| Landing a job after a lengthy absence |
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Customize your search plan
You also need to take the time to devise a customized job-search
plan. "People have to realize that there is no one-size-fits-all
formula for getting a job after a long spell of being out of work,"
says Wendy Enelow, co-author of "Expert Resumes for People
Returning to Work."
Start by playing up the parts of your past that mesh
with the position that you want today. For example, Enelow had a
client who had spent the majority of his career in the military
and diving was his hobby. The client wanted a job as a diver, so
that's what he stressed
in his resume and in his interviews. "When he put together
a resume it was three-quarters on his diving and a quarter on his
military (experience)," Enelow says.
He ended up working for a company
that organizes shark-viewing expeditions for tourists. "If
he had wanted a job at a company owned by ex-Green Berets, it might
have made sense to stress the military experience, but in terms
of what he wanted, he needed to play up the diving," she says.
If you are changing fields,
"speak to the future," Enelow says. That is, don't just
explain what you've done, but why you are positioned to do well
at the job for which you are interviewing.
Put absence in the best light
It's also important to be positive about your time away from work.
Enelow's example: If you resigned from a financial position to care
for your mother, who was terminally ill, and you are re-entering
the work force after her death, stress that "I resigned from
my job and passed up an outstanding opportunity to work for Amex
in order to take care of my mother. My mother needed me. Now I am
ready and energized to take on a position just like the one you
have open."
Enelow advises all people who
have been out of work for a long time to wait until the interview
to disclose the reason for your lengthy absence from the job market,
rather than putting it on your resume. During your job interview,
you can put the hiatus in context, something you can't do with a
resume.
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