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I’m wondering how I should handle employment gaps in my resume. I’ve probably had near 30 jobs in the past 10 years but I’m only putting the ones that are either relevant to my job search or I was there for a significant time, but by doing this it causes me to have huge gaps. For example, the first one was from March 2002 – August of 2003. That’s over a year of unemployment. Basically it was my freshmen year of college, so I chose not to work but then after that I did a work-study job on campus. I did those several times throughout my education but I didn’t list them because each one was only a semester long and was often in different departments with different managers. I have another gap from May 05 – Jan 06 where I had my son and again chose not to work – in that time frame I did have a part-time filing job at a doctor’s office (friend of my mom’s) but again I didn’t want to put it on there because it was only for about 4 months. The last one was Sept 06 – Feb. 07; which was my last semester of college and my reading requirements were so heavy I chose to quit my job and focus on school. All of my jobs, I left voluntarily and I’ve gone back to some of them several times (seasonal or summer jobs) but I’m afraid if I put too many I’ll look like a job hopper – if I put only the pertinent ones I’ll have huge unexcused gaps. My mom suggested putting my work experience was concurrent with my education and leaving it at that, but I’m wondering if I should explain all these gaps upfront or just wait until I’m asked.
Thirty jobs?! What kind of jobs? That does really sound like job hopping, but I don't want to jump to conclusions. I think I read that the average U.S. worker changes jobs every two years, but that's every four months for you, not even counting the gaps in employment you mentioned.
It sounds like you graduated school in early 2007, so how is your employment since then? And what kind of job are you trying to get? If it's something entry-level, it might not matter how much experience you have. Lots of students don't work while they're in school. Most of my job applications have asked for the last three to five jobs. Jobs that are many years old aren't terribly relevant unless you've done more of the same since then.
Can you give more insight into what was going on? Being fired a lot or quitting a lot would definitely raise some red flags for me, but I don't know what kind of position you're going for or what these past jobs were.
Thirty jobs?! What kind of jobs? That does really sound like job hopping, but I don't want to jump to conclusions. I think I read that the average U.S. worker changes jobs every two years, but that's every four months for you, not even counting the gaps in employment you mentioned.
It sounds like you graduated school in early 2007, so how is your employment since then? And what kind of job are you trying to get? If it's something entry-level, it might not matter how much experience you have. Lots of students don't work while they're in school. Most of my job applications have asked for the last three to five jobs. Jobs that are many years old aren't terribly relevant unless you've done more of the same since then.
Can you give more insight into what was going on? Being fired a lot or quitting a lot would definitely raise some red flags for me, but I don't know what kind of position you're going for or what these past jobs were.
Well I started working when I was 15 and the majority of the jobs I had during high school were summer jobs or part-time night jobs I got through friends of the family. When I started college I did work-study, but during the breaks (for example winter break is about 6 weeks) I would do seasonal work at a retail store. In the summer’s I would 2 jobs because I was only taking 1 or 2 classes but when the fall semester started I would leave one or both. A lot of times when my schedule changed, I wasn’t able to keep the job I had, for example I was working at a call center that was only open 5:30 – 9 M-F and I had to take a class that was only offered 6 – 8 pm on Tuesdays & Thursdays.
I graduated in Dec. 06 – I worked for a temp agency through most of 2007 and have been at my current job since November of 2007; I picked up a second job in June 08 and am still there – it’s complicated, which is why I was trying to make sure I didn’t complicate my resume by adding too much info.
I would tend to agree with your mom and not worry about the gaps that happened while you were in school. Just list the most relevant jobs. You might say that you held a variety of short-term jobs to support yourself while in school without listing each one - that would show that you're industrious without cluttering up your resume.
I would tend to agree with your mom and not worry about the gaps that happened while you were in school. Just list the most relevant jobs. You might say that you held a variety of short-term jobs to support yourself while in school without listing each one - that would show that you're industrious without cluttering up your resume.
I like that! I think I'll put that in my cover letter and say that dates and references are available upon request cause I did get some great referral letters from some of those Thanks
Well I started working when I was 15 and the majority of the jobs I had during high school were summer jobs or part-time night jobs I got through friends of the family. When I started college I did work-study, but during the breaks (for example winter break is about 6 weeks) I would do seasonal work at a retail store. In the summer’s I would 2 jobs because I was only taking 1 or 2 classes but when the fall semester started I would leave one or both. A lot of times when my schedule changed, I wasn’t able to keep the job I had, for example I was working at a call center that was only open 5:30 – 9 M-F and I had to take a class that was only offered 6 – 8 pm on Tuesdays & Thursdays.
I graduated in Dec. 06 – I worked for a temp agency through most of 2007 and have been at my current job since November of 2007; I picked up a second job in June 08 and am still there – it’s complicated, which is why I was trying to make sure I didn’t complicate my resume by adding too much info.
Well, that sounds perfectly normal to me. You worked a lot of part-time and seasonal jobs while you went to school. Nothing wrong with that.
You could just have one entry for Work/Study Employment and then list the type of jobs. For instance:
Work/Study Program - Sept 2000 to May 2007 - clerk at Macy's, receptionist at doctor's office, call center customer service rep for Citibank, vet tech at Pet Hospital, etc.
Put as your start month/year as the first time you did it and the last month/year as the final date even though you may have had some time in there where you weren't on Work/Study.
You have received some interesting advice so far. I worked three different jobs in a span of one year before working for my previous employer for 3 years. Then, I ended up being unemployed for 9 months after I graduated since 1) it was a work-study program and only current students could work and 2) It took me 9 months for me to find a job. I moved to Seattle to find better opportunities, but it turned out to be a total bust since jobs in my field up there were scarce and people were being laid off from Microsoft. I moved back to the small town I was raised in and put down my more relevent jobs on my resume. Most jobs saw that I had a bachelors degree and told me I was over-qualified, but then I got an interview for a marketing assistant position.
During the interview, the Chief Operating Officer looked at me with an unhappy expression and said, "You've been unemployed for the past 9 months? Why have you been unemployed?" I replied, "Sir, I have applied for jobs in Washington DC and even spent 2 months in Seattle looking for a job, but the job market is not exactly strong at the moment. I am a really hard worker and would love to settle down in a company that appreciates my education and skills and I believe your company would be a perfect fit." I was worried at first, but he understood that the economy was bad and now I work for them .
I wouldn't worry about addressing it unless they ask. If they ask then explain to them that you were also going to college at the time and exploring your options, but would like to settle down with a company like theirs.
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