Question:
I have been out of the technical writing world since this past February when
my last contract ended. While I have been looking for other TW gigs, I took
advantage of the timing and entered another world by attending culinary
school and working in professional kitchens. Since I do miss the challenges
(and money) of technical writing, I am going full force with a job search.
So now I wonder if I should be filling in the gap of time on my resume since
Feb so employers know that I have not been sleeping all day long or is it
just unnecessary fodder that will be simply extend my resume and annoy those
who perhaps would have otherwise given me a chance?
Answer:
-I have long been an advocate for an objectives and accomplishments focused resume
rather than a chronologically organized resume. I think the best, most concise, and
most effective resumes focus on what you have accomplished that will be of interest
to prospective employers in the field for which you are seeking work. I offer one of
my own resumes as an example of how you can get around questions about gaps in
employment by shifting the focus to what you have accomplished in your Technical
Writing career (see http://home.columbus.rr.com/murrell/writer.html).
In this time where job and career changing is the norm, presenting a chronologically
organized resume can give out too many mixed signals to employers about what you can
do for them, which is their prime concern, and about how you are positioned to offer
them skills and accomplishments with which to judge you more beneficially for all
concerned.
-Contrary to many people's expectations, a resume is not a complete and
objective job history. After a few years of experience, that becomes
impossible without five pages and six point type. Instead, you need to
tailor the resume to the profession - and, usually, the specific job as
well.
The simplest way to make it obvious that the resume is selective is
simply to list your work history under the heading "Selected
Experience." If you're worried that someone make look for gaps, you can
put a one-sentence statement at the top of the history that a complete
list of employers is available on request.
However, you might look at how your non-tech writing experience is
relevant to the profession. For example, if you were supervising others
and are pursuing a position as a documentation manager, then it might be
relevant.
