life@work

How to Explain a Resume Gap During an Interview

We all have a few questions we hope an interviewer doesn't ask. One of the most common such scenarios is when we have a gap in employment.

It's easy to feel unsure and on the defensive when we anticipate being asked, "So, what was happening from May 2004 through July 2005?"

The Pongo Blog features a post written by Rick Saia on this topic. It's as good advice as I've seen on how to explain a gap in your resume.

In a nutshell he advises to keep your explanation brief and factual, highlight the positives, and bring the conversation back to your qualifications and interest in the job for which you are interviewing.

Rick also describes whether and when you should disclose all of the jobs that you have held.

I've worked with people who have felt not only unsure but plagued by the gap in their resume. If after reading Rick's post you still aren't sure how to explain your resume gap, try these steps:

1. Explain to someone (or yourself in the mirror) in very blunt terms why there is a gap. Don't sugarcoat and don't put a spin on it - just be brutally honest.

In this way you get your baggage out of your head and onto "the table" where you can see it.

Examples of baggage could include:

• I did a really bad job of looking for work after I was laid off, so it took a while.
• My boss didn't like me, I was fired, and it has taken a really long time to find a new job. I feel like a loser.
• I quit without any other job in hand and regret my rashness. It took a long time to find work and I think that looks bad.
• I was trying to make a career change, but was unsuccessful. Now I feel I need to get back to my old career, and I'm not happy about it.
• I was depressed and unable to work. Now I'm much better but I don't want to tell anyone I was depressed. It isn't their business, anyway. But what do I say?

2. Differentiate between the facts of your situation and the negative emotional judgments you're making. You might want to ask a friend or a coach to help you make the distinctions.

3. Put away the negative emotional judgments for the rest of this exercise.

4. Working with the facts of the resume gap, craft a 2-3 sentence response to an anticipated inquiry. The response needs to be truthful, yet it does not need to include all of the details or the background story.

5. Make a plan for what you will do with the negative emotional judgments, so they don't take over your job search experience or show up inappropriately during an interview.

It's much easier to decide how to describe a resume gap in an interview after you've had the chance to fully explore the facts and your feelings about it on your own.

Too often we grip our "baggage" tightly, never putting it down and definitely never talking about it. But when we do this, we lose perspective about its significance and what to do about it.

It's possible that the situation you're worried about or embarrassed about might not be difficult to explain at all. Share your baggage with someone else to get an objective take on it and what your options are.

Heather Mundell
Dream Big Coaching Services
www.dreambigcoaching.com
heather@dreambigcoaching.com

cross-posted at Career Hub

Quintessential Careers is a Resource for Job Seekers

If you're conducting a job search and aren't familiar with Quintessential Careers, check it out.

Randall Hansen, a career coach and marketing professor, founded this site a dozen years ago, and it is full of solid career advice, contributed by many well-respected career professionals, and links to job sites.

Quintessential Careers publishes a monthly newsletter called QuintZine, which periodically features a Q&A interview with a career expert. This month it's me!

It's easy to get overwhelmed as a job seeker when you are gathering information online. Have a goal before you enter this content and link-rich site.

Heather Mundell
Dream Big Coaching Services
www.dreambigcoaching.com
heather@dreambigcoaching.com

How to Complain (and Why)

A little kvetching is good for you. Going overboard with it is not.

This philosophy works for me. Too much positive thinking just doesn't feel right to me, even with all my work with clients to "dream big".

This article from the Pacific Daily News features quotes from both the pro- and anti-kvetch camps.

On the pro side: When we complain in moderation to a willing listener, we are acknowledging the truth of our experience rather than hiding it. We may feel a little less miserable in the process.

On the anti side: When we complain, we are excusing ourselves from taking action. When we focus on the way things should be and cultivate a positive spirit, we infuse the world with that energy and make it a better place.

You may have read about the purple rubber bracelets you can get from A Complaint Free World to remind you not to complain and to signify your commitment to living a complaint-free life.

Here's my take on complaining and your career.

Complaining in moderation can help you understand what you'd rather be doing.

• Your job may not be a good fit anymore. It might be time for you move on to something really amazing. You're not going to make that move unless you're a at least a little bit uncomfortable. You won't realize your discomfort until you complain a bit.

Complaining too much sours you and infects everyone around you, too.

• It's easy to hide behind complaints (which includes gossip and sarcasm). If you complain a lot and never take action to change your circumstances, you're a victim. From there it's just a short hop over to bitterness. You'll attract certain kinds of people (whiners) and repel others (doers).

Go ahead and kvetch a bit about your job or your boss or the company. And then ask yourself what you will do to make it better.

You won't be able to solve all of your complaints. But doing something even very small will keep you in a position of action and power. And that feels a lot better than bitterness.

You might even decide to wear a purple rubber bracelet!

Heather Mundell
Dream Big Coaching Services
www.dreambigcoaching.com
heather@dreambigcoaching.com

Use Your Energy Wisely (or, Don't Write When You Should Be Filing)

As a working mom, I do a lot of different things during the day.

Some of them -- such as "Director of Innovative Ideas" or "Manager of Difficult Situations" -- require a lot of energy. Others -- like "Sandwich Maker" or "Routine Memo Writer" -- are far less taxing.

I'd love to have the right kind of energy available at the right time. I'm working on this, and here are some of my ideas.

Most of us have energy levels that vary wildly throughout the day. There are times and situations when we feel creative, energetic, productive, happy, or persistent, and there are times when we feel sapped, irritable, lazy, or defeated.

When we try to do something that requires a lot of energy during a time of day that we feel drained, it doesn't go so well. For me, this would be like trying to write an article at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon. Really I should be filing, or talking to someone I like, or just staring out the window.

Conversely, if I use my most creative time to make appointments or pay the company bills, I've wasted a great opportunity to move a step ahead with my goals that require a lot of thinking.

The good news is that most of us have a fairly predictable energy pattern during the day. For example:

• I know that 5:30 a.m. is technically a time, but it's not one that I personally choose to experience.
• If I work after 9:30 p.m., then I have a hard time getting to sleep.
• I love to walk my dog briefly in the middle of the day.
• I pray that my kids' big emotional issues will occur between 4 and 4:15 pm on weekdays (or any time on the weekend!)

Which brings me to the bad news: Our energy cycles may be predictable, but there are a lot of situations in our day that aren't. We get the irate customer call when we're feeling exhausted. We have the great idea about a new product line at midnight, keeping us fired up into the wee hours.

When we recognize and understand our energy sources and cycles, we have a lot more control over our productivity and how we feel during the day. With this awareness we can plan ahead to match what we do to the energy available to us.

If we practice this often enough, we'll feel better during those times that really test us. This is because we'll have an overall experience of feeling “in tune” with ourselves.

Here are five essential steps to using your energy wisely:

1.) Identify your daily energy cycles.

On a blank daily calendar sheet, write down how you tend to feel during different times of day. At 6 a.m., do you feel tired? Peaceful? Calm? Excited? Describe your energy throughout the day. Note the swells and the dips.  If you know that your energy shifts differently on different days of the week, write down a page for each of those different days.

2.) List your energy requirements.

Write down what you do during a typical day and what kind of energy it requires. Use a number scale from one to 10 to rate how much energy you use during each activity. Each of us is unique. If making the kids' lunches is a seven out of 10 for you, be honest. Does helping out with homework tax you? Are the staff meetings you run pretty routine?

3.) Match tasks to available energy.

Look at your blank calendar sheet, your list of energy requirements, and your current calendar system. How well does your typical schedule make the most of your available energy? Where are the big discrepancies? What can you shift to make a better match between energy required and energy available?  This step might require conversations with the other members of your household or your staff, co-workers or manager at work.

4.) Create a list of energy boosters.

Write down at least 10 things you can do quickly that you know will give you a boost of energy. You might do a few yoga poses, read the comics, call your partner, or pet your cat.

Post your list and turn to it during those times that you need to press on, even though your energy is flagging. It's easy to create the list; it's using it that will take practice. Allow yourself a month of concentrated effort to make this a habit.

5.) Make transformational changes.

All of this work leads to much more than adjustments in your calendar! You've prepared yourself to make bold decisions about which energy sappers stay and which go away. What will you delegate or get rid of that will make a big difference in how you feel at home or at work?

You're also in a great position to make room for energy boosters. What gives you energy? It might be time alone, exercise, time with friends, or working in a job you really enjoy. What will you add that will make a huge difference in how you feel?

It's tempting to attack our lengthy task lists as quickly and machine-like as possible, ignoring our energy levels.  But when we approach our days with knowledge of our own rhythms and preferences in mind, there is much more room in our lives for ease, peace and happiness.

Heather Mundell
Dream Big Coaching Services
www.dreambigcoaching.com
heather@dreambigcoaching.com

cross-posted at Work It, Mom