Persephone

As some of you know I've been living outside NZ for 2 years and we will return in about a month. Because of the difficulty getting registered to work in my profession here, we decided it was best for me not to bother and not work-too complicated to explain fully. It sounds idyllic but it has been anything but!

I'm busy trying to write my CV but could do with some advice on how to approach the gap in employment. I'm sure many have taken time out to have children and so on but things like that sound so much better than 'my husband got a job and I went with him'.

I did return to the UK for about 5 months to do some locum work and go to a large conference earlier this year which can only look good.

Does anyone have any tips on where/how to place the reasons for the gap or is it best left to the covering letter and how do those who look at CVs in their workplace view the 'gap' problem? Or am I worrying too much?

Hoping my previous employer will need someone and welcome me back but I can't rely on that

Robbo25

I wish I could help you, I took some time out last year and it made getting any sort of work near impossible in Auckland, took me over 9 months and in excess of 100 applications in the end.

Not wanting to scare you but would love to hear what worked, as I tried explaining the gap in various ways.

Pom_Chch

Hi Persephone, welcome back to Chch!

I've had the same issue in the past. What with a mix of redundancy, travelling and really struggling for work in the UK for 9 months my CV looks a bit gappy! I got around it by "hiding" the gap and not specifying dates on my CV. Rather than putting exact dates of specific jobs I just put the length of time in my previous job roles. So instead of "shop assistant, Harvey Norman Jan 2011-Feb 2012" I would put "shop assistant, Harvey Norman, 13 months." I personally never had a problem getting work with this method. Once in the interview you can then explain any gaps. Another thing I did was attend free training sessions and workshops to keep my skills refreshed. I signed up to British Medical Journal and BASES UK and looked up latest articles and research so that if a question came up in the interview about recent advances in my profession then I could give an example. I think being able to quote current research helped soften the blow of being out of my profession for a wee while.

With your situation I would just be honest and say that due to work permit issues you were unable to work in your profession but kept up to date with your skills by using online courses, keeping up with recent research, attending conferences, locum work etc. And then say you mixed that in with a bit of travel around the USA and that took you up to two years.

Hope that helps!

Gill and Rob

Be honest.

Account for any gaps - I have seen people write "Renovating home" to cover a gap in employment - this was a health professional.

Also ....Reviewing further study options, supporting family/friend during illness and supporting my partner with their career.

Good luck

Gill

cappuccino

I agree with Gill about being honest. I always write a line (explaining the gap) in the chronological position between the 2 employment listings.

Snap Shot

I've been unemployed for up to a year (thanks New Zealand, well, it's all about the adventure, isn't it ?)

I just simply put, 'looking for work/looking for paid employment' to account for that time on my cv.

chc4me

Great post!! And good solutions.

Persephone

Thanks all!

A bit of time away from it helped, had got to the point where I veered between sounding like I was making lots of excuses why I couldn't work to looking like I was trying to pretend it wasn't there
I knew I had to mention it, it was how much emphasis to put on it that I was having trouble with.

I have done stuff that will counterbalance the time off and luckily the USA is well known in my profession as a 'difficult' place for foreign graduates to become registered in. Yeah, $10,000, at least two written exams and a 3 day practical, no guarantees of a visa [for work] or a job and having to spend a few months revising the massive amount of info in the fields I no longer work in would be a bit silly for two years...

Liked the supporting the husband suggestion; no one needs to know the job was a bit of a disaster from start to finish, his actual job title sounds impressive if I'm asked at interview!.

Anyway once I'm happy with it, I'll start by emailing the place I worked at before. It's who you know after all.....

Tom H

I am sure that some NZ employers may understand situations with Green Cards for example. When you mention you've been to the USA with your husband for a couple of years, I would think they may be aware of the difficulties of employment there.

Just be honest and say something like 2 year gap due to husband working in the USA. You don't need to go into too much detail about it. All it requires is a little note as half the employers in this country don't really look at your experience etc. They just want to see if from your cv, would you be a good fit for the company. Don't waffle, I hate reading waffle cv's. OK I may be different to some others but when I look at CVs (currently recruiting), I see their dates (I like the method Pom used but that can be quite difficult when verifying the dates in terms of reference checks) to work out if they have the necessary experience and then move on to their personal statement and their hobbies and interests. I'm not really interested in what degree you have, or what you did in your previous role. I'll ask that at the interview if I want to

You should be fine returning to work

Persephone

Thanks Tom, hopefully I will have no trouble

Interesting to hear the perspective from someone who does/has read CVs and their preferences. However a lot of aspects depend on what job you do, so for me an employer would be very interested in previous experience: new grad vs experienced and proven ability to work in sole charge etc.
Some of the stuff like my degree is extremely important so must be listed-in my job: no specific degree=no way of legally doing my job! I have a vocational degree and work in a small profession, employers need to know and often want to know where you graduated from

The difficulties of working in the USA are again very occupation specific, more to do with getting licensed to work in my job rather than visa issues but yes, it's a well known problem amongst my colleagues. Works in my favour though!

Do employers really want to know interests and hobbies? I always sound very dull

Tom H

In my experience, yes

It gives an idea as to what sort of person you are and an incline as to whether you would be a good fit.

I had one experience where a manager went on experience and qualifications to hire someone. This person, despite being qualified was the most boring individual you could ever meet. We found out a few months later that the CEO, my manager and IT manager didn't want him but it was a CV that you couldn't turn away. You could see why his longest duration at a company was 3 years.

Myself, my manager and my previous manager will want our requirements but then we leave that to the recruitment agency we use. When it comes to interviews, we just have general chats to find out what sort of person you are. If there's a click in that talk, we get you back. If there isn't, thank you and goodbye.

Persephone

I don't think I've ever written any down on a CV before. Might be worth putting something down, make myself look interesting

Most of my employers are small businesses and don't get a lot of applications anyway, they tend to interview everyone unless they really don't have the experience preferred by the employer.
Whether you 'fit' into the place is seen as more important in some ways because we do have to work fairly closely at times and each place has its own culture and 'feel'. In fact the fit works both ways, I have been to interviews and thought no way will this work for me. That's the main reason I did not even start contacting workplaces until I was actually in NZ as I was not prepared to accept a job offer without actually visiting them first.

my previous employer needs someone, the first time I walked in there I knew I wanted to work for them, just an intangible feeling that it felt right.

jmh

It's not a bad idea to include interests, although it depends somewhat on what they are. Some examples of where they have been useful for people include:

The manager who couldn't decide between two exceptional candidates and chose the one who listed gardening because it would give them something to talk about.

The manager who thinks that seeing a fitness/health type interest, e.g. running, means they are less likely to have sickies.

The manager appointing for a role working with posh people. The list of interests which included sky diving, water skiing and flying helicopters (has a licence) on one candidate cv demonstrated to him that the applicant mixed in the right circles!

If you are going for a career change it might help, e.g. if you want to work with animals and have an interest in animal welfare, volunteering at SPCA or similar that might help.

A lot of people do have interests associated with their work, or that demonstrate a personal passion for their work. If you love sailing as a hobby you might be good at selling boats or sailing related items. If you are a volunteer finance counsellor you might be good as a student adviser.

Don't go overboard. Four or five is fine, any more and the employer might wonder if you have time for work. Also, shopping and watching sports on tv don't count as interests and only tell the recruiter that you are shallow.

Charismatic

What where the "spaces" for (don't use the word 'gap')?

Then I'd say that. A linear employment story is often a lie anyway, most of us can think of times when we had multiple sources of income.