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Hi, LoveBoating. I'm kinda new to this website and 'chat forums' in general so I'll try but it’s hard to be concise here. First, don't worry about the 5 month thing. I'm 47 and have lived in many cities and in the past 10 years have suffered 8 lay-offs and reorgs. There are creative things one can do anytime. I created these on my resume not to "MAKE myself look good" (just immature career-management-speak) - but to make myself STAY looking good!
Here are some ways I formatted my resume which companies and staffing firms have said was helpful:
Related Work Experience
Title, company, location, years employed (relocation)
yadda-yadda-yadda (your responsibilities)
I like doing the part in parenthesis b/c it’s my way of screening THEM. I can tell who is serious about me and who isn't. When one of their gals interviewing starts whining "how come you MOVED so much! Why did you work over here one year and blah-blah-blah…” I can reply, Oh, that's on my resume. Do you see where it says (plant closure)? Right there next to what I did? Then they get real quiet and I know they didn’t read it and I'm applying at a dud place and can move on. In your case, I'd maybe put (relocation). Just play around with different short phrases, don't feel you must explain yourself right off the bat. That could mean relocation b/c of a job or for a personal reason, the latter of which is, technically, none of their business.
Additionally, this is a good way of creating just a bit of passive curiosity about yourself. You’re not spilling too much and not withholding either - nor are you putting lots of verbage in your resume by explaining that now you‘re doing this b/c you still needed to keep working, etc. That way, during an interview (not before), you will have the chance to expound. You want your resumé to fairly represent you. By not putting enough of the positive (job details) yet too much of the negative (unemployment details) it’s just not fair to yourself.
Another format I use where jobs haven’t been related to my main industry is to, after listing the meat of my past job experiences, place the temp or unrelated work experience at the very end (even if it’s not chronological, don’t worry, the HR folks don’t get as bent out of shape over that as people say). It could look like this:
ASSIGNMENTS DURING LAYOFFS (or in your case it would be "family relocation" or whatever you decided to call it): title, company, place, years - job responsibilities; title (#2), company, place, years - job responsibilities; title (#3), company, place, years - job responsibilities
OR
CORPORATE-RELATED WORK EXPERIENCE
2000-2002 - BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION – MONTANA, 2000, KENTUCKY, 2001-2002
Agencies like this b/c it shows you are WORKING, even if you don't have enough space to list out the responsibilities. I've worked for agencies for over 15 years, successfully. Don’t feel or get beaten up simply b/c you are working in a diff. area or had a few hiccups or time for breathing in between; hiccups are allowed (and breathing). Basically, you’re still working. I don’t believe our identity is the work itself, but I believe our approach to work reflects our identity. That said, I’m currently wrestling through some emotional job despondency as I look for steady employ between back-to-back layoffs. Boy, there are just some really bad recruiting firm attitudes out there! In general, I'm finding that male headhunters are more civil - and I’m a woman! I know I’ll get flung for saying that, but it’s not sexist, it just so happens that - well, that’s what I keep seeing as the general rule. (Yet, I have seen a couple great HR gals.) Good luck with your resume-writing!
Hi, LoveBoating. I'm kinda new to this website and 'chat forums' in general so I'll try but it’s hard to be concise here. First, don't worry about the 5 month thing. I'm 47 and have lived in many cities and in the past 10 years have suffered 8 lay-offs and reorgs. There are creative things one can do anytime. I created these on my resume not to "MAKE myself look good" (just immature career-management-speak) - but to make myself STAY looking good!
Here are some ways I formatted my resume which companies and staffing firms have said was helpful:
Related Work Experience
Title, company, location, years employed (relocation)
yadda-yadda-yadda (your responsibilities)
I like doing the part in parenthesis b/c it’s my way of screening THEM. I can tell who is serious about me and who isn't. When one of their gals interviewing starts whining "how come you MOVED so much! Why did you work over here one year and blah-blah-blah…” I can reply, Oh, that's on my resume. Do you see where it says (plant closure)? Right there next to what I did? Then they get real quiet and I know they didn’t read it and I'm applying at a dud place and can move on. In your case, I'd maybe put (relocation). Just play around with different short phrases, don't feel you must explain yourself right off the bat. That could mean relocation b/c of a job or for a personal reason, the latter of which is, technically, none of their business.
Additionally, this is a good way of creating just a bit of passive curiosity about yourself. You’re not spilling too much and not withholding either - nor are you putting lots of verbage in your resume by explaining that now you‘re doing this b/c you still needed to keep working, etc. That way, during an interview (not before), you will have the chance to expound. You want your resumé to fairly represent you. By not putting enough of the positive (job details) yet too much of the negative (unemployment details) it’s just not fair to yourself.
Another format I use where jobs haven’t been related to my main industry is to, after listing the meat of my past job experiences, place the temp or unrelated work experience at the very end (even if it’s not chronological, don’t worry, the HR folks don’t get as bent out of shape over that as people say). It could look like this:
ASSIGNMENTS DURING LAYOFFS (or in your case it would be "family relocation" or whatever you decided to call it): title, company, place, years - job responsibilities; title (#2), company, place, years - job responsibilities; title (#3), company, place, years - job responsibilities
OR
CORPORATE-RELATED WORK EXPERIENCE
2000-2002 - BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION – MONTANA, 2000, KENTUCKY, 2001-2002
Agencies like this b/c it shows you are WORKING, even if you don't have enough space to list out the responsibilities. I've worked for agencies for over 15 years, successfully. Don’t feel or get beaten up simply b/c you are working in a diff. area or had a few hiccups or time for breathing in between; hiccups are allowed (and breathing). Basically, you’re still working. I don’t believe our identity is the work itself, but I believe our approach to work reflects our identity. That said, I’m currently wrestling through some emotional job despondency as I look for steady employ between back-to-back layoffs. Boy, there are just some really bad recruiting firm attitudes out there! In general, I'm finding that male headhunters are more civil - and I’m a woman! I know I’ll get flung for saying that, but it’s not sexist, it just so happens that - well, that’s what I keep seeing as the general rule. (Yet, I have seen a couple great HR gals.) Good luck with your resume-writing!
