Caring for family members who have become frail from age or sick from a long-term illness is something with which many people—especially Baby Boomers—can relate. People are living longer. Many wish to live at home as long as they can, but as they become older and frailer, they need help. Many families are faced with the choices such as (1) giving in and placing their loved one in a facility; (2) hiring someone to come into the family member's home to help take care of them; or (3) taking time off from work in order to take on the caretaking role themselves.
Related: 5 Tips For Returning To The Workforce
It is a tough decision for many families, and increasingly, individuals are taking time away from work to take care of ailing family members. At some point, that individual will want to return to the world of work, but they are then faced with how to explain the gap in their work history on their résumé.
Here Are 4 Tips For Returning To Work After Caring For A Family Member:
1. Be up front about the gap and don't apologize for it.
Most recruiters, hiring managers, and HR Directors will be able to relate in some way. Even younger managers will likely have a relative who has been or is currently caring for an elderly family member. You don't have to hide the gap, but at the same time, you don't want to make too much of a big deal about it either. Don't be overly apologetic, but don't dismiss it as irrelevant, either. It is what it is. Put it on your résumé by using something along these lines:
“Leave of absence 8/2010-9/2011
Full-time caregiving during family member's illness."
During the interview, address it briefly without too much emotion (if possible): “The reason for my leave of absence was that my [family member] became gravely ill, and needed a full-time caregiver. It made the most sense for me to be the one to take time away from work to take that on. I am ready to return to work now. I believe my qualifications and past work history make me a good fit for this position."
Don't dwell on it beyond that unless you are asked follow-up questions about it. You want to demonstrate that while you have suffered a significant loss, you are emotionally ready for the rigor of work duties. If you seem to be grieving still, you may hurt your chances of being hired. You want to demonstrate that you did what you needed to do, and now you are ready to tackle a new opportunity in the form of the job at hand.
2. If possible, highlight some of the lessons learned during your leave that could help you in this position.
Perhaps you developed some skills during this time away from the work world that would serve you well now. Negotiation skills or communication skills that were needed as you worked with health care companies and insurance companies might have been developed, for example. If you spent time reading during your leave, talk about lessons learned from that. Did you read journals and stay up to date with Groups on LinkedIn to help you stay up to date with your chosen career? Perhaps you read about leadership or biographies that taught you important lessons that could be applied to working with people in the work place. While there may not be a place for that kind of activity on your résumé, you can certainly bring it to the interview, and what you want to do is focus on what you may have learned during your absence, not on the absence itself.
3. Focus on your strengths from your previous work experiences.
Instead of dwelling for too long on the length of absence from the workforce, focus on your specific strengths. Highlight in both your résumé and in your interview the achievements and successes you have experienced in your past work history. You want to make a case for your ability to do the job for which you are applying. Make sure that those successes and achievements are included in your résumé.
4. Upgrade your skills if necessary.
If you are in a field that changes rapidly like IT or some other computer-related industry or even in the healthcare industry, it may be good for you to get a new certification or upgrade your skills set in some way before attempting to go back to work. Staying current in your chosen field is critical to your being able to make the case for your qualifications for the job. Don't be afraid to take a course or go back to school to get a new certification or degree if necessary. Staying current and up to date is important in an increasing number of jobs these days.
Bonus tip: You may want to address your absence which translates to a work gap in your cover letter. By offering a reason right from the beginning, you address the obvious question of what you were doing during the absence that is reflected on your résumé. You don't arouse suspicion by ignoring it, but rather you address it immediately. Most people will be understanding. They are mainly interested in whether or not you are the right person for the job, so make that the focus of your résumé…not the time that you were away from work.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by a Work It Daily-approved expert.
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
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Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
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Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
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Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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