A long standing concern involving employment transitions is mitigating the harmful effects of any red flags on your resume. Of course, we want to accentuate positives about ourselves as potential employees on our resumes, but sometimes risky content cannot be avoided. Such possible liabilities need to be managed instead.
There are three significant red flags that often have to be managed effectively by the job seeker. These are long gaps of being unemployed, job hopping, and unplanned departures, especially from the most recent jobs. Potential employers rightly have concerns about all three of these situations and to assuage their worries during any interview or pre-selection process the job seeker needs to be prepared to respond in a favorable manner to each one.
Let’s take a look at how to manage these red flags:
Employment gaps are suspect more than they usually are these days because of the robust availability of jobs in recent years. The perception to be confronted is that there could well be a deficiency with the candidate preventing them from getting hired.
There could be valid reasons for one or more employment gaps. Perhaps you needed to be a caregiver or you were seeking training and development. In cases like these be ready to demonstrate how you have been concerned to not let your professional skills atrophy and to show ways you have stayed engaged, whether through contracting, consulting, volunteering, learning, or through some other meaningful activities.
Another route, which may be close to the truth but difficult to explain, is to disclose your scrupulousness regarding selecting employment. Your claim could be that you are so completely committed to directing your time and energy to an employer who is the best fit that sometimes it takes a long while to find the right job. You are showing that in part the gap(s) are intentional and a result of your own thoroughness and attentiveness. Done well, this approach can leave interviewers thinking you may be dedicated and steadfast.
Choosing this tactic during an interview presents an opportunity for you to explain how you see attributes contained in the job description and with the company or organization in general which align with your career goals and the demands of the employer. In other words, you are converting the interview to a negotiation and demonstrating your strength and capacity to take ownership for your decision making instead of meekly trying to explain away the employment gap.
Job hopping, or the practice of holding many relatively short term jobs over time, can leave the impression that the worker lacks commitment and stability. Is this capriciousness rooted in low quality performance, an inability to get along with colleagues and management, or a psychological eccentricity that may be a mismatch for a tightly run organization? These are negative stereotypes with serious potential to diminish your chances of getting hired.
As with employment gaps mentioned above, in order to mitigate negative opinions potential employers may have it is necessary for you to take ownership of the situation and to emphasize the positive aspects multiple jobs has provided to your value proposition. You may choose to utilize the approach mentioned above concerning your continued diligence to find the right employment fit and how difficult it has been to do so. Admitting a degree of regret may also be appropriate. However, as soon as possible reframe the conversation to mentioning the benefits you have received from these numerous experiences.
For example, consider highlighting the breadth of professional improvement you have gained due to your interactions with many different management styles and work environments. This can be further amplified when you can pinpoint specific accomplishments and performance successes you realized from across this range of employment occurrences. Attempt to leave your interviewers with the feeling that you made the best of this varied work history.
An unplanned departure from a job, especially the most recent one, can be another problematic predicament that needs to be confronted thoughtfully. It is reasonable to expect that most interviewers will think job search candidates would not voluntarily leave a position before searching for another job. Their next thoughts could very well be that the candidate was either fired or laid off or quit prematurely.
Heading off such default thoughts is obviously necessary for someone wanting to be seriously considered for a position. Here too, stressing the reality of the occurrence with transparency and in the most positive light possible should be the strategy. Chances are the unplanned departure transpired over something negative. Despite that, it is important to not dwell on any despondency or badmouth the manager who initiated the departure.
Rather, concentrate on communicating what lessons were learned and what accomplishments were obtained. Also, this may be an opportunity to point out what the most advantageous working environments are for you and how this past position did not entirely meet these standards. Again, try to keep your demeanor positive. By doing so you are demonstrating to the interview team an ability to remain upbeat even in the face of an unpleasant topic.
Giving consideration to these responses I have presented concerning resume red flags should assist you in tackling difficult subjects while enhancing your career’s future.
