Try these strategies to minimize impact of recent gap in relevant experience
Dear Sam: I worked in the financial services field for a company that eventually shut down. At the time, I was in the middle of finishing a degree in a course of study that was somewhat related to the financial industry. In order to pay bills and support my family while I went to school, I took a job that was not related to my experience or education. Early on, having been at this unrelated job for just a month, my old resume still worked well, as it started with my related experience. Now, after five months in this position, I feel like I have to note my current job at the top of my professional experience section. This not only detracts from my strong experience in finance, but it also causes potential employers to ask why I didn’t pick a job that was related to what I’d been doing. How do I minimize this period of time on my resume? — Bob
Dear Bob: To minimize the impact of a segue from the industry, you can approach your resume in two ways. First, you can use a combination format to present your experience. To maximize this format, your resume will begin with a qualifications summary showcasing only related experience and education — of course, not making any mention of your brief hiatus from your chosen field. Instead of putting your professional experience section next, you should present a “selected highlights” section. In this section, you can explore your experience that positions you for what you want to do next in your career. You can organize these items either by employer or by functional skill area. If the employers you worked for were notable, you might want to organize this section by employer — you would list select employers’ names with highlights of your accomplishments underneath. If you think it would be better to highlight your experiences in key areas instead, then you can present the content under functional subheadings. Finally, present your professional experience section. Hopefully, your selected highlights section will fill the remainder of Page 1 after the qualifications summary, strategically dropping your most recent, unrelated experience to the top of Page 2 — and, most importantly, minimizing its impact during the screening process. The second approach would be to not include your most recent five-month role at all. If you only include the years of employment and not the months, you can show your prior job “through 2017.” It is not critical that you show employment “to present.” You can easily justify this omission in an interview by explaining that you were completing your degree when your employer shut down and that, in order to better focus on your professional-development objectives, you took a position that allowed a more effective work-life-school balance — but now that you’re nearing graduation, you’re ready to re-enter the financial services industry equipped with experience and a degree. This is not all that uncommon, and will not be seen as untoward. If you are still searching for a job in the spring (2018), you will need to consider adding your current job in order to minimize the gap in employment. Right now however, if you only present years on your resume, there really isn’t a gap of any significance. If you do present your current experience, try to translate the skills gained in this position to your current career target, being sure you communicate why this experience is valuable regardless of whether it was related or not. I wish you the most success reengaging in your career. — Samantha Nolan is a certified professional resume writer and the owner of Ladybug Design, a full-service resume-writing firm. Email resume or job-search questions to dearsam@arkansasonline.com. To find out more about Nolan, visit www. ladybug-design.com.