How to Smooth Out a Bumpy Work History

Smooth out a bumpy work history with these tried-and-true resume tips. [TWEET]

Not everyone is blessed with a picture-perfect work history that matches their career goals. With a less-than-stellar economy over the past decade, many professionals find themselves with substantial employment gaps or a string of short-term or unrelated gigs dominating their resume. Still, others are battling the same gaps because they took time off to raise their families, care for an ailing relative, or overcome a health condition of their own.

If any of these situations apply to you, keep reading. Below are some ways you can pump up your professional resume and supplement your work experience to make a better case for your candidacy.

Highlight unpaid experience

If you volunteered for a role or took on an unpaid internship that allowed you to build relevant skills or gain industry experience, then these positions deserve a place on your resume. Treat each opportunity as you would a paid job by describing your role and highlighting your major contributions and accomplishments to the organization on your resume.

If you stayed at home to raise your children, don’t discount the valuable experience you gained while managing the household and caring for your family. Take a look at this piece I wrote for TheLadders that explains how you can highlight the core competencies you developed as a stay-at-home parent.

If you’re looking for opportunities to help fill your current employment gap, check out resources such as Catchafire and Hands On Network for volunteer work and FlexJobs for flexible and telecommuting internships.

Group freelance work together

If you freelanced for a number of different clients over a period of time, consider grouping these experience together under one position and then combining the dates. When breaking down the position, use the role description section to describe your expertise (i.e. the services you offered). Then, focus each bullet to highlight the work you did for a particular client and the results you achieved. This will give your resume a cleaner look and make you appear less like a job hopper and more like a committed consultant.

If you held a series of temp jobs that were similar in nature, you can apply this same technique to make your resume look less cluttered.

Remove a position

In some instances, it may be best to omit full-time gigs with incredibly short tenures from your resume altogether. The general rule of thumb is to remove full-time jobs that lasted less than three months. If you’re concerned about deleting the work experience entirely, you have the option to briefly mention this position in a CAREER NOTE at the end of your work history section. Click on the following link to learn more about using career notes on your professional resume.

Invest in professional development

If your recent work experience has little to do with your current job goals, look for opportunities to bolster the skill sets your target employers care about. If you’re unsure which of your skills need an extra boost, search your network for individuals who work in field you’re pursuing and ask them. It’s amazing how many insights you can gain over a lunch or coffee date.

There are many free and low-cost training opportunities available online and in-person. Take a look at SkillShare, edX, Coursera, Lynda.com, and CourseHorse, to name a few. Also, use sites like 10times.com to find conferences related to your target field. In addition to being networkinggoldmines, these types of events often offer certification programs onsite. If you’re considering a major career change, you may need to go back to school for more extensive training.  

Click on the following link to view the remaining tips on TopResume's blog.