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How Do I Return to Work After a Long Period of Absence?

Start networking! Go through your Rolodex and reach out to anyone and everyone who’s linked to your industry. Some of the most surprising job offers have come from someone familiar, which is no surprise given how tech-savvy the world is.

And of course, it goes without saying that you should constantly be undergoing training or taking refresher courses to keep your skills sharp. The workforce is incredibly competitive and you’d hate to lose out on a job just because your knowledge and skills weren’t as up-to-date as they could be. If you’ve done all that and are still waiting, volunteer. Just make sure it’s related to your field; while volunteering at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen is great, it’s useless career-wise unless you’re trained in something like social work.

Will Employers Look Down on the Gap in My Resume?

Yes. For better or for worse, employers view people with lengthy resume gaps as having something wrong with them that makes them unemployable—even though the current job market dictates otherwise. The most common way of filling a gap is by doing career-related volunteering, followed by taking on contract/freelance work, and lastly by using only years instead of months and years. However, this last approach isn’t strongly encouraged because the truth may come out during interviews and you run the risk of appearing as though you’ve hid information.

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