A job applicant recently received advice from her colleague that the gaps in her employment history could be easily fixed by “stretching out” the employment dates on her resume. Whilst this sounds simple and innocent enough, it did raise some questions with this person and she asked what I would do.
My opinion is that it doesn’t look good at all to stretch the truth about anything on a resume. From a recruiters point of view, it’s really not such a MASSIVE deal if someone has been unemployed a couple of times.
Sometimes gaps in employment can be explained by things like:
- Caring for another person/family member
- Having children or taking time off to be with kids
- Career change or temping to try a different industry
- Travelling
- Taking time off to study
- Getting married/renovating a house
As you can see, there are many legitimate reasons why someone would stop working for a while and it wouldn’t necessarily ring alarm bells for a prospective employer if the candidate has a good attitude, relevant experience and an otherwise stable employment record.
As for including reasons for unemployment on a resume, it really depends on how long the break was for and whether there have been alot of them. For example, a month or two here and there for travel reasons probably doesn’t need to be explained, whereas longer breaks of 6 months or more should probably be addressed briefly in the resume and then discussed at an interview if it becomes relevant.
It ALWAYS looks bad for the applicant if they try and cover something up because it immediately looks like they’re trying to hide something and any trust is instantly gone. It’s also bad if they lie about referees (for example saying their referee was a previous supervisor but they are really only a team mate).
All it does is raise question marks and makes the recruiter think “Can I trust this person? Probably not, so I won’t take the risk of hiring them”. Most good recruiters WILL check employment dates, job titles & responsibilities.
Honesty is always the best policy. Be diplomatic and positive when dealing with the issue if it does come up in an interview…. here are some suggestions.
“I took a career break for 6 months whilst renovating our house. It was an enormous project and I picked up some valuable skills that can be applied in the workplace such as budgeting and project planning!”
“I travelled overseas for 12 months which was a fantastic life experience! Overcoming language barriers in different countries has really improved my communication and problem solving skills!”
Think outside the square and you’ll come up with a positive response to a perceived negative situation!!
Till next time,
Comments on this entry are closed.