Cover Letter Employment Gap

Cover Letter Employment Gap

Job seekers are at even more pressure than ever to have stellar resumes, but unfortunately, many also have noticeable issues with their work history. Whether this is from being laid off, personal leave, or other reasons, these gaps do need to be addressed up front. Attempting to gloss over them may give employers the wrong idea, perhaps that you are unable to hold down a steady job. For your resume, cover letter, and interviews, here are four tips for handling work history problems:

1. If you have small gaps of just a few weeks, leave those off your resume. Use just years for your employment dates. This can be particularly helpful if you were unemployed for less than six months while job searching or on personal/medical leave, and the issue may never come up in an interview.

2. If you've held multiple jobs in a short period of time, address this in your cover letter. If you had the same job title at several companies, it can be much more effective to use a list-style resume wherein you list company names and dates under individual job titles. This technique helps avoid confusion and gives your resume a more structured, streamlined appearance.

3. For job seekers who have been unemployed while on leave, address this very succinctly in your resume, and give more details in your cover letter or at an interview. You don't need to give a lot of detail, but be honest. Don't avoid the issue, simply state something such as, "I took a year off to care for a sick relative."

4. When you find yourself in an employment gap for whatever reason, try to stay active. Some may choose to follow a path of career enrichment, such as taking training courses or attending industry seminars. If you've been laid off and can't afford to do either, try volunteering. Lending your time and effort to a worthy cause you support is not only good for self-esteem while you're unemployed, it looks good to potential employers and may even put you in contact with people who can help you. You don't have to volunteer at something career-related, just something that you genuinely care about, whether that's political activism, disease awareness, helping animals, or just giving some of your time to a library, school, hospital or other institution.

cover letter employment gap

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