Being out of work is difficult, and sending out resume filled with employment gaps can present a huge hurdle to ending that unemployment.
However, human resources professionals say having employment gaps on your resume doesn’t necessarily mean your resume will be passed over.
“It does not automatically send up a major red flag, especially these days,” said Tonya Fight, human resources specialist at Advocate South Suburban Hospital. “Unfortunately, over the last few years, the economy has taken a toll. There are many more people recently who have been laid off or downsized because of the economy, so gaps are increasingly more common.”
Explaining those gaps to a potential employer is still often necessary, however.
“I would say there are no hard and fast rules for this issue,” Joe Frank, communications director with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. “If you do have an employment gap, especially of 6 months or more, you need to be prepared to address concerns and answer questions in a positive way.”
Here are some expert tips on how to best weather the storm and come out on the other end employed.
Be prepared to explain.
For Fight, it’s less about the length of the gap than the reason for it. That’s why she recommends being prepared to explain anything more than a small period of unemployment.
“If there is a gap of more than a few months, there really needs to be some reason or explanation that is communicated to the recruiter,” she said.
Applicants should attempt to account in their resume any significant gap, she said.
Read full article: Employment Gaps