[Ganondorf]

I graduated high school in 1997. I went to college then, but I ended up dropping out after one year. So I got a fast food job, and I worked at that place from 1998 to 2005. In 2005 my mother became extremely ill, so I quit work to care for her. When she recovered a few years later, the economy was in the gutter. I really really really did not want to go back to my old fast food job, and I could not find work anywhere else. So I decided to go back to college in 2010. I am graduating this December. I have been sending out lots of resumes since January, but I am getting very very few interviews, and I have had no job offers at all. I think my ten year employment gap is scaring every employer, and I am unsure what to do about it. I do explain it like I have explained it above in my cover letter. Has anyone here ever dealt with such a large employment gap?

[Anonymous]

I would re-start your resume with graduating in December to make it look like you're just a fresh grad, 22 years old or so with no work experience, and leave it at that. Of course when you go to interview, it will be obvious you're older than 22, and at that point you may be able to make a simple explanation that doesn't even involve the number of years – just something like that for the first several years out of college, you worked entry-level jobs and cared for sick relatives, then decided to go back to college and now that you're nearing graduation you're ready to start your career. You could use an alternate resume style that allow you to list the fast-food work history in a way without having to have the years on it – something like “Other Skills and Experience: 7 years' experience providing customer service in fast-food setting”.

If you fill out an application for a job which requires that you list all your job history, then of course you'll need to list all the correct years and it will show the 10-year gap, but I think that having your resume look like a recent grad will no work experience will look better than someone who worked fast-food for 7 years then didn't work for 10 years.

[trish_1234]

I second Lilla that will increase ur chances on interviews. Don't lie but don't give out information if its not needed.

I have employment gab and basically I did what Lilla said. I got work through networking building relationships best way.. utilize ur school, career fairs etc where you meet people face to face.

AUD 69, 92 7/15 Gleim and Ninja test bank
FAR sometime in 10/15 Gleim
BEC not taken
REG not taken

[Anonymous]