Handling Resume Issues

Not everyone’s career history fits nicely in chronological order on 1-2 pages. Here are some useful tips to creating a fantastic resume when you have work gaps, too much information to list, or other issues.

A Gap in Your Work History
Leave the gap unexplained on your resume, but be prepared to answer questions regarding the gap. If your time out was for education or involvement in community activities, think about the skills you gained and be ready to describe the value added to a potential employer.
Too Many Former Jobs to List
Your resume should not be more than 2 pages. You should only list the parts of your background that relate to your current career objective, with special emphasis on the last 10 years’ experience. Limit earlier achievements to those that are noteworthy and relevant to your target job.
All Experience Has Been With One Company
List your accomplishments and change in job titles as applicable, in chronological order, to show progression within the company. Emphasize the different responsibilities and functions of each job, and note different departments you worked at to show your experience in different business environments.
Job Experience Does Not Relate to Target Job
Identify the functional skills and experience that can be transferred to the new job. Highlight or list those skills separately. If you have a lot of transferable skills from previous jobs, list those functional skills and related jobs in chronological order to showcase your abilites and accomplishments that support a new career path.

Kelly Garrett has built a successful career both online and offline, and has savvy tips on the best online jobsites, career resources, working with recruiters, and more. Go to (http://www.jobmedley.com) to find great jobs, resumes, career tools, and resources, and more.