One of the hardest obstacles to overcome when looking for a job is being unemployed in the first place. The discomfort and possible insecurity that particular entry on a résumé can generate can often demoralize and demotivate an energetic job search.

Whether you were ‘downsized,’ you were fired or you resigned, cover those employment gaps in the cover letter before they’re ‘accidentally discovered.’ Forthright honesty can often provide the leverage into a job instead of out of one.

Downsized

One of the easiest unemployment reasons to cover, downsizing can usually be explained simply and concisely, but do not exaggerate or lie. Mention the unemployed period in the cover letter. Tell the receiver about it before they discover it on your résumé.

Being a victim of downsizing is often beyond the individual’s control. Mention specifically that your position was eliminated when the employer reduced its workforce, whether you were on good terms with the employer and if you enjoy a rehire status, should a similar position become available.

A sample sentence might read:

My position as Engineering Team Leader was eliminated when XYZ Corporation reduced its workforce in September 2010. Because I left on good terms, I am eligible for rehire but have chosen to pursue other options which has led me to the opportunity with your organization.

If you don’t know if you have a rehire status, contact the former employer and ask. Most people, however, know when they’re let go if they qualify.

Terminated

More difficult to overcome than a lay-off, the keys to resolving this issue starts at the same point. You should be the one to mention it first. The reason for leaving the position listed on the application should be truthful, and your addressing it early may be just enough to earn at least an interview.

When mentioning that you were fired, give a concise outline of the exact reason. Admit exactly what you did wrong and what you learned from it—how you would handle that situation or outright avoid it in the future. Hard lessons are learned more deeply, and you’ve learned yours well.

Introducing the issue in your cover letter is no guarantee that you would progress along the hiring trail, but at least you hid nothing that could later get you fired for presenting false information, and your bravery would be admired.

Medical Leave

You are not required in any circumstances to explain the medical condition that prompted your medically-based departure. No employer can require you to surrender your right to privacy of medical matters.

However, explain that your medical condition prompted reconsideration of your employment—if you weren’t fired for absenteeism. Note that the issue is no longer acute or that you have been cleared to return to work.

Resignation

If you’re the parent who resigned a position to stay at home with the children, note that. Detail in the cover letter what functions you performed, qualities you developed or skills learned from the experience that would benefit the prospective employer.

If you left on moral grounds, state simply that you disagreed with certain administrative, supervisory, or financial policies and chose to leave the employer after a two-week notice. Do not disclose or discuss confidential information. You might be well tempted to divulge the details, but you’d be gossiping—not a good thing in either a cover letter or an interview.

Summary

These tips are effective enough more often than not to gain a foothold into the position—receiving an invitation to interview.

Always note periods of unemployment on a résumé between periods of employment. List as many related tasks performed during that period as legitimately possible. As always, honesty is the best policy.

About the Author

JC Ryan is a freelance writer for MyCollegesandCareers.com. My Colleges and Careers helps people determine if an online education is right for them and helps them search for online degrees that can help them reach their goals.

In today’s turbulent economic times, workers frequently find themselves laid off or coping with pay cuts. Staying afloat amidst the sea of cutthroat job competition grows more difficult each day. Knowing how to navigate such stormy seas is crucial for career success.

What is the solution to such a situation? Transferable skills, silly. That’s right; you have a veritable goldmine of goodies that are very valuable to employers. Class has now commenced. Today’s lesson is a crash course in showcasing multiple talents to your maximum advantage.

Make Your List And Check It Twice

Your first task is constructing a comprehensive list of all skills obtained and maintained in your current or past jobs. Don’t forget related tasks not explicitly stated in the job description. For instance, competent medical professionals must be highly organized and detail-oriented.

Likewise, secretaries and switchboard operators have exceptional communications and analytical skills. Sales professionals have highly-honed persuasive skills. Construction workers have physical endurance and stamina that make fabulous fits for factory foreman jobs.

After conducting a thorough inventory of transferable skills, take stock of your accumulated knowledge. You may have heard the oft-quoted truism that “knowledge is power.” Class, this truism is total truth. It is more accurate in today’s Information Age than ever before. Knowing about things is worth a lot more than you may think.

Think about it: if a major piece of machinery malfunctions at a huge industrial plant, how much dough do you think it costs that company? Such snafus often add up to huge sums wasted on paying idle workers. Lost revenues due to disrupted production complete the sad picture. Prior assembly line experience would prove invaluable, as practical expertise could affect a quick cure.

Technology-based jobs are especially fertile fodder for those seeking significant adjustments to their vocational sights. If you are a former graphics designer, website designing may be just the right field to design your new career plans around. Are you a bored journalist who is burned out on the hustle and bustle of the news scene? Break onto a new scene as an online writer.

Whether you follow the freelance or captive route, you may freely select the subjects that are especially dear to your heart. Take pride in plying the trade of accurate information dissemination to millions of internet-surfing inquiring minds. With luck and persistence, you may soon see your name in lights as you make major headlines with your very own site or blog column.