Good luck with everything - I know that something perfect will come for you; believe that it will, and it will come to fruition.
Good Lord, you are a bastion of hope, aren't you. I already know (from another post of yours) that your employer horses around more "mature" applicants and doesn't hire them. It would be more ethical and honest if they just told them that they're "unemployable" by their standards, but of course, they wouldn't do that because we can't have them sued for age discrimination, can we. It is human nature to want to be around winners, but people that discriminate aren't winners, they're the TURKEYS of society, not the eagles who others wish to soar with. You might want to check to see who you associate with. It doesn't sound to me like you're soaring with the eagles, sounds more like you're hanging around losers.
Donna7 - your awesome. I love it when you forum-chat. Everything you say is right on the money. (Thank you.)
Ever thought of your own show!? We need more sane people like you. Truly.
(It's transparent when people begin "i've done such-and-such for years" as if the rest of us are gonna prostrate.)
Good luck with everything - I know that something perfect will come for you; believe that it will, and it will come to fruition.
Was that for me or him? If for me, thanks.
(S.times discouragement can so change [almost] one's personality, so you're absolutely right about the faith part. That's just HUGE.)
Thx. again (if for me).
(S.times discouragement can so change [almost] one's personality, so you're absolutely right about the faith part. That's just HUGE.)
Thx. again (if for me).
Oh, you're funny, you made me chuckle. I didn't get back to this thread, earlier, sorry about that. My post was definitely for YOU (and anyone else who needs encouragement), but definitely directed to you. Anyways, I re-read your post about how to arrange your resume, and I think it is right on the money. When one has lived long enough on this earth, you have to learn how to "package" yourself, right? Celebrities are constantly re-inventing themselves, trying to stay marketable. The same things goes for us peons in my book. Whatever it takes, as long as it takes, as long as it's moving towards your goal. I sincerely wish you much abundance in all forms, in all things that hold value and are true to you. Peace.
I guess it all depends on how you say it - I found out i was pregnant in april of 05 (unexpectedly), quit my job without notice (so i could lie in bed in denial) and didn't work again until Jan. 07. I list my gap as Family Management. If they ask what that means, I explain that I was pregnant and a full-time college student and I chose to stay home with my son while I completed my degree.
However, I have a friend who was unemployed for about 7 months after her daughter was born and she put "maternity" or "medical" on hers and employers always question hers.
I guess it all depends on how you say it - I found out i was pregnant in april of 05 (unexpectedly), quit my job without notice (so i could lie in bed in denial) and didn't work again until Jan. 07. I list my gap as Family Management. If they ask what that means, I explain that I was pregnant and a full-time college student and I chose to stay home with my son while I completed my degree.
However, I have a friend who was unemployed for about 7 months after her daughter was born and she put "maternity" or "medical" on hers and employers always question hers.
Family Management? I really like that. I may have "borrow" that.
Thanks
I wouldn't hide anything. Don't worry as your look in a specailized field and this is common. Your experience is a plus. I have to disagree with the age thing because many want experiance other than those wanting a apprentice at a lower starting salary.Mostly the lower positon jobs are the ones that they use computer generated elimination to eliminate applicants.
Oh, you're funny, you made me chuckle. I didn't get back to this thread, earlier, sorry about that. My post was definitely for YOU (and anyone else who needs encouragement), but definitely directed to you. Anyways, I re-read your post about how to arrange your resume, and I think it is right on the money. When one has lived long enough on this earth, you have to learn how to "package" yourself, right? Celebrities are constantly re-inventing themselves, trying to stay marketable. The same things goes for us peons in my book. Whatever it takes, as long as it takes, as long as it's moving towards your goal. I sincerely wish you much abundance in all forms, in all things that hold value and are true to you. Peace.
Yes, we peons! (too funny!)
Thanks, again Donna7. I agree with your comments about how we package ourselves. I had some staffing firm recruiters actually be the ones to help me and they told me “hey, you’re not an assistant [peon]! You’re really an executive [peon].
Also, around that time I was reading Martin Yate's "Knock 'Em Dead Resumés". Yate mentioned the importance of using power verbs instead of passive-sounding ones. I realized I hadn’t done that and that a better term than “power verbs” was ‘truth verbs’ (I do cringe when I hear the clichés ‘power-dressing‘, ‘power verbs', etc.). I realized that, in effect, by sounding passive about my skills I was actually LYING about my skills. So, that book and the two headhunters really helped me see what I had accomplished -- far more than I was giving myself credit for! Which was a pretty sappy fact during a pretty thrilling revelation!!
The problem gaps are when you "took 3 months off to hang out". We just passed on an otherwise-good candidate who did just that.
I just "took 3 months off to hang out" (actually 2 months). I did my first interview yesterday in the same field I've worked for the last 2 years and got the job on the spot. Although I did not tell them I was "hanging out", I told them I needed the time off to contemplate and think out my future, what I really want to do. They told me that they thought I did a good thing and were so glad to have me.
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