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Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
How To Turn A Career Gap Into A Selling Point Employers Love
When interviewing with employers, a career gap can be turned into a selling point. Nearly half (47%) of U.S. workers have experienced career gaps, according to a recent MyPerfectResume report. Yet, countless talented professionals sabotage their job search by treating a career gap like a dirty secret. They stumble through job interviews, apologize for time away from work and eventually convince hiring managers that their career break was a liability. But the most compelling candidates aren't those with linear career paths. They're the ones who have developed diverse skills and can articulate how their unconventional journey makes them a valuable asset. Here are five key steps to go from minimizing your career gap to reframing it as a competitive advantage. Focus On Skill Building Your first instinct might be to downplay your career gap, but this approach signals weakness to employers who already worry about outdated skills and reduced motivation. Instead, demonstrate how your time away developed valuable skills and kept you professionally engaged. Here's how to flip the script: Instead of saying: "I was laid off and it took me longer than expected to find something." Say this: "After my position was eliminated, I used the transition period to upgrade my skills in digital marketing and earned my Google Analytics certification. I'm returning to the workforce with advanced capabilities and a fresh perspective on data-driven marketing strategies." Instead of saying: "I was a stay-at-home parent for three years." Say this: "I managed complex family logistics, including budget planning, schedule coordination across multiple activities and relationship building within our community. These experiences strengthened my project management, financial planning and stakeholder engagement capabilities." Instead of saying: "I tried to start a business but it didn't work out." Say this: "I launched and operated an independent consulting practice, gaining hands-on experience in market research, client acquisition, financial management and strategic planning. While I ultimately decided to return to corporate employment, this entrepreneurial experience gives me valuable insights into business development and customer needs." The key is to be specific about what you accomplished and learned and then draw clear connections to the job requirements. Optimize Your Resume And Cover Letter Your resume and cover letter are your first opportunity to control the narrative around your career gap. Rather than hoping employers won't notice, address it from the start. Use years instead of months when listing employment dates to minimize the appearance of resume gaps. If you engaged in meaningful activities during your career break, such as freelancing, volunteering, education or caregiving, include them as legitimate entries with action-oriented descriptions. Address your employment break in two to three sentences rather than avoiding it. Focus on what you gained, not what you missed. Instead of saying: "Although I have been out of the workforce for two years..." Say this: "During my recent career transition, I enhanced my project management skills while coordinating complex family logistics and completed advanced certifications in digital marketing. This experience, combined with my previous marketing director role, gives me a unique perspective on stakeholder management and strategic planning." The key is positioning your career gap as a purposeful part of your professional journey, not an unfortunate interruption. Master Your Job Interview Strategy Your job interview is where you transform your career gap from a potential liability into a compelling differentiator. Preparation is everything. Use the three-part structure: Context (brief), Action (detailed), Value (specific). Practice this story until it feels natural, not rehearsed. Context: "I took 18 months off after my father's cancer diagnosis." Action: "During that time, I managed his treatment coordination, researched clinical trials, and handled complex insurance negotiations." Value: "This experience strengthened my research abilities and stakeholder management skills, which I'm excited to apply to vendor relationship management in this role." Prepare confident responses to these common concerns: Question: "Why didn't you work part-time during your break?" Response: "I wanted to fully commit to the situation at hand and use any remaining time for strategic professional development." Question: "Are you concerned about being behind on industry trends?" Response: "Actually, my time away gave me fresh perspective on emerging trends in the industry, which I explored through targeted research and continuing education." Question: "How do we know you won't take another extended break?" Response: "This was a unique family situation that required my full attention. I'm now ready to fully commit to my career growth and have strong support systems in place." Don't wait to be asked about your employment break. Bring it up naturally when discussing your background. This approach shows confidence and prevents awkward moments later. Also, record yourself telling your career gap story to perfect your delivery. Your tone should be matter-of-fact and confident, not apologetic. Maintain eye contact and speak at a normal pace, as rushing through suggests discomfort. Rebuild Your Professional Network Strategic networking is crucial to overcome the visibility gap that often accompanies career breaks. Reconnect with former colleagues who can vouch for your abilities and provide insider perspectives on company cultures. Consider informational interviews with people in your target companies. They're often more willing to discuss opportunities when there's no immediate job pressure. Join professional associations and attend virtual events in your field to rebuild visibility. Update your LinkedIn profile to reflect your career gap positively, using the same reframing techniques from your resume. Engage with industry content by commenting thoughtfully on posts and sharing relevant insights. Use LinkedIn's "Open to Work" feature, and consider reaching out to recruiters who specialize in your field. Target Gap-Friendly Employers Not all employers view career gaps equally. Rather than applying broadly and hoping for the best, focus your efforts on organizations where your unconventional path becomes an advantage. Look for employers that explicitly mention valuing "diverse backgrounds," "non-traditional paths," or "life experience" in their job postings and company values. Startups and smaller companies often prioritize skills over linear career paths, while organizations with strong diversity and inclusion programs typically appreciate varied life experiences. Before applying, investigate whether the organization truly supports work-life balance or if it's just marketing speak. Check employee reviews for mentions of flexibility, family support and career development opportunities. Companies that offer returnship programs, flexible schedules or explicitly welcome career changers are ideal targets. Turn Your Career Gap Into Your Greatest Asset Your career gap doesn't have to be a liability. With the right strategy and mindset, it can become one of your strongest selling points. The key is approaching it with confidence, connecting your experiences to employer needs and demonstrating the unique value you bring because of your unconventional path, not despite it.
Entrepreneur
7 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
How a Good Mentor Can Change the Trajectory of Your Business — and Make You Happier at Work
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Whether you're starting a new phase in your professional journey or reflecting on decades of experiences, mentorship is critical to thriving in your career. Mentors inspire new talent to hone their unique skill set and capitalize on opportunity. As a professional grows, the former mentee becomes a mentor themselves, shaped by the guides who first led the way. Here are four reasons why mentorship can provide holistic rewards for you, your teams and work. Developing skills As experts across a variety of vocations, mentors bring a plethora of experiences to junior colleagues and their organizations. Mentor value is truly far-reaching. According to a CNBC/SurveyMonkey Workplace Happiness Survey, 91% of people with mentors are satisfied with their jobs, and 71% of employees with a mentor say their company provides them with quality opportunities to advance their careers, compared to 47% of those without a mentor. One of the many benefits of mentorship is tailored skill-building. Through their extensive industry knowledge, leaders can: Counsel improvement areas by sharing specialized knowledge and best practices specific to the needs of their mentee. Offer relationship-building advice and strategies. Instill a continuous learning mindset for career-long growth. Model soft skills such as leadership behaviors and successful verbal and written communication tactics. Share real-world examples to help their colleague navigate current situations with context. Mentorship presents a mutually beneficial relationship for the mentor as well, allowing them to engage and understand emerging technologies, generational differences and unique perspectives. Related: I Mentor First-Time Entrepreneurs — These Are the 4 Unseen Benefits I Gained By Giving Back Navigating challenges Challenges are inevitable, and how leaders rise to help their teams meet them can mean the difference between near-sure success or inevitable disaster. For leaders who have "been around the block" and seen the rise and fall of their industry, drawing on those experiences can prove instrumental in these situations. In other instances, engaging a novel approach and "unsticking" from past ways of thinking may be what your team needs. In my own work, an unexpected situation once required me to think outside existing protocols as a mentor. I was tasked with leading a new group, but found that past ways of thinking and programs were actually preventing us from moving forward. I also learned that each member of my team had their own barriers that prevented them from achieving success. Rather than sticking to the original plan, I realized we needed to free ourselves and try new guidelines that addressed each person's skills as well as their misfires. Being there as a mentor and working through individual needs helped the group redefine the structure we needed. This decision grounded all of us in a key learning that can apply beyond the workplace: Move beyond to find what prevails. Networking Much like skills, industry connections from a mentorship relationship take a mentee's potential one step further. Speeches from high school valedictorians, celebrities, Nobel laureates, award winners, athletes, C-suite leaders and the like often acknowledge how mentorship opened life-altering doors. And for mentees of backgrounds and experience levels different from the predominant ones of their industry, networking can be especially significant. In the small business landscape, mentorship can offer profitable pathways to new suppliers, client referrals and cross-industry partners. More broadly, new connections help businesses become better ingrained in their local communities and the causes their customers care about. Mentorship also reminds the mentee that their entrepreneurial journey is a networking haven of resources, connections and opportunities rather than a "go it alone" venture. Networking is a sounding board and support system of mentorship. Related: Everyone Needs a Mentor — But Being a Mentor Is Just as Important. Here's Why. Passing it on One of the great things when it comes to organized mentorship programs is the far-reaching joy across generations of mentor and mentee. An example that comes to mind is our annual The UPS Store Small Biz Challenge, a multistage competition that offers a chance for small business owners to compete for a share of the $35,000 prize pool, an editorial feature and one-on-one mentoring with a small business expert. Being a small business owner or entrepreneur amid an evolving landscape can feel intimidating by nature, which is why The UPS Store supports small business owners by providing resources to help them grow, thrive and reach their entrepreneurial dreams. This year's Small Biz Challenge winners, Sydney Attis and Mikayla Garcia, owners of Just Call Me Shirley, epitomize the spirit we see in all our applicants. Emerging from their victory, their mentorship lessons and challenges overcome have shaped new opportunities for them to help fellow entrepreneurs and business owners be unstoppable. Regardless of the career stage or industry, mentorship has a role in all of them. It brings people together and boosts business development on the micro level. Simple setups, such as biweekly meetings, coffee chats or even happy hours, provide a space for these conversations. This time can become a natural part of your and your team's work culture. With its many upstream and downstream benefits, consider incorporating mentorship when growing your business.
