 Looking for a new job in the new year? After a career break — whether voluntary or not, short-term or long-term — explaining resume gaps to hiring managers and recruiters is a common concern. It's also a valid concern. Many workers face employment discrimination when re-entering the workforce, largely because career breaks deviate from the "ideal worker" pattern of continuous employment.
But a recent study in Nature Human Behavior found one resume writing technique that increases the chances of securing an interview for those with resume gaps by 15%. The secret is simple: don't call attention to any gaps by displaying work experience in a different format. Instead of providing the traditional start and stop date of the job (for example, May 2020 — May 2022), researchers listed the number of years the applicant worked in each job. This technique effectively obscured the work gap. Women are particularly impacted by resume gaps due to caring responsibilities, and the prevailing advice is to "explain the gap." While the skills it takes to be a parent undoubtedly translate to the workplace, researchers found no evidence that this strategy works any better than having an unexplained gap. In the eyes of employers, a gap is still a gap. It's time to throw out negative stereotypes regarding employment gaps There's clearly larger work to be done in the diversity & inclusion space to help reduce discriminative hiring practices. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs hosted a roundtable last year to discuss the challenges workers face when re-entering the workforce after unemployment. SHRM published a session round-up highlighting several groups in particular that face discrimination. It's not just women returning from maternity leave. Older workers, those who experience mental health conditions, and ex-prisoners are more likely to face employment discrimination — lengthening their employment gaps. That said, LinkedIn states that job gaps will become increasingly normalized due to a variety of well-founded reasons. Priorities have changed post-pandemic. Many resigned from their roles to focus on more purpose-driven work. Some realized that they wanted to change careers and took time to re-train. And more and more people are taking mental health breaks. Rethinking outdated assumptions Overcoming outdated biases around ideal candidates and the linear career path isn't easy — but businesses can make strides forward. One tip is to take blind resumes one step further. Blind resumes are those that have been stripped of any identifying information so that recruiters are less likely to succumb to any unconscious bias. Recruiters can request that all resumes be submitted with years worked instead of dates. And we would all do well to remember that an employment gap does not necessarily equate to an unskilled candidate. Source: The Top Resume Tip To Overcome Employment Gaps
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 The start of a new year typically means: time to update that resume. How can you tweak your resume (and other application materials) to meet the needs of a dynamic, often uncertain market?
Keep in mind that the longtime rules of resume writing still apply. First and foremost, you should tailor your resume to the requirements of the individual jobs you are applying to; while it’s a time-consuming process to customize every element of your application for each new position, recruiters and hiring managers know instantly when you’re submitting a generic resume for their consideration. Getting someone else to review your resume—whether a friend, mentor, or trusted colleague—is also key. No matter how many times you re-read your writing, chances are good that something will still slip through. A fresh pair of eyes can prevent boneheaded mistakes. But there are other things you can do to ensure your resume stands out at a time when many companies are cutting back on budget and headcount: Emphasize Profits and Cost-Savings Many tech professionals have a direct or indirect impact on a company’s revenue stream. In some cases, the connection is obvious: a software developer builds products that the company sells to businesses or consumers, for instance. In others, the proposition is a bit more subtle, like a sysadmin making decisions about the company’s IT stack that save money or render other operations a lot more efficient. If you’ve ever been in a position to help a company either generate revenue or save money, make sure you note that in the experience section of your resume. For example, a sysadmin or network engineer might write something like, “Made procurement and deployment decisions that reduced company IT spending by 25 percent over five years.” With business executives fearing a potential recession, and companies looking to grow revenue and trim budgets wherever they can, showing that you can impact the bottom line will instantly make you an appealing candidate. Show You’re a Self-Starter If companies respond to economic uncertainty by cutting back on resources (and shrinking teams), they’ll want technologists who can operate effectively despite those constraints. While a breakdown of your self-starting abilities is ultimately best reserved for the job interview itself, you can use your resume’s experience section to hint at your efficiency and ability to get projects done with a minimum of oversight. For example, mention that you’ve completed projects under-budget and within tight schedules; you may also call out how you developed new workflows (or streamlined existing ones) to complete tasks. Whatever tactic you take, make sure you emphasize your independence, critical thinking, and ingenuity. Specialize, Specialize, Specialize No matter what the state of the economy, companies always need talented technologists to fulfill very specialized functions within an organization—whether building websites and apps, protecting the tech stack against internal and external threats, and much more. Before submitting your resume and other application materials, pay close attention to the original job posting—does it list highly specialized skills? If it does, and you know those skills, list them on your resume. It’s a similar thing for specialized functions; for example, if the prospective employer wants someone who’s mastered the intricacies of containerization, and that happens to be your area of expertise, mention that prominently on your resume. |
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