How To Place A Year Gap In Your Professional Resume?

There is no lie in the fact that your professional resume must look a comprehensive one while showcasing your career in a trail. Mostly when the hiring managers go through your professional resume, the first thing that they notice is your experience and skills. Though the career trail is the next important thing that they choose to go through, it has equal importance.

Though the hiring managers expect a complete visual resume writing from the job seekers, but they will not be surprised to see any gap in your resume. Many job seekers go for another level of qualification, try to accomplish new degrees and also take some time to balance their personal and professional lives- and trust me that is entirely alright.

But being a job seeker, you can’t go like “my life my rules” kind of an attitude, and you need to have enough courage to justify the importance of the gap. A well-described and truthful justification about the career gap in your professional resume helps you to get more opportunity to grab a great job. You need to know how you must explain any year gap in your resume.

There is no need to panic if you have any year gap in your resume, as this professional CV writing guide will help you turn your gap into a reason to create more career-building experiences.

1. Tell the truth:

Honesty is the best policy, and when it is about facing the flaws, you must stick into speaking the truth. The first thing that you need to remember is that having a gap in the professional resume is wholly alright and you don’t need to go to some immense or sensitive details like health issues, to explain it.

Telling the truth is the simplest thing as you don’t need to take many pauses and create random stories in front of the hiring managers.

Avoid resume writing mistakes like trying to extend your previous work experience to cover up the gap. The hiring managers will find that out during any background check. Lying about your career gap can make the gap stand out even more.

2. Be clear about the questions:

What is the utmost situation that you might need to face for having some year gaps? It is nothing but a few questions regarding the whats and the whys of the gap. On the other hand, when you leave so many years gap unexplained, there are more chances that it will create more questions in the minds of the employers and your professional resume can end up at the dustbin.

It is always better to show your career gap where it actually took place. If you have several gaps and periods of unemployment, you must hire resume writing services or choose a skill-based resume format. The skill-based resume formats allow you to demonstrate your experience without stressing much about the sequence.

3. Emphasize the positive:

There can be many reasons for you to take a gap year or maybe several. But be sure that you focus upon the constructive activities you were part of doing those gaps. Ask your LinkedIn profile writing services to mention the productive activities in your profile too, which may include the volunteer work that you have taken up, can be any course that you were a part of for the betterment of your skills, it can be freelancing or even can be your work profile in abroad.

Draw the positive aspects of the year gap which have helped you to be a better person in both the ways; professionally and individually. Even if you have taken a career gap while suffering from some ailments or also you were taking care of someone ill, mention how that has made you a better and stronger person.

4. Describe your career achievements:

At the end of the day, the hiring managers don’t only want to know where did you work and what you did, but they also want to listen to what have you achieved or accomplished in your previous job roles. Even though you have one or several year gaps, the hiring managers would love to know about the achievements that you have attained during those periods.

You can quantify your accomplishments and use bullet points to list down your achievements during the gap period.

Even though you have taken the career gap to learn something new like learning a new language or a new skill, don’t forget to list that down. Phrase your achievements in business terms for better results.

5. Explain the reasons for the gaps:

If you have taken the gap to learning something new or even the cause of the career gap is nothing but you wanted to explore the world with your friends, you must give the reason that how that helped you to grow professionally.

The online resume maker may help you to explain how it helped you to be close to new cultures, how you have learned to adapt to new challenges in unique circumstances and situations. List a set of skills that you have gained and attained during the period of the gaps and how you can use those in the job responsibilities that will be given to you.

6. Show your commitment to stability:

Having a career or year gap to your professional resume doesn’t mean that you are just not a competent professional who can make commitments.

If your gap year is very recent, then the hiring managers may think that you can be failed at keeping commitments. But you need to explain the carefully planned gap year and you also need to demonstrate that you are ready for responsibilities in your professional life right now. If your career gap was a few years back, then you also need to explain some events which have brought you renewed focus.

7. Structure your professional resume appropriately:

It is not about the information that you provide but how you structure them in your resume is all that matters. According to the career gap that you had, you can structure the information in your resume accordingly.

It is easy to obscure the gap of a few months by mentioning the years and not the dates in particular. You in person can explain the gap you had during that period, but your professional resume doesn’t need to carry the information.

You can obscure a long gap by explaining the achievements that you attained during the gap. For example, if you were in any foreign country and worked with some social cause, let your hiring managers know that how you have worked hard for raising funds and what all have you learned during that period.

Choosing a skill-based professional resume is another way to obscure a long or a short gap. Unlike the chronological resume format, you don’t need to mention your work experience in a trail in this kind of a resume format. Which is more comfortable to follow when you have career gap patches in your professional life.

8. Show your transferable skills:

The hiring managers don’t only look for academic based skills that you have achieved during your theoretical training period. To handle the job position given to you, you will also need to have practical and transferable skills along with the hands-on experience that satisfies the requirements of the position.

If you have a career gap and you have developed some transferrable skills during that period, then don’t forget to mention that to your professional resume.

Here are some of the skills that you can add to your resume:

·   Negotiation:

If you had been on a trip to any part of the world, you could explain how you have developed your negation skills while haggling with the local market and the hawkers. Let your hiring managers know that you have learned that bagging sharp deals help a business to work better.

·   Budgeting and planning:

This is another transferable skill that you can mention to your professional resume. It is undeniable that since you were not under the payroll of an organization during the period of your gap, you needed to plan for your personal budget. Explain how you have learned the planning and budgeting about your personal day to day finance and even when you were traveling.

·   Communication:

Traveling and making new experiences consist of lots of interaction with different groups and people. It also helps you to overcome your language barrier and also elevate the level of your self-confidence. The intercultural skill that you have developed can be an excellent asset for your workplace skills too.

·   Adaptability:

You need to adapt to new and unexpected circumstances when you travel. Adaptability to unique ambiances and situations is another skill that the hiring managers will look for in you. Your plans change rapidly when you visit and you learn to adapt quickly and easily to be able to deal, with those situations. Being flexible in any situation is a skill that you can mention on your professional resume.

9. Try to make the gap year relevant to the job you are applying for: 

      It is one of the best resume writing tips. If you have spent the time of the gap year learning new things and new skills, then you can take those skills to be the helping keywords for your resume. Go through the job posting that the hiring managers have put and try to alter your resume according to the job you are applying for. You can demonstrate that you have learned a new language or maybe new software to be able to apply for the job that you are doing now.

A gap year can come to anyone and everyone, but you need to learn how to spin the gap according to your comfort and which can also have some explainable details for the hiring managers to digest. First of all, you need to know about the 30 words to avoid in your resume and try to grab the attention of the hiring managers to the global perspective that you gained throughout the time of the year gap.

If it is difficult for you to deal with the year gap in your resume, you can always seek the help of a professional resume writer to make it possible for you.

Source: How To Place A Year Gap In Your Professional Resume?

25 Expert Resume Writing Tips to Make Your Resume Standout

There are several websites across the internet from across the globe, trying to get you a handful of resume writing tips about how to design a winning resume. But if you are confused about which one to follow and which can be skipped for being not so important can end up making a resume that is not up to the mark.

Here we have 25 best resume writing tips given by expert resume writing services, and you can follow them with your heart and mind.

20 Expert Resume Writing Tips to Make Your Resume Standout.

1.     Back up your resume with skills and traits: 

You want to impress the hiring managers with your strengths and qualities, and the concept is legit. But rather than creating a long list of all your strengths, try to back them up with real-life experiences or work experiences.

2.     Choose the right keywords: 

Right keywords in your resume make you more visible over the internet in front of the hiring managers. Make sure that you upload the same resume everywhere like LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. The HRs can find you from the digital database easily.

3.     Use extraordinary titles:

 The hiring managers judge your resume after just spending 5 seconds on that, which means that your resume doesn’t get in-depth attention before getting judged. It’s your titles that can be seen, and that is the reason why all the websites providing resume writing tips keep asking you to choose headings that help you to stand out.

4.     Use action verbs for resume: 

Using the action verbs appropriately in your resume is as important as having a professional resume. There are 185 most strong action verbs that you can use while establishing your achievements and success in your resume. Choose perfect action verbs that increase the legitimacy of the statement.

5.     Try to stick to a one-page resume: 

Your resume generally must be of one or two pages. A document having more than one or two pages is not called a resume anymore, and you can call that a CV. Try to put all the information about you in a compact manner and if possible, on one page.

6.     Focus upon your LinkedIn profile creation:

 Your LinkedIn profile is your first and most important professional social media presence. You need to have an up to the mark LinkedIn profile to get the attention of the hiring managers who might be searching for you over the internet. Remember that a LinkedIn profile is a must-have for every job seeker.

7.     Make your writing impressive with bullet points: 

Don’t make your resume look like slabs or word blocks. Making your resume looking clean and making it more readable can enhance your scope of getting selected. Use bullet points under the subheadings or main headings wherever needed.

8.     Proofread your resume before sending it: 

Use a proofreading application like Grammarly to proofread your resume before sending it to the hiring managers. Your resume must not have any grammatical mistakes which can decrease your integrity. You can also go for human proofreading after using all the possible apps to proofread your resume or take help from professional CV writing services.

9.     Put the important information first: 

Your life is full of events, but your resume doesn’t need to hold all the life events that you have been through. When you got just one or two pages to impress the hiring managers, you need to be very choosy about what you add to your resume. Putting crucial information only is a mandatory thing to do to your resume writing, but prioritize essential mentions to be on top.

10. Create a social media resume: 

Having a physical or visual resume or creating a LinkedIn profile is not enough. You need to create your personal-professional branding for the sake of getting a dream job. You can learn from different websites for how to create a social media resume.

11. Bring on the numbers: 

It is not the phone numbers that you add in the contact information segment of the resume, you need to have more numerology intervention to make your resume attractive. Using numbers to your resume means that you can quantify your achievements in your resume. As per the resume writing rules, adding percentages, amounts and especially the dollar (or rupees) sign can steal the glances of hiring managers.

12. Be sure about the facts: 

You don’t need to create fictitious stories to make an impression. Make sure that everything that you choose to share about yourself to the hiring managers must be backed with all truths and facts and not lies. If you are asked to establish a piece of evidence you must be able to do so.

13. Write an impactful summary:

 If you are writing a summary on LinkedIn or Twitter, make it eye catchy and full of information. You need to mention how skilled you are and how you can be beneficial for an organization while using those skills.

14. Brand Yourself as an individual:

 Branding yourself as an individual is a winning resume writing tip. You can mention about you and your skills on your social media profiles, or even create Facebook pages and website for your branding.

15. Add no picture to your resume: 

Though you look astoundingly gorgeous that is not going to help while getting a job or maybe applying for a job position. Your resume must not carry an image until you are applying for a job where your physical traits are the most essential and considerable factors. If you are asked to add a picture by the employers, you can go for it.

16. Write a different resume for each employer:

 It’s not one resume that fits all the job applications. If you are applying for different job positions or applying for the same job position in various organizations, you need to alter your resume according to the need or requirements of the organization. Thus, having an exclusive resume for every employer is a better resume writing tip.

17. Explain the benefits of your skills: 

Though you have attained many skills and have demonstrated all of them in your resume, they are not of any use, until your employers can fathom, how those are going to help them or their organization. Be a little specific about the usage of those skills you have.

18. Set your font size to 10-12: 

Font size is an imperative factor when we talk about making an impactful resume. As per our resume writing tips, you need to be specific about every font size, including the headings, subheadings or even the bullet points. The standard font size which makes your resume look good while creating some space is 10 to 12.

19. Use multiple subheadings: 

You need to use subheadings to put all the information separately in your resume. For example, if you have used the Resume headline to write your work experiences, the subtitles will help you to write the experiences you gained in different organizations.

20. Include social media URLs:

 If you have a professional website, blog or remarkable social media presence that you think can aid your job search, do not forget to mention those URLs in your visual or infographic resume. Twitter and LinkedIn URLs are the must-have of your resume.

21. Use professionally designed resume format:

 There are many resume formats available on the internet and even with professional resume writing services. The arrangements of the resumes are designed based on the industry and also vary along with the job position you are applying for. Among many such resume design formats, you must choose the one which suits you the best.

22. Read the job description again and again: 

You don’t need to go through any resume writing tip to know that reading the job description by the employer helps you to understand what exactly they are looking for in their employees and if you fit those. You can also alter your resume according to the requirements of the employers.

23. Balance the white space: 

The experts in their resume writing tips, share how important it is to manage the white areas in your resume correctly. The distance between the headings and subheadings also needs to be taken care of professionally.

24. Add a cover letter that matches your resume: 

You need to have a cover letter to be sent along with your resume. The professional resume writing tips teach you to be sure that everything you update or make any changes to your resume you must not forget your cover letter. Your cover letter must carry the information you have chosen to mention in your resume.

25. Mention whom you work with: 

Don’t skip the names of the organizations you have worked with previously. As per the expert resume writing tips, “Worked with renowned MNC” is far better than “Worked with TCS”.

It can’t be easy to remember all the small details when you’re trying to figure out how to write a great resume. But if you follow these resume tips and tricks you make your resume stand out, get an interview, and help land your dream job.

Source: Expert Resume Writing Tips To Take You Closer To Your Dream Job

8 Must-Have Skills That Are Great To Have On Your Resume

When people from the same educational institution and perhaps people from the same educational institution apply for the same job, hiring managers become a challenge. It is also painful for them to assess the potential of the candidates when they have the same level of experience and maybe in the same job position. Skills on your resume can make the selection process a little easier when they have to select one of the best candidates.

If you are trying to get the job of your dreams and are thinking to start rewriting those skills, which are skills that you have to mention to make it useful for your resume and you're a game-changer, so have a look at the skills below.

8 skills on your skill that can help you be more efficient-

1. Communication Skills:

Communication is the key to any relationship. Having excellent communication during your interview can help you achieve the job of your dreams, mentioning excellent communication skills on your resume can also be beneficial to the organization for their internal and external matters. Either you are in a job situation where you need to communicate a lot or you will still have to acquire a certain level of communication skills.

The way you communicate over the phone, the way you make your presentation or the way you handle a situation, be it — everything depends on the quality of communication that you do.

2. Decision-making skills:

No organization seeks someone who is always skeptical about his job. Also, managers and bosses of any organization do not like an employee who is very dependent on them when making small and even the most trivial professional decisions. It is not about making a choice or making a decision, but justifying the decision for the organization is the quality of an employee. You may like to mention your decision-making skills on your resume with a suitable example and this has helped your previous organization achieve its goal.

3. Interpersonal skills:

The saying 'no person is an island' is appropriate when working in an organization. To work with an organization, each employee is required to work closely with other members of the company. It can be a team, or a project member, customer or supplier — there are people around to deal with it.

LinkedIn Profile Writing Services recommends you add this skill to your LinkedIn profile and your resume. Interpersonal skill is about the ability to form relationships in any situation and the ability to form others is also right for the organization.

4. Problem-solving skills:

Although the grass is always on the other side, no employee or organization can grow without facing a certain level of problems. Organizations are usually divided into departments and in fact, every department is responsible for any challenge that comes it's a way. If you are among employees with excellent problem-solving skills on your resume, you act like an ointment for wounds for the company. The ability to identify and solve problems can distinguish a qualified employee from a group of applicants.

5. Leadership skills:

Leadership skills are powerful. This is not only an inspiration for the people who work for you but also prepares them to do things that are right for the organization. If you have your resume skills that show that you can manage a team of people and when you can come up with your own way of making them work properly then you are a significant benefit to the company.

6. Multi-work:

It is not about handling too many job responsibilities or delegating multiple job responsibilities altogether. Each task responsibility comes with many tasks and every employee who works as the position holder must have the ability to handle everything with equal effort and excellence. Finally, employers look for someone who can deal with multiple parts of the same project or sometimes more than one project simultaneously. So tell the employer about your multi-tasking and management skills through your past experiences

7. Computer Skills:

Nowadays, every organization has at least some work which requires primary or some specific knowledge of computers. But as essential skills vary by job responsibility, professional cv writing services suggest that you should prefer to mention computer skills at your resume to help employers understand it more accurately.

8.Creativity:

It is not about being innovative and doing out of the box things to mention on your visual re-writing as you are creative. Being creative is beneficial for your organization, and it enables you to find a suitable and better solution for your company. Creativity is also meant to improve business processes and create better ways to save them and resources. Every organization respects a creative person.