Strategies for Addressing Career Gaps or Weaknesses in a Resume

A lot of us are usually terrified with the question of how to address the career gaps while drafting
the resume content. We are engaged in finding out the best possible strategies or techniques to
make the resume look impressive and strong enough. This article provides useful and engaging
tips on strategies for dealing with the career gaps in one’s resume.

A gap or break in the career for just two to three months may not be a matter of concern but if it
exceeds six months, then surely it gathers the attention of the recruiter and becomes
questionable. Let’s have a look at the possible strategies for dealing with the Career Gaps in the
Resume.

Concentrate on the Strengths or Achievements: A recruiter primarily tries to assess the

possible areas of strengths and the professional achievements across the career. By emphasizing
on the measurable achievements and the demonstrated capabilities at work in the resume, the
possible areas of weaknesses or the gaps can be effectively dealt with. Highlight the
achievements in the first page of the resume itself under the section Noteworthy Highlights to
capture the attention and impression of the recruiter. The positive things are supposed to be
highlighted upfront.

Show Other Engagements: You can highlight the other engagements like higher studies,
independent assignments, contractual work, free lancing, social work or any other involvement in
your resume for satisfactorily explaining the reasons for the career break. Provide crisp and
concise details on the major highlights of the projects which you had undertaken, learning and
skills acquired and how you intend to demonstrate the learnt skills at work. Maintain positivity
and confidence by showing that these engagements provided you a wholesome learning
exposure and will help you in your future professional endeavours.

Develop a Functional Resume instead of a Chronological Resume: A functional resume

usually emphasizes on the job roles and the achievements rather than the work history.
Concentrate more on the proven competencies, the assigned responsibilities and the areas of
exposure, which will allow the recruiter to have a fairer idea about your talents and
competencies.

Concentrating more on the Relevant Job Experiences and Skipping the Less Relevant
Experiences: This section requires proper prioritisation of content and presentation of the
content by using a catchy or a unique resume format. The leadership experience, achievements
which can be quantified, compared on a relative basis are supposed to be highlighted
impressively. If the organization’s name or the designation is really attention catching, then the
same can be presented by using eye-catching formatting tips or tricks. A visual resume can work
wonders in this case.

Be Genuine and Use a Crisp Overtone: You can cite out the reasons of your career gap in the
cover letter instead of describing it in the resume. Try to use a professional, crisp and a positive
tonality while explaining the reasons for the career gap. Do not exaggerate or give too much of
explanations, as this could be taken otherwise.