How can you fill gaps in a client's work history due to personal projects?

Preencher lacunas no histórico de trabalho de um cliente devido a projetos pessoais pode ser desafiador, mas é importante apresentar esses períodos de maneira positiva. Destaque as habilidades e realiza??es adquiridas: Durante o período em que o cliente se dedicou a projetos pessoais, ele provavelmente adquiriu habilidades relevantes e alcan?ou realiza??es significativas. Certifique-se de destacar essas conquistas em seu currículo ou perfil profissional. Isso pode incluir aprendizado autodidata, desenvolvimento de habilidades empreendedoras, trabalho voluntário ou até mesmo a conclus?o bem-sucedida de projetos pessoais importantes. Mostre como essas experiências contribuíram para o crescimento pessoal e profissional do cliente.

What I've noticed is that personal sabbaticals often include instances where you have still had an opportunity to increase your skillset or gain new knowledge. It's important to capture that by listing it like you would any other role you have held. Capture what your contribution to the family, organization, etc, may have looked like. Example: Bills - accounting, finance PTO President - Leadership HOA Meetings -team collaboration, Planning Put what you have down into business (Corp) terms.

In order to fill gaps in your work history due to personal projects, you need to focus on your personal projects like the way you would write your work experience. You need to explain what you did in your project, how you did and what is the rationale or outcome of the project. Also, remember to focus on the full life cycle of a project such as collaboration, research, documentation, analysis, design, programming/coding, testing, debugging, and implementation. Describe what you did during each of these stages and how you completed each stage and what the outcome/rational is. Developing strong accomplishment statements is crucial for your projects.

Coming from the context of college students and their career development, college students may have personal projects or class-related projects. Class projects, both individual and team contributions are important to add to a resume. I suggest to begin listing all personal and group projects with at least two bullets, one with soft skills learned (team building, time management, resource management, etc) and one with hard skills learned and/or outcomes written in PAR(T) statements (problem, action and result (takeaway)). When applying to a job, hand select the projects with skillsets or outcomes that are most relevant to the job being applied for.

In the context of college students, projects tend be under headers such as "Class Projects." However, some projects may also be listed under Volunteer or Community Engagement (especiall for on-campus clubs, sports and activities that included projects).

Each project should list at least one outcome, and depending on space a bullet highlighting soft skills learned. The outcome bullet should be written in a PAR/T format - Problem, Action, Results, Takeaways. Takeways can be optional. Results should have some kind of impact in numbers, such as revenue earned in whole numbers or percentage, time saved, money saved, individuals mentored/coached/trained, etc. Typically, if outcomes on resumes are considered in the PAR/T format, these are ready-to-go interview answers/stories.

Gaps in employment are not frowned on as they once were, but employers still want to know what you did during the time. The onus is on you to prepare to address the potential concerns early. That doesn't mean you should be the first to bring it up, but you must have a story in case you are asked. Start reflecting on some of the activities you were involved in. What new skills did you learn? After you were laid off, did you earn micro-credentials on a trendy topic - AI, for example? How applicable will they be in your new role? Think of the transferrable skills you gained and how they relate to the job you are targeting. Don't get too bogged down by the gaps. Pay attention to what you did to fill them, and be ready to explain.