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Find a Career This Summer (Even If You’ve Been Out of Work)

Don’t let those summer doldrums get you down. In fact, summertime offers a great opportunity to find a new job or career, even if you’ve been unemployed for a while. You simply need to focus on a resume – and candidacy – that successfully handles any employment gaps in your work history.

With a successful summer job search in mind, here are a few insights and ideas aimed at finding a great new job, whatever holes might lurk over your career. An honest and forthright approach definitely works wonders. Soon, a great new career will be yours!

Handling Gaps in Your Professional History

Recruiters typically take only a minute or two to scan a resume. If they find multiple employment gaps in the experience section, they typically toss that candidate’s chances into the circular file. Even if not, these gaps are red flags serving as a tiebreaker when deciding between two equally qualified professionals.

One strategy for handling work history gaps involves removing the months from your professional experience. This essentially streamlines that section of your resume, while helping to keep a recruiter interested in you as a candidate. However, be prepared to talk honestly about your work history when it comes up during an interview.

It is also smart to address any employment gaps in your cover letter, especially if they happen over the new year. Once again, be straightforward. Explain the reason for the gap clearly and confidently, just like you would during an interview.

You need to consider the fact that a recruiter sometimes ignores a cover letter if they need to review a hundred resumes. In this situation, explaining an employment gap on the resume makes sense. Just include it in chronological order with the rest of your work experience, with a clear explanation of the reasons behind the gap.

The Important Thing Is to Be Remembered by the Recruiter

Including employment gaps in order in your professional history is a unique approach sure to make you remembered by a recruiter. Whether you took a professional sabbatical or were dealing with a family situation, providing a summary explaining the reason also helps. The important thing is to not feel embarrassed by your gaps and keep a positive attitude when explaining them on a resume, a cover letter, or in person.

If you need additional advice with a summer job search, talk to the helpful recruiters at Venteon. As one of the top technical staffing agencies in the Midwest, we also know the companies looking for talented pros like you. Click to check out our current job openings.

 

 

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