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We all wish we had a perfect work history, but unfortunately this isn’t always the case.  There can be many reasons for gaps in your resume - from unemployment to taking time off to stay at home with your children. You don’t want your potential employer to view time spent without steady employment as time spent loafing.

Use these tips to handle gaps in your resume:

Use a Functional Resume: If you have gaps in your work history, you may want to consider a skills based or functional resume instead of a chronological one. This will make gaps in your work history less obvious, and highlight the skills you learned in previous jobs. It also allows you to list skills that a traditional resume does not - such as home organization and conflict management for stay at home parents.

Show How You Spent Your Time : If you choose to use a chronological resume, be sure to note how you spent time that you were unemployed. (For example : Fall 2003- Spring 2006  Full Time Student ) Then be sure to mention skills that you learned while you were unemployed. By explaining the gaps in your resume before your potential employer has to ask, you’re setting yourself above your competition.

If You Haven’t Held a Job - Volunteer!  If it has been too many years to count since you’ve held a job, or if you are entering the workforce for the first time,  volunteer experience can be extremely beneficial.  Find a volunteer position a few hours per week, and use the time to gain valuable skills that you can later use on a resume.

There you have it - three tips to handle those tricky gaps in your resume. Use the time you’ve spent out of the workplace to your advantage. Highlight your skills using a functional resume, or emphasize how you spent your time in a chronological one - the choice is up to you!