Career Corner: What is the best way to explain a gap in your resume?

by Sharon Armstrong
owner, Sharon Armstrong and Associates
author, The Essential HR Handbook
January 2010

In the last issue of Career Corner, I asked for feedback from readers who had questions about any question they had regarding looking for a new job. Among them was “How should one effectively use social media in a job search?”

Here are a few more questions that intrigued me, and hopefully will provide some great insight for job seekers. Please keep them coming!

And this just in: My questions are being published on a new online magazine for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs called Be Inkandescent. Check it out! Who knows — your next question just might be posted on it. Send any career-related to me at Sharon@SharonArmstrongAndAssociates.com.

Question: What is the best way to explain a gap in your resume – meaning if you have been out of work for a period of time, due to whatever reason, how best to illustrate that?

Career Corner: Ask the Expert

Question: How should one effectively use social media in a job search?

Sharon says: I would focus on LinkedIn (not Facebook) for job search. Build a complete profile, ask former supervisors and colleagues who know your work to write a testimonial for you (employers check these) and build your network. Join targeted groups (many post job openings). Some clients announce that they are looking for their next great job opportunity as their update. Also review the network of those you are connected with to see if there are folks there with whom you would like to do some informational interviews – then ask to be connected. Also use the search feature to check out folks who will be interviewing you.

Career Corner: What would you like to know about landing that next great job?

What would you like to know about landing that next great job? In the last issue of Career Corner, I asked for feedback from readers who had questions about their careers. Here are a few great questions that I think will be of assistance to others engaged in the great job hunt.

Question: I’m interested in hearing your perspective on re-entering the workforce. I have never been tech savvy and now it’s even harder than ever. Every job ad asks for software I don’t know at all or my skills are very weak (Excel and Powerpoint). What is the best way to learn and/or brush up on technical skills when the treadmill is running much faster than I run?

Sharon Armstrong says …

Career Corner: 8 secrets to landing a second interview

This month I’d like to share some secrets on getting to the second interview. It’s simple really — just do a great job on the first interview! After all, a job interview is the most important undertaking in the job search process. It’s the key to being hired, and how you approach the interview can determine it’s outcome. The goal of the interview is to raise the interviewer’s expectation of you so you will be invited to continue in the selection process, and subsequently, receive a job offer. To sell yourself effectively, you need to match the position requirements with your skills, accomplishments, and personal qualities. So begin by doing your research.

Career Corner: How to write an effective resume

By Sharon Armstrong

To be effective in today’s market place, a resume must ‘sell’ you in order to be selected for the next step in the hiring process. In other words, a resume is your marketing brochure and you are the product! As such, your resume should be clear, concise and inviting.

Click here to learn the seven secrets of an effective resume.

Career Corner: Seven habits of highly effective job seekers

By Sharon Armstrong

Given the economic climate of late, I’ve been busy helping folks conduct effective job searches. My first bit of advice is to offer insight into the seven habits of highly effective job seekers, which include:

1. Know What You Want
2. Fight Inertia
3. Cast a Wide Net
4. Focus on Networking
5. Develop an Effective Error-Free Resume and Cover Letter
6. Plan for Interviews
7. Write a Timely and Powerful Follow up Note

My Bucket List

By Barbara Mitchell

Do you have a “bucket list?” It’s a list of things you want to do or accomplish? I’ve found making the list and then working to do what is on my list to be highly motivating and fun. My list includes places to visit, things to learn and things to accomplish both personally and professionally.

I first heard about this from an article in the Washington Post on Labor Day about fifteen years ago. A reporter wrote that she was strolling through Georgetown one day and saw an art supply store. It reminded her she’d always wanted to paint so she went in right then and there and bought what she needed to get started. This experience got her to think about all the things she wanted to do but had not yet accomplished—so she made a list of the 50 things to do before I die.

Read more.

Rewards and Recognition: 10 Ways to Keep Employees during Economic Downturn

HR expert Barbara Mitchell explains that rewarding employees is especially important when the economic news is negative. But if sales or membership dues are down, how can organizations still come up with ways to reward their good employees without adding to an already stretched thin budget? Read more.

Behavioral Interviewing: Lower the risk of making a hiring mistake

Sharon Armstrong realizes most HR experts and managers understand that the hiring process is critical to the success of our companies. Done well, it can help grow your business; done poorly, it can increase turnover and stunt your staff. So how do we do it right?

Performance Appraisals: Can they really be stress-free?

Performance appraisals are one of the most important responsibilities of a supervisor, and one of the most dreaded, says HR expert Sharon Armstrong. What can we do to remove the dread factor? Identify the five most important tips.