Explaining Employment Gaps in Your Résumé

Explaining Employment Gaps in Your Résumé | JobSearchTV.com

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses how to explain how to discuss the gap in your employment history.

What to Do If Your Offer is Rescinded

When you have a gap in your background, you use the cover email that you send your resume in (these are like the old cover letters people use to mail the resume with.  Today, that is the message area of your email) to sell yourself.

You might write in the cover email, “I’m forwarding my resume to you because I was recommended by so-and-so, and you told me that your position for such and such.”  Or, you might say, “I saw your ad on such and such site that told me that you trying to hire such and such type of person.”

The 2nd paragraph may talk about your qualifications and how your background fits the role.  The 3rd 1 might say something like, “you may notice my job history that for years ago I was unemployed for 6 months.  During that time, the economy was terrible and they found it difficult to find work.  Ultimately, I was able to land a job with another organization.”

Or, you might just simply say, “I had an injury at that time.  I was in a car accident and had surgery.  It was impossible for me to work.”  Or you might talk about how you assisted your dying mom during the last 6 months of her life.  These are pretty common stories that employer hears.

Another one that they hear is, “I took a package to leave my organization.  I decided that I had not had a long vacation since I was in college and decided to take 4 months to travel in China before coming back and resuming my career.”  Whatever it is, do that in the 3rd paragraph and then come back and sell yourself in the remainder of the cover email.

This is the easiest way to deal with the gap in your background.  Then, you have to remember what you told them in your email.  So, when you meet with them in person and raise the subject, they are looking for consistency.  Thus, if you talk about that vacation that you took, you say, “I know a lot of people would find it difficult to believe, it was 1 of the great 4 months of my life.  I love my work, but it was an opportunity to travel.  I had money in the bank and decide to take advantage of this time.”  You just speak to them in a way that sounds absolutely sincere.

This is the easiest way to deal with the gap in the background.

Why Do They Want My Pay Stubs?

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. His work involves life coaching, as well as executive job search coaching and business life coaching. He is the host of “Job Search Radio” and “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” both available through iTunes and Stitcher.

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https://youtu.be/903vnSDHIqM

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