The possibilities are endless. Accountants emerge as actuaries; secretaries undergo major metamorphoses into magazine editors; displaced loan officers develop into economics instructors.

A Helping Hand From Uncle Sam

The Dictionary of Occupational Titles (“DOT”) is an official publication of the U.S. Department of Labor. Guess what, class? It is the same exact book employed by vocational experts in analyzing someone’s employment history. The process is known as “transferable skills analysis” (“TSA”). For an in-depth explanation of TSA and a free download of the DOT manual, visit dol.gov.

Job-related things and activities are categorized by materials, products, subject matter, and services. These four data designations are then developed into a general “profile” that identifies a probable range of suitable career paths. Specialized software can help further refine the range of options by factoring in your individual level of proficiency in specific aptitudes such as math, language, and reading.

Varying work conditions and job-related functions may also be added to the mix. MVQS (McCroskey Vocational Quotient System), Skilltran, and OASYS are a few such software packages.

Formulate your plan of attack with proper planning and advance analysis. Rigorously adhere to a recipe of combined tenacity, persistence, and creativity. By doing so, you can be off and running after a smooth landing onto the runway of your new occupational surroundings. Happy flying; I wish you a safe, satisfying, and very rewarding trip. Class is hereby dismissed.

Crissie C. Luckey is a freelance writer for MyCollegesandCareers.com. My Colleges and Careers helps people determine if an online education is right for them and helps them understand which online courses and online schools they can choose from to reach their goals.

Time out from work is something that all of us may have to contend with on our resumes at any time. There are a wide range of different reasons why time out of employment might be necessary. These might include the birth of a child, taking care of a sick person, taking time out to travel or recovering from illness, among others. Or, more commonly right now, you may have been fired due to downsizing in this depressed economy.

Whatever the reason for your absence, you need to be able to handle it in a way that does not put the employer off, particularly in the current job market. Anything that can strike one more candidate off the list easily is an opportunity that a recruiter will take. Presenting downtime in your career in an effective manner has never been more important.

Where gaps exist in your employment history, it is often best just to be straightforward and direct about it, of course being sure to put a positive spin on what happened. If you were fired because you and your boss couldn’t see eye to eye, it is probably best not to say that in exactly that way, or you may be labeled as “difficult” or considered to not be a team player. Simon left his job due to continual difficulties with his manager. On his resume, he presented the positive steps that he had taken during his time out to find another job. He said,

“I didn’t have too many issues finding another job, because on my resume I listed the projects I worked on in my gap time, which included building my own website. At the interview, I told my new employer the truth, which was that I did not see an opportunity for growth, and I wanted to pursue new goals.”

Some experts argue that where a resume is patchy, the best solution is to use a “functional” resume rather than a chronological one. Listing jobs by function instead of in chronological order makes it harder for employers to spot gaps, especially smaller holes. This is particularly true when you consider that most employers will only look over your resume for a few seconds. With this type of resume, the gap may not be identified until the interview, and once you have your foot in the door, you have a better chance of getting the job.

At an interview, you will almost certainly be asked about gaps. Whatever the hole in your resume, you need to try and present it in a positive light. Michelle took time off while she raised her small child. She took two years out of her business management career to do this. Michelle said,

“After taking a year out when Beth was born, I realized that it wouldn’t be easy to sell this time off, despite the fact that I think motherhood is important in society. So I enrolled myself on an evening class in project management. This way, I’m gaining new skills to help ease me back into the workplace.”

As a result of her actions, Michelle will be able to demonstrate to recruiters that she continued to take an interest in her professional development during her gap, and that she is committed to getting back into the workforce.

If you are currently on a gap from work, you should try to find some constructive activities to keep yourself occupied and show prospective employers that you have used your time well:

Volunteering

One activity that usually goes over well with employers, is volunteering. This is particularly helpful for your resume if you want to gain new skills. Volunteering in order to add new strings to your bow is highly commendable and shows prospective employers that you are committed to your goals.

Learning

You might also consider taking a class in order to increase your skill set. Since you’ll be free during the day, you will potentially have a wider range of options open to you, as your hours may be more flexible. Taking a language or other very practical class can only serve to make you more employable.

Contract Working

Alternatively you might consider working on a short-term contract (temping) basis while you are unemployed. This may help you to gain new skills, it could lead to a full time, permanent position, or in the worst case it will simply help you to make ends meet while you are unemployed.

Brushing Up Your Resume

While you are working on your resume, it might be a god idea to check out our sample resumes database, which has a number of examples to get your resume completed.

What a resume should look like for a recent college grad with little to no experience?

As a new graduate seeking your first career job, it can be hard to know what to put on your resume. You’re told frequently to keep your resume to one page, but it can be very difficult to know what to fill that page with if you have no experience. Bear in mind that employers seeking recent graduates know that you have little or no experience. They’d be very surprised to see a resume packed with work experience. That said, there are some snippets of information that they do want to know about you, and these are what you should focus on:

1. Employment Objective

A nice addition to the top of your resume is an employment objective. This is one sentence which states what you are trying to achieve to your potential employer. This is also a great way to tailor your resume to the job that you are applying for, making it specific to each job. It might say something like:

To secure a role in an organization that will provide opportunities in the field of X.

X may be journalism, accounting, biochemistry or anything else that you wish to substitute it with.

2. Academic Qualifications

You’ve just graduated and one of the areas that your potential employer will look first is your academic qualifications. This should be located in the top third of your resume, where the employer’s eye is automatically drawn. If you have a GPA of 3.4, 3.5 or above, it is worth including that information. If not, you may want to consider leaving it out.

Other academic information that employers may be interested in include honors and awards won, or recognition for special academic achievements. If you studied abroad for a semester or year, or even just for a few weeks, it’s worth including. This is especially true if you studied in another language. This experience demonstrates to most potential employers that you are versatile and resilient.

3. Internship Experience

A graduate with internship experience shows that they are able to commit to and operate in the world of work for a period of time, and depending on the experience, can show that they are committed to a particular career. Internships should be listed on your resume. For each internship, pick out two or three achievements or assignments that you enjoyed working on, or better still, that are directly relevant to this specific application, and include them. Try to focus on achievements where possible, rather than on tasks performed. It will make you stand out a bit from the crowd. Any responsibilities over and above the internship requirements can be highlighted.

4. Extra-Curricular Activities and Volunteering

During your university days, you probably took part in a number of activities outside of your studies. Perhaps you worked on the student paper? Maybe you captained the football team? Alternatively, perhaps you mentored disadvantaged teenagers, or did some fundraising or organized an event? The first is professional experience and should be highlighted, especially if you can demonstrate specific skills that may be useful to your current application. The second shows leadership experience, which may be of significant interest to an employer. Mentoring is a very useful skill and so the third should also not be left off your resume. Event organizing demonstrates planning, organizing and follow-through. There is a never ending list of activities or volunteering that you may have been involved with during your university career. Think about these carefully and include them if they can demonstrate important transferable skills to this job.

5. Skills

Don’t forget your skills when finalizing your resume. Most roles have a list of skills that the ideal candidate will have. These may include relatively standard software packages such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. They might include more sophisticated packages such as Quark or Adobe Suites. Alternatively, the skills sought may be language-based, so don’t leave out any language skills. Whatever your skills, it is usually worth including them in a section on your resume. Sometimes a certain skill might not be required for a particular job, but if your employer sees that you have that skill, it may put you ahead of the game because you can help out in with additional tasks that they had not thought of.

6. Demonstrating Attitudes

Finally, in your resume you will want to demonstrate a certain selection of attitudes that are relevant to most jobs. These may include:

• Flexible
• Team playing
• Multi-tasker
• Ability to communicate verbally and in writing
• Hard working
• Can get along with others

Try to make sure that your resume at least demonstrates all of the above, which are common to most job roles.  And for some additional help you can check out our sample resumes section for tons of templates to get you started.

Good Luck!

ResumeBucket.com now provides users the ability to search for colleges and degree programs.

ResumeBucket College Search Tool

The difficulties of landing a new job in this withering economy can be quite overwhelming. However, such difficult times may be a blessing in disguise. As work in many industries dries up, a growing number of Americans are retraining for new fields in hopes of securing employment, even revisiting the conversation of going back to school!

Forwarding your career has always been the top priority of ResumeBucket.com. Sure, the ability of storing your resume on such a professional, easy to use site and providing you a wide range of job listings specific to your field is great and all… But we’ve decided to take it up a notch and help you find the schools that will forward you on the path to a career you enjoy and love! Begin planning your future by searching for the best colleges that fit who you are and what you’re looking for. Our extensive database makes up a complete college guide of schools throughout the U.S. Once you have found the right college or university, request free information and start down your new path. Learn more about your current career, get qualified to travel up the business ladder, or just start something new. With the new College Search feature onResumeBucket.com, searching for ways to expand your career couldn’t be easier.

Give it a try and let us know what you think.

Best regards,

ResumeBucket

Hey Everyone, hope everyone had a great new Years..

Last night we added a simple feature that will allows you to share your resume to many many social networks and blog outlets.

Now, if you look @ your resume page, in this case (resumebucket.com/joshstomel) you will notice at the top right a little feature looking like this:

Now, when you click it, you will see this;

This feature will allow you to post your resume in to your Facebook profile, myspace and more….

If you are looking to gain more eyeballs, use this feature and place it on your blog, your Facebook account, your Myspace account and more.

This will help you gain traction on potentially getting a job, or even sharing your background with others! Get to work!