
Gaps in Your Employment History? How to address them in the hiring process.
Hiring for supply chain jobs has been increasing for the past two years, but due to the recession, it’s not unusual to have gaps in your employment history.
With the national unemployment rate only recently dipping below 10%, employers and recruiters should be used to seeing employment gaps on resumes by now—but you’ll still want to explain them.
Here’s how to handle the situation and keep those gaps from harming your chances of getting hired.
Be honest. Always, in an interview, be truthful when presenting your work background. Don’t try to hide the gaps. If you were laid off, don’t omit that job from your resume—but don’t note that you were laid off, either. List the dates you worked, and if interviewers want more details, they’ll ask for them.
Be ready. Interviewers will expect you to be able to explain the gaps in your employment history. Use your common sense. Don’t sit in an interview and tell a potential employer a sob story about all of your faults, weaknesses and mistakes. Prepare and practice an answer that explains the gaps without going into too much detail. If you’ve been out of work because you raised a family, continued your education, cared for a sick family member or recovered from an injury, don’t act apologetic. There’s nothing wrong with taking time off from work for any of these reasons.
Reformat your dates. Instead of laying out your employment history in months and years on your resume, such as March 2006 – January 2010, simply use the years: 2006-2010. First of all, it’s easier to follow and helps your resume look clear and concise. It also doesn’t raise any red flags unnecessarily, if there was an employment gap of a few months. If the interviewer asks about exact dates during the interview, by all means be honest about those months and what you were doing, but there’s no need to wave a red flag to an interviewer.
Regardless of how you present your employment gaps, do so in a positive light. There’s nothing you can do to change the fact that they happened, so the best strategy is to develop a forward-looking resume that shows the value you offer potential employers.
Any more questions about how to find a job in the supply chain industry when you have an imperfect job history? Contact the experts at ZDA today! We’d be happy to help you with your resume—and possibly help you find your ideal job.