Explaining the Employment Gap.parts 2

 
Jobs Employment, Career Job, Employment Job
 by: Pamela DeLoatch
It is important not to lie about the gap, but it is also important to downplay it so it doesn’t limit your chances before you even get in the door.

Disguise the Gap

The lack of employment does not need to be a gaping ravine in the middle of the resume. Rather than make the gap the center of attention, employees can minimize the gap through the type of resume used.
A chronological resume lists employment by date, so any lapse is noticeable. A functional resume, on the other hand, highlights the skills the employee has. These skills may be grouped together, i.e. sales, customer service, public speaking, as skills gained from the person’s total experience. The actual listing of employment dates is added at the bottom of the resume.

Susan Ireland, author of Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Perfect Resume [Alpha, 2003] suggests on her website that candidates with a lapse of employment use years instead of months for dates. This can make a gap of less than two years less obvious.

Fill the Gap

Although a person may have been unemployed, chances are that time was well used. If that time was spent volunteering at school, describe that as a community volunteer, and list all of the planning and team building activities involved. If that time was spent care-taking, describe the coordination, coaching, health care management and communication skills used.
With unemployment rates climbing, more and more people may have to explain their own employment gaps. While it’s essential to tell the truth about the job history, it’s also important to make the time that you have worked be more important than the time you haven’t.


Read more at Suite101: Explaining the Employment Gap: How to Handle a Lapse of Employment on a Resume http://www.suite101.com/content/explaining-the-employment-gap-a97033#ixzz13dRWlAwF