reflect a large period of time without work. This can make it tricky to get in the door for an interview and show that you’re a qualified candidate.


But, there are some résumé techniques you can use to highlight your capabilities and not the gaps.


1. Focus on skills. Using a skills-focused résumé can help you emphasize your qualifications over your work history. Try opening your résumé with your objective and then give bullet points with key skills or qualifications you possess and those you’ve attained while on hiatus instead of launching into your employment history.


2. Use a functional format. Instead of relating your work experience in a chronological format like a traditional résumé, use the functional style. This type of résumé groups experience not by chronological order but by relevance to the position at hand.


3. Highlight unpaid experience. If you served as a volunteer for a religious or civic organization during your employment gap, list the position you held along with the title “volunteer” and describe the transferable skills you used in that position to show that you have unpaid experience in the field you’re applying for.


4. Don’t fudge on the dates. It’s critical not to exaggerate or lie about the dates of employment you’ve held. It’s easy for employers to verify employment dates, and fudging the facts will only make matters worse.


5. Send a cover letter. It’s typically not appropriate to write “Stay-at-home-parent, June 2004-August 2007” on your résumé, but you can talk about your situation in a cover letter, if you feel comfortable doing so. Don’t get into the nitty gritty, and whatever you do, don’t complain about your situation. But you can explain your situation, highlighting how it pertains to the position at hand. For example, you could say that for three years you used time management, care-giving and financial skills by maintaining the family budget and caring for your child at home.


Be honest with prospective employers about the reasons you have a work gap, and keep in mind that if you’ve been busy with other pursuits while away from work, you’ve probably gained a variety of transferable skills that may make you a prime candidate. Your break from the work world may just make you the perfect candidate for the right employer. In fact, recruiters are beginning to look for returning workers with past experience to fill the void of Baby Boomers who are beginning to retire. Using these tips to highlight everything about you that makes you the right candidate can help you make sure recruiters look past the gaps and see what you have to offer as an employee instead.

Career Development Tips for 2023

November is a month to enjoy the holidays with loved ones and express thanks. Right now, could be a good opportunity to consider how you can continue to grow in your career as the year draws to a close and a new one begins.

November is also National Career Development Month, and we want to help you get the most out of your career by reflecting on advice we shared with you in 2022 in hopes these strategies will encourage you and help you succeed. (more…)

Spring Cleaning: Resumes

March 20 was the first day of spring, and you know what that means! It’s time for a bit of spring cleaning. While you’re cleaning out the garage or shaking a few cobwebs loose in the attic, why not take a feather duster to your resume as well? It’s never a bad idea to update things when you can, and the season of change can be a great time to change things up on your resume. Here are some quick tips! (more…)

New Year, New Resume

We’re a few weeks into the new year, and if you haven’t set goals yet, it’s time to hunker down and get started. A great first goal? Updating your resume! Whether you’re looking for a new job or just want to tune things up, we’re here to help. Here are a few things to adjust in your resume this year.

  1. Get rid of old jobs

If you’ve been in the workforce for a while, you’re likely to have plenty of jobs on your resume. But when it comes to the job search, you need to tailor your resume for newer jobs. That means taking out anything that isn’t up to date. If you’re looking for an office job for example, you’ll just want two to three of your most recent jobs and not anything too far beyond that. But you can still keep those older jobs on LinkedIn if you think they could be relevant in the future! (more…)

Give the Gift of a Resume Check-Up

Happy holidays! Here at Job Journey, we talk a lot about resumes. Which makes sense, since it’s one of the things job seekers ask us about the most. We love chatting about formatting, ways to stand out, and how to make sure your resume makes it to the HR manager.

Now, it might just be our passion for resumes showing, but wouldn’t offering to look over your friend’s resume be an awesome gift? You could even exchange resumes and give each other feedback, all in the spirit of the holidays!

If you’re not sure what to look for when reviewing your pal’s resume, we’ve got you covered. Here are a few things to keep in mind: (more…)