The post Gap Years on Your Resume — How To Explain It appeared first on BC Jobs Blog.
]]>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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The post Gap Years on Your Resume — How To Explain It appeared first on BC Jobs Blog.
]]>The post Job Search Tips: Top 15 Words to Include on Your Resume appeared first on BC Jobs Blog.
]]>Job consultants with hiring experience at the most competitive firms in the world agree: candidates making the most successful job searches make their resumes stand out with language that focuses on accomplishments, not just actions [2]. This is because about 40% of hiring managers spend fewer than 60 seconds reviewing any resume, so accomplishment-driven and numbers-based language offer the best chances of clearly communicating a candidate’s value than any other wording [3].
1. Breaking down daily tasks and responsibilities by the numbers
Productivity matters, and accomplishments tell a hiring manager more about potential value as an employee than just listing job duties.
Even in entry-level positions, it is possible to quantify performance. This includes, for example, number of customers helped per hour, number of projects managed at once, the average tipping percentage on severed tables, or the average customer rating for dedicated sales [4].
“accelerated,” “achieved,” “accomplished,” “changed,” “delivered,” “exceeded,” “expanded,” “generated,” “grew,” “improved,” “maximized,” “produced,” “sold,” “saved,” “streamlined.”
Given the above recommendations, it may be tempting to spend the duration of the resume boasting of superlative performance in every position. Yet job consultants also agree that nobody wants to hire a braggart, and the majority (75%) of hiring managers have caught a lie in a job seeker’s posturing [5, 3]. Candidates are therefore advised to frame accomplishments as actions taken to solve specific problems, particularly in ways that are familiar to the targeted hiring firm.
1. Use action-focused language
Action focused language elevates job seekers’ accomplishments from simply being incidental results of stellar performance to intentional outcomes of persistence and dedication.
An excellent resume identifies potential problems the hiring manager may be facing, then tailors the resume language to persuade them that you have relevant solutions.
“advised,” “assessed,” “bolstered,” “consulted,” “directed,” “facilitated,” “guided,” “implemented,” “influenced,” “lead,” “managed,” “oversaw,” “proved,” “results/resulting in.”
More recently, “power words” have gained traction among job seekers and job consultants alike. These words and phrases are rumored to dramatically increase the chances of making it past the lightning-quick initial resume review. This can lead to spending less time job searching and more time interviewing for new, better positions. While power words can prove helpful — potentially improving manual reviewers’ acceptance rates by as much as 20-30% — it is easy to overdo it [6].
Power words are most effective when you identify the power words most often present in job postings you’re interested in and practice mirroring them in relevant application materials [7].
As with persuasive language, power words used to brag or mislead hiring managers often has negative effects.
“administered,” “chaired,” “coordinated,” “controlled,” “devised,” “diagnosed,” “engineered,” “established,” “founded,” “influenced,” “launched,” “mobilized,” “remodeled,” “relaunched,” “transformed.”[8]
Related Post: Important Things You Need To Include In Your Resume
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 BC Jobs, he served as a marketing advisor for high-profile blockchain projects including Litecoin, NEM, and Ripple. He’s also worked with fortune 500 companies in the healthcare space.
The post Job Search Tips: Top 15 Words to Include on Your Resume appeared first on BC Jobs Blog.
]]>