How To Fill In A Gap On Your Resume Due To Divorce

In most cases, the process of divorce is painful and exhausting. It takes away a lot of time, energy, nerves, and money. It's not surprising that many women have to quit their jobs because they experience severe depression while going through a divorce. Fortunately, with the pass of time, the pain fades away, and life gets back to normal. One day, a woman feels that she is ready to start a new chapter. She decides to update her CV and apply for a job…If you have found yourself in this situation, you probably wonder how to fill in a large gap on your resume. Here are a few pieces of advice for you.

First of all, you should understand that your CV shouldn't contain any false statements. You should be honest and open with your potential employer. Everyone has a tough time sometimes, and you have nothing to hide.

It's a terrible idea to start a new life and a new professional relationship from a lie. Even if you get a job, one day your coworkers will discover the truth, and you will be ashamed.

Fortunately, with the pass of time, the pain fades away, and life gets back to normal. One day, a woman feels that she is ready to start a new chapter.

All you need to do now is to choose an appropriate resume format and structure it in the right way. It will help you to draw the recruiters' attention from the gap on your CV to your professional competency.

If you have a large gap in work experience due to divorce, you should avoid using a chronological resume format. If you list the most recent job first, an interviewer will easily notice that you haven't been working for more than a year. It will make him doubt the fact that you have kept your skills and knowledge current.

The best choice for you is a functional resume format. It will allow you to list your previous jobs ignoring chronological order. You can start writing your resume by mentioning the most relevant skills and accomplishments to show that you are a perfect fit for the role. Whether you're talking about language conventions of resume writing, or want to know how to present your proficiency in a second language, check this definitive guide on how to sell your language skills on your resume.

When crafting a CV, you should focus on your core strengths and professional achievements. You should take the recruiter's attention away from the absence of recent experience and other weaknesses.

In any case, the employer will want to know what you have been doing during the last few months or years. For this reason, it's crucially important to explain how you have been developing your professional skills and talents. If you have been freelancing or volunteering in the fields related to the job you apply for, feel free to mention this experience in your CV. This is what many writing services for students recommend when helping graduates secure their first job. In fact, it also works well for explaining the gap on your resume and not only when we talk about first-time employment.

When crafting a CV, you should focus on your core strengths and professional achievements.

If you have recently taken classes online, or attended workshops, or participated in conferences, you can add this information to your resume. It will prove that you aspire to grow professionally.

You can make a gap on your resume looks smaller without lying to the employer. You just need to mention employment years and omit months.

Even if divorce resulted in a large gap in your employment history, it should not stop you from achieving your dream.

Let's imagine that you quit your job on February 1, 2018, and apply for a new job on March 1, 2019. The actual gap in your work experience is 13 months. But if you don't mention an exact date, when you left your previous work, it will seem that the gap is just two months (from December 2018 to March 2019).

Keep in mind that if you need to write a government resume, this trick will not work for you. If you are a federal employee, your resume must include exact start and end dates, average weekly hours, and responsibilities of the previous job.

Today, most companies use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). It's a software, which scans, collects and sorts thousands of resumes automatically. So if you want to increase your chances to get an interview, you should stuff your resume with the suitable keywords.

Also, it's crucially important to ensure that your resume is free from typos and spelling errors. If you misspell a keyword, ATS will skip your CV, and you will lose a chance to get a job of your dreams. For this reason, it's highly recommended to utilize reliable writing service or online grammar checker to correct all mistakes.

Even if divorce resulted in a large gap in your employment history, it should not stop you from achieving your dream. All you need to do now is to position yourself in the most favorable light when writing a resume. Follow the examples given, and you will win the recruiters' attention. And please, remember one important thing: divorce isn't the end of your life, it's the end of the dysfunctional marriage only. It's your time to turn the page and start everything over. Now you can get a job and accomplish your ambitious career goals.

This article was originally published June 5, 2019.