GAPS
How to talk about career gaps in your resume?
You want to insert the gap in your professional experience section, chronologically where the gap existed.
The main idea is to clearly explain the gap and communicate that you are ready for your next challenge. In addition, you want to communicate how you have prepared yourself to return to work (learning about the industry, the role, developing new skills, taking classes, participating in webinars, etc).
Life happens, it is ok t have a gap in your resume. Here are some strategies depending on your situation:
1) Lay off or Contract not renewed: speak about how you have engaged in professional development and are ready for your next challenge. Include webinars, conferences, classes (name of the event, name of the organizer). In an interview, be ready to speak about what you learned.
2) Returned to School: studying X at institution Y. In one sentence, communicate why you’ve decided to go back to your studies.
3) Full time parent or Caring for ailing family member: you can say “raised family FT, ready for next challenge” or “served as FT caregiver to family member with health issues”
4) Temporary relocation to (city) and returning to home (city)
or Permanently relocated from (city) to (city), ready for next challenge
5) Sabbatical: you can say “took a planned sabbatical, ready for next challenge”
6) Started Retirement: “temporarily took retirement, decided to return to work and take the next challenge”
If you need help, I can assist you with your resume writing and interview prep.
Contact me and we can work together. Let’s get started!
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