Courtesy of : AVID Technical Resources -

Employment Gaps in Resumes

As IT recruiters, we often find candidates trying to cover up gaps in employment on their resumes.  Instead of trying to cover up any gaps and potentially jeopardizing your chance at landing your next IT job, following our simple advice:  Honesty is the best policy.

Most IT recruiters will tell you that it’s pretty easy to uncover gaps in employment.  Some of the most common include:

*Not using dates whatsoever:  Employment dates are mandatory in all resumes.  If an IT recruiter finds a    resume without any dates, it’s the biggest of the red flags.  No dates means the person behind the resume is trying to cover something up. 

*Using years, instead of adding the month and year of employment: This is also typically a red flag to IT recruiting firms.  The month and year should be included with every job listed on a person’s resume.  Excluding the month ignites suspicion with an IT recruiter that the candidate may be covering up anywhere from a one to twelve month gap in their resume.  When he or she is looking through dozens of resumes, sometimes all it takes is one red flag to disqualify the candidate.  Don’t lose out on an opportunity because you failed to include the month and year of employment on your resume.

*Fabricating employment dates:  Fabricating dates of employment is inexplicable.  Lying on your resume would, and should, black list you from that IT employment agency and/or client company.  Don’t run the risk of being caught, don’t jeopardize your chance at landing that perfect technical job opening

*Fabricating a position:  This is obviously just as unprofessional and deceitful as lying about employment dates.  Resumes should be an honest overview of a person’s skills and IT job experience and is a reflection upon the integrity of the person behind the paper.

  Instead of attempting to deceive the reader, be honest.  Ultimately, the employment gap will probably not prohibit you from getting the IT job as long as you candidly and honestly explain why there was a gap and what you did during this time.

In today’s economic environment, there are thousands of people out of work and faced with employment gaps.  If you are out of work for an extended period of time, do your best to sharpen your skills.  Take classes in the information technology field.  If you can’t afford them, most states provide these services through the local unemployment office.  IT recruiting companies or the clients themselves will typically respect the fact that you went out of your way to keep up with your skills.

Five ways to fail a job interview

AGENCY LIFE, GTD, PR — BY MORGAN MCLINTIC ON MARCH 12, 2010 9:59 AM 

I’ve interviewed hundreds of
job candidates. Going into an interview, I want the interviewee to
get the job, to be ‘the one’. But the law of averages says that’s
unlikely. Most candidates make the same mistakes:

They just
want A job not, THIS job - Particularly in the current economic
climate, candidates just want a position, any position. If you
can’t answer why you want to work for this company in this particular
role, and are the best person to do that, save yourself the bother of
applying. Contrary to what you may think, it’s not a numbers game. You
don’t marry just anyone with a pulse, so don’t apply to just any company
with a payroll. As an employer, I want to know why you are the only
person who can do the job.

They don’t know what we do -
You have to do your research into the company, its positioning,
competitors, challenges, financials, recent news. For instance, in my
sector, you have to know the difference between PR and advertising. I’m
sure there are similar fundamentals in other areas which scream lack of
research. It’s hard to take a candidate seriously who hasn’t put in a
few hours getting the fundamentals down.

They mess up the
basics – Turn up on time, wear a clean suit, bring an up-to-date
resume which is free of typos, don’t smell (e.g. of smoke or attack
perfume), brush your hair, have clean shoes, don’t wear too much make-up
(especially guys!) or show too much cleavage (guys!!), don’t sweat
profusely, or in any way give a first impression which is not the one
you intend. Your apparel and punctuality should not be noticeable. You
should be what we notice.

They’re dull - Companies want to
hire fascinating, engaged and exciting people. The ones who ooze
potential. So don’t bore your interviewer with trivial accomplishments,
bland perspectives, wrote answers or lengthy diatribes. Be different. I
often ask myself – would I want to get trapped in an elevator with this
person? If I can’t imagine inviting them home for dinner or going to a
bar with them, they’re probably not the right fit. Keep your answers
short, laugh your way through the interview, be yourself. This is
supposed to be you at your sparkling best.

They exaggerate
- During an interview the BS radar is on full alert and pointed
directly at you. So just be honest. By all means, highlight your
accomplishments but don’t claim abilities which you don’t possess.
Honesty and humility are far more important than supposed superpowers.
And don’t forget, if you get the job, and your track record is a
fabrication, we’ll find out. Start the relationship on a solid foundation -
in many ways it’s better to underplay your role and then over deliver
when you get the job.

Credit:

Five ways to fail a job interview

AGENCY LIFE, GTD, PR — BY MORGAN MCLINTIC ON MARCH 12, 2010 9:59 AM 

http://www.morganmclintic.com/pr/2010/03/five-ways-to-fail-a-job-interview.html?goback=.gmp_3688976.gde_3688976_member_46221938
!