Re-entering the Job Market and Filling Your Resume Gap

“I decided to quit working to start a family. I raised two beautiful children. Now I have a ten-year gap in my resume. How will I get a new job?

Prefer to be read to instead of reading for yourself? No problem. This video is for you!

That is a statement I have heard many times. Here's my response:

First, you do not have a gap on your resume. Whether as a parent or, for that matter, a caregiver to an elderly relative, during the ten-years you were technically "unemployed," you were not sitting on the sofa, watching television talk shows, and munching on chocolates. You were working.

You were creating future productive members of society. You were instilling values, ethics, and principles in young people. You were teaching, exemplifying, morality. You were learning to navigate government bureaucracies. You were learning patience. You were learning how to explain things calmly and rationally to very difficult individuals. You were definitely not unemployed. There is plenty to fill the "gap" between when you left your last job-job and today.

Second, you probably volunteered somewhere, at your church or your children's school. Maybe you were even on the PTA. All of that fills the "gap." (One client of mine had volunteered to lead her chuch's annual fundraiser. They raised half a million dollars. Once we used that to fill her "gap," she got a job as a fundraiser!)

Third, you probably didn’t totally lose interest in your profession and, even if you did, you didn’t stop learning. Hopefully, you took some on-line classes, or attended some lectures, all of which can fill the "gap." It shows an employer that you are still current, even if you haven’t been working in your former industry for a decade. Or it shows an employer in a new industry that your interest in their field is sincere. Regardless of whether you want to resume your previous career or start anew, you’ll need to market and sell yourself.

A course in sales or marketing will not only look good on your resume and help fill the "gap," but will also be valuable with your job search. Every position, whether you want to admit it or not, involves sales and marketing. So having taken a course, it need not be accredited or expensive, in either or both subjects, tells a potential employer that you will bring a little extra to the table that your competition may not have.

Getting a job is simply a question of how to market yourself. How you are going to present yourself to employers depends on whether you want to resume your former career or start something new. There is no simple answer. There is no magic pill. One size does not fit all. Working with a professional, you should be able to find the way.

In any event, please do not minimize the importance of raising a family or caring for a loved one. There's is nothing "minimal" about it.

ARE YOU AN EXPERT IN YOUR FIELD? THEN I INVITE YOU TO BE A GUEST ON MY PODCAST, BRUCE HURWITZ PRESENTS: MEET THE EXPERTS. FOR COMPLETE DETAILS, TO APPLY AND TO SCHEDULE AN INTERVIEW VISIT: https://hsstaffing.com/video-podcast

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Future Articles:

• The Science of a Successful Job Search
• Doggie Decision Making
• Pattern Recognition in Resumes
• Is Your Company a Secret Agent?
• Why AI Does Not Scare Me
• Explaining Negative Online Comments to Employers (and Anyone Else)
• DEI - Replace and E with an L
• Being Rude BAD, Finding People EASY