best careers – BC Jobs Blog https://www.bcjobs.ca/blog BCjobs Blog Sat, 03 Jun 2023 02:27:19 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.9 Gap Years on Your Resume — How To Explain It https://www.bcjobs.ca/blog/gap-years-on-your-resume-how-to-explain-it/ Sat, 03 Jun 2023 02:27:19 +0000 https://www.bcjobs.ca/blog/?p=8775 If you explain why and how it has improved your employability, your gap year might be a valuable addition to your résumé. Gap Years on Your Resume — How To Explain It Gap years are taken by people of all ages for various reasons. There are many valid reasons to take a much-needed sabbatical, including […]

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If you explain why and how it has improved your employability, your gap year might be a valuable addition to your résumé.

Gap Years on Your Resume — How To Explain It

Gap years are taken by people of all ages for various reasons. There are many valid reasons to take a much-needed sabbatical, including so that you can travel, care for a sick family member, or raise children.

Therefore, feel free to mention a gap year on your resume. Your gap year could improve your professional document if you can demonstrate the transferable abilities you acquired during your time off or relate the experience to the position you are going for.

How Does a Gap Year Help?

A gap year should strengthen rather than weaken your qualifications. You can show that you are compassionate, devoted, or daring — all traits that might help you in the workplace — by mentioning a gap year on your CV or resume.

A gap year might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to advance personally and professionally. It might demonstrate that you’re a self-assured, driven, and autonomous worker, improving your resume and increasing will improve your resume and increase your marketability to companies.

How to Explain the Gap in Your Resume

1. Be Honest

Honesty is the best policy when crafting a resume. If you have a delicate or private reason for taking the gap year, there’s no need to go into too much detail, but you shouldn’t try to disguise it either. If the recruiting manager discovers that you are lying, it will end whatever chance you may have had of getting the job.

2. Showcase the Positives

As was previously said, taking a gap year has several advantages. In reality, having the guts to step back and improve yourself or another person demonstrates remarkable strength of character.

So make sure to focus on the advantageous experiences and how they have advanced your professional development. Don’t be hesitant to discuss this, even if you were ill or were taking care of kids. You can demonstrate how this experience helped you gain other valuable abilities.

3. Highlight Your Achievements

Your major objective is to highlight your successes throughout your time off from work. You should specify quantifiable outcomes based on the purpose of your gap year. You could discuss the training, certifications, or courses you completed during your gap year.

4. Don’t Explain Too Much

There is no need to cram your resume with irrelevant details because the space is gold. Therefore, even while it’s crucial to mention your gap year, there’s no need to get too specific. Your information must be precise and pertinent to the position for which you are applying. More details can be provided during the interview.

5. Showcase Your Commitment to Stability

Employers may occasionally be put off by gap years since they may be a symptom of instability. You must demonstrate your eagerness to rejoin the workforce and earn the respect of any organization. 

You must demonstrate your motivation to obtain a full-time position with the organization you are applying to, particularly if your gap year was relatively recent.

Conclusion

Don’t just view your gap year as a relaxing vacation; instead, reflect on your accomplishments and newfound talents and how they can relate to your future employment. Include this knowledge on your resume after that.


About the Author

Simon Chou is the Vice President of Operations and Growth at BCjobs.ca. Over the course of his career, he carved a niche in brand development, marketing strategy, and online presence for startups. Prior to joining BCJobs.ca, Simon was an advisor for several global blockchain projects including Litecoin, NEM, and Ripple. In the past, he also worked with Fortune 500 companies in the healthcare space through SM Digital—a global marketing agency.

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Careers Canadians Don’t Want To Leave https://www.bcjobs.ca/blog/careers-canadians-dont-want-to-leave/ Mon, 16 Nov 2020 21:59:14 +0000 https://www.bcjobs.ca/blog/?p=7531 As many as 38% of Canadians currently holding jobs in Vancouver and other provinces have switched careers at least once. Moreover, more than one-third of those that have yet to do so are actively considering it or already conducting a job search to do so. Though this is an impressive reflection of the current degree […]

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As many as 38% of Canadians currently holding jobs in Vancouver and other provinces have switched careers at least once. Moreover, more than one-third of those that have yet to do so are actively considering it or already conducting a job search to do so. Though this is an impressive reflection of the current degree of career dissatisfaction in the Canadian workforce, it also means that about 40% of currently-employed adults have not — and don’t want to — deviate from their current career path.

What Keeps Canadians Coming Back To Work?

Broadly speaking, when deciding whether to start a job search for a new career, a sense of “fit” with both employer and industry is the most significant consideration for most Canadians. In this context, career fit is a collective measurement of:

  1. Employee Satisfaction with current and potential wages, opportunities for career advancement, etc; and
  2. Perceived Compatibility with coworkers, company culture, and industry values.

Complications For Career Change In This Job Market

With that in mind, it does not make much sense that only about 13% of currently employed adults in Canada report feeling very happy with their employer and industry. That statistic should leave about 80% of the workforce feeling insecure, to some degree, about whether they are on the right career path.

That said, research also indicates that:

  1. Significant Investment In Specialized Education can act as both a buffer to and a mediating factor for career dissatisfaction that leads to career change. And
  2. Visible Opportunities To Increase Satisfaction Through Promotion may keep junior employees motivated to continue career tracks that are not presently highly satisfying.

Together, these additional factors provide some clarity:

In industries and specializations where it takes a lot of up-front investment to get started (like healthcare, technology, and operations management) but the potential wages are high, people are more willing to tolerate workplace dissatisfaction in the hope that their investment will pay off.

Likewise, in careers where middle- and upper-level management are highly satisfied with their work and high wages (as in the mining, oil, and construction sectors), people tend to tough out workplace dissatisfaction in the hope that future benefits will be worth it.

This may explain why about 40% of the currently employed workforce are sticking to their current plan even though they are not overly happy with what they are currently doing.

Career Paths Canadians Stick With The Most

The above-listed factors go a long way toward explaining why some jobs in Vancouver have noticeably lower turnover rates, greater career commitment, and less job search activity than is normal for the current job market.

The Most Satisfying Careers In Canada (by % of highly satisfied/committed employees):

  1. Procurement Specialists (73%)
  2. Dental Hygienists (70%)
  3. Construction Workers (68%)
  4. Software Engineers (67%)
  5. Dump Truck Drivers (66%)
  6. Human Resources Specialists; Upper-level Management In The Energy Industry (62%)
  7. Web Developers (61%)
  8. Mechanical Designer; Executive Chef (59%)
  9. Junior-level Energy Industry Staff; Network Administrator (57%)
  10. Sales And Marketing Specialists (56.1%)
  11. LPN; Programmer Analyst; Truck Driver; RN (56%)
  12. Database Administrator (54%)
  13. Application Developer; Administrative Assistant; Administrative Clerk(53%)
  14. It Specialists (51.3%)
  15. Accounting And Finance Specialists (50.3%)

Recent Posts: How To Stay Happy Working From Home

How to Find a Fulfilling Career in 5 Simple Steps

5 Benefits of Hiring Remote Workers

Specific Job Markets That Grew Amidst COVID-19


About the Author

Simon Chou is the Vice President of Operations and Growth at BCjobs.ca. Over the course of his career, he carved a niche in brand development, marketing strategy, and online presence for startups. Prior to joining BCJobs.ca, Simon was an advisor for several global blockchain projects including Litecoin, NEM, and Ripple. In the past, he also worked with Fortune 500 companies in the healthcare space through SM Digital—a global marketing agency.

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