resume help/advce

My opinion would be yes, include it in your resume. You can simply call it "caring for an ill relative". All it means is that you've actually been doing something in the time between jobs.

newtohobby said:

I worked full time for about 7 years got laid off. I decided to go back to school and waited about one year to get into the program I wanted and graduated in April 2011 with honors and awarded a scholarship.

Not the graduating present I wanted, my father was diagnosed with a terminal disease and not long to live. I decided to hold off on looking for work. I wanted to take care of him and spend as much time as I could with him. I took care of him, helped him around, driving him to his appointments and driving him to where ever he wanted as he was very weak. For some reason including so of my relatives, they faulted me for doing this and they wanted me to look for work lol. I didn't listen.

Unfortunately, he passed away this year and I want to start looking for work. I've been taking care of my mom as this was very hard on our family. She says she is ready and wants me to work.

How do I write my resume? Do I put caregiver as a job? Do I explain this in my cover letters? Thanks for any input.

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Don't let anyone else make you feel bad. You did the right thing!
I wouldn't list "caregiver" as a job on your resume unless you're planning to go into that field, but i would include it in the covering letter to account for the time gap.

Very sorry to hear about your father. You're a good man for looking after him. I think you did the right thing.

You're going to have to explain your absence from the workforce at some point during the job application process.

I would certainly mention it in your cover letter. It speaks to your loyalty, dedication, sense of responsibility, and good character. A brief explanation should suffice, don't belabour it (unless you’re applying for a job where caregiving skill is directly relevant).

I'm not sure I would include it in your resume / CV (unless you're applying for a job in that field). I tend to think the resume / CV is strictly reserved for formal and relevant education, experience, and employment.

Good luck with the job search. You'll do fine.

Anyone reviewing the application will notice the years-long gap in employment. It begs an explanation.

I'm concerned that without addressing the issue in the cover letter, his application may get tossed aside and this young lad may not get to the interview stage.

I would keep the explanation brief - one line should suffice. (After X years pursuing further education and caring for my ailing father, I am eager to resume my career.)

I personally would not include it in your resume. Its a personal matter. If you have the skills and are qualified, an un-addressed year in the resume will not have them throw your resume out even before the interviews. Most likely they'll question you about the time off as that's what they're trained to make note of. You can then tell them about it. Its a nice thing you did and would actually show them that you're willing to sacrifice and focus priorities on even when other people (like your relatives) think otherwise. Entering it in your resume right off the bat would make them think you're trying to earn their pity in order to get the job, and could even backfire. Its a touchy situation which might be better if talked about in person than them reading about it in one line or two.

Don't worry about the relatives who didn't like you being out of work during the time your father was alive. Most of them don't think long term, rather only think about short term gains and personal gains. Heck... I could point out every point in my life where I'd have gotten into a big mess had I listened to my relatives or tried pleasing them. You know what is best for you, stick to your plans and don't worry about what others want from you.

I too think you should not include the personal time off in your resume. The employer is interested in what you can bring to the table. For you, I would emphasize your resume more on education and perhaps skills learned from self-studying? As far as employment gap is concern, if its that big of a gap, you might want to make a resume that focus on skills. I think skills is the most important part of a resume, even more than work experience. Yes, employers look for experience, but at the same time most of the good resumes put lots of emphasis on skills/achievements.

You can prob make a functional resume. I've seen functional resume that don't even list the work dates on the resume. You can simply list 2-3 main skills you have and put your achievements in each one of them. You should start off with a summary of qualifications, and then list those 3 mains skills related to the job you are applying for.