
Your Ultimate Guide to the Best Resume Formats
Want to choose the best resume format? First, you must understand the differences between the three main types. See examples of various resume formats and make an informed choice.
Resume gaps are embarrassing and they can keep you from getting hired. How can you show you’re not a slacker? See this sample resume with gaps in employment and get hired fast.
You’re about to see a great sample resume with gaps in employment.
But first—
Resume gaps can hurt your hiring chances and make employers wonder.
“Is she an alcoholic? Flighty? Depressed? A convict?”
Let’s dispel that.
You can prove you’re worthy—even with employment gaps on a resume.
You just need to show there’s no gap in your skills.
In this guide:
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Jamie Kubat
IT Project Manager
Personal Info
Phone: 619-850-1396
E-mail: jamiezkubat@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/jamiezkubat
twitter.com/jamiezkubat
Summary
Resourceful IT project manager with 4+ years of experience and 10 years of business experience. Seeking to increase IT project efficiency at Aegisdyne. At Ermschwender Aerospace, managed 200+ projects with Oracle Primavera P6. Slashed meeting times by 10 hrs/wk for each of 10+ engineers, saving $300,000 per year. Trained 3 IT staff.
Experience
Sabbatical, 2017–present
IT Project Manager
Ermschwender Aerospace
2013–2017
Data Administrator
Ermschwender Aerospace
2009–2013
Education
BS Computer Science, Soka University of America
2005–2009
Additional Activities
Conferences
Hard Skills: Project management, requirements management, Oracle Primavera P6, process development, user acceptance testing
Soft Skills: Leadership, interpersonal skills, communication, collaboration
That sample resume with employment gaps does one thing:
It shows the gap fast, with proof you used key skills (check out our list of sample skills to put on a resume).
Does the employment gap on your resume come from a career change? See this guide: Resume for a Career Change
Are you writing a resume for a specific career? See our step-by-step resume samples and guides for dozens of professions.
Now here’s how to fill employment gaps in your resume:
Just want the quick and dirty facts?
Here are the topline info for resume employment gaps on a resume:
Next—
Let’s see some good reasons for gaps in employment.
Then I’ll give some employment gaps on resume examples.
Expert Hint: Don’t talk about the employment gap on your resume in a career summary or career objective. Save the top part of your resume for your brightest selling points.
Now the good news.
Hiring teams will care what you went through.
They won’t think less of you. But—
Give a good reason for employment gaps on your resume. Here are five:
The key?
Don’t just give your reason.
Show the employment gap on your resume bore fruit to help with your next job.
And—
Assure them it’s a one-time thing.
Expert Hint: Put extra skills proof in your education resume section. An honors society or big project helps a lot in a resume with employment gaps.
Where should you put resume gaps?
The right place to show an employment gap on a resume is in your work history.
List it as a sabbatical, and show three things:
In other words?
You need to show you weren’t just eating bon-bons.
These employment gaps on resume examples show how:
Imagine the job ad wants skills in leadership, system development, Oracle Primavera P6, training, and working with cross-functional teams.
Experience
Sabbatical, 2017–present
IT Project Manager
Ermschwender Aerospace
2013–2017
Experience
IT Project Manager
Ermschwender Aerospace
2013–2017 (2 years ago)
See that?
You were up-front about your gap.
You also showed the leadership skill they want—in the employment gap on your resume!
You proved other skills in your work history. You customized your resume.
Think they’ll hold that gap against you? Nope.
Expert Hint: Put “other” sections in your resume with skills the job wants. Certifications or conferences you spoke at can help outweigh employment gaps on resumes.
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Need more?
See the employment gaps on resume examples below.
Each one touts a skill shown in the job ad.
Each also says the employment gap on your resume is in the past.
Car accident gaps in employment on resume:
Experience
Sabbatical, 2017–present
Cancer gap in employment on your resume:
Experience
Sabbatical, 2017–present
Soul searching resume employment gap:
Experience
Sabbatical, 2017–present
Tried different career employment gap on resume:
Experience
Software Engineer, 2017–present
See that?
Each of those employment gaps on resume examples does two things:
It says the gap is history.
Awkward.
You filled the employment gap on your resume. But—
You used the wrong resume format.
Don’t make that mistake.
Use the reverse-chronological layout to put everything above board.
Expert Hint: You can also try a functional resume or combination resume to spotlight your skills and not your history. Beware—some recruiters don’t like functional resumes.
The best advice?
Don’t have another employment gap on your resume.
“But my resume gap was unavoidable.”
Not really.
The minute you’re out of work—
Expert Hint: You don’t need a full-time job to fill in a resume job gap. Even four or five hours a week of volunteering can help save face for your career.
Double your impact with a matching resume and cover letter combo. Use our cover letter generator and make your application documents pop out.
Want to try a different look? There's 21 more. A single click will give your document a total makeover. Pick a cover letter template here.
Here’s how to fill in employment gaps on resumes:
Got questions on how to fill employment gaps on a resume? Need more employment gaps on resume examples? We’ll be happy to reply!
Want to choose the best resume format? First, you must understand the differences between the three main types. See examples of various resume formats and make an informed choice.
You're about to change your career. Learn how to write a career change resume that will get you the dream job.
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