Chapter 14
Overcoming Career Roadblocks
IN THIS CHAPTER
Successfully leaping over gaps to return to your career
Continuing your career despite other challenges
Addressing unique life circumstances in your resume
Chances are that not everything in your career history is a plus. Minuses — either fact or perception — such as a gap in your work history, need to be handled carefully to keep them from setting off alarm bells in prospective employers’ minds. It’s always better to anticipate and minimize factors in your background that might screen you out of the running.
Nobody’s perfect, but rarely are job seekers jammed up against problems so severe that they can’t be solved in some way. Careful resume management is a good start.
This chapter gives you ideas on how to turn lemons into lemonade if you have some negatives in your background.
Navigating Job Gaps
Job gaps can happen for any number of reasons, but when it’s time to return to work, you can feel like you just stepped over the edge of a cliff. Some of the reasons for job gaps include:
- Unemployment/layoff
- Stay-at-home mom or dad
- Caring for elderly parents
- Incarceration
- Illness/disability
- Attending school
- Taking a sabbatical ...
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