It’s late but never too late

March 27th, 2009

Well, I was going to try for a whole year between posts, but things being what they are…I couldn’t help myself.

Since my last post, I’ve had a baby, made approximately 2 gigalitres of baby food, changed 4.1 million nappies, recreated and rebalanced our household budget, and played My Little Pony far too many times with my 4-yr old. That’s a whole lot of activity….but does any of it translate onto a resume?

That is the question. Whether tis nobler to skip reasons for an ‘absence’ from the workplace, or suffer the slings and arrows of prospective employers raising their eyebrows….William Shakespeare notwithstanding (one wonders if The Bard himself ever had a spot of non-work to account for), it bears pondering.

Look, no one wants to hear more verbage about the financial crisis, but I can’t ignore the fact that in an uncertain time, there’s a good chance that those who have been on the sidelines are probably warming up to get back into the employment game.

If you’re new or returning to the playing field, here are a few hints:

1) Absences. The general rule of thumb is NOT to mention a period away from employment in your resume. If you feel that the year you took off to travel the world, care for a relative, have a baby, or simply ‘find yourself’ needs to be addressed, do so in your cover letter.

2) Rookies. There are lots of young people - and some older, too - who probably don’t have very many jobs (if any!) to fatten out their Work Histories….like Jessica, who recently emailed with just this problem. One suggestion: look at the specific classes you’ve taken, and include them (rather than simply saying ‘graduated from High School, 2008.’) More on this in my next blog.

3) Comeback Kids. If you’ve spent years lost in the land of My Little Pony as you raise your kids, renovating your resume might feel downright depressing. How can you possibly explain a 1, 2 or 10 year gap to raise kids? Look carefully at your time away from the office, and think laterally. Did you help in your kids’ classes/tuck shop? Were you part of any committees at school? Did you replan your household budget when the global crisis hit (as I did)?

These seemingly non-jobby activities contain valuable skills/activities within. Delve deep to find a few gems to add to your resume. Basic accounting/financial planning/working within a budget are valuable skills, as are operating a till/ordering stock (for those who helped in tuck shop) and working well within a team/leading a team (school committees). And none of these things would look like a stretch on a resume. In fact, they’re all the same sorts of skills a currently employed person might list.

Ok, so maybe some things, like playing  My Little Pony, will just have to stay off your resume. But Researching, Planning and Leading Age-Appropriate Enrichment Activities might.

Happy job hunting!

–> Kristin

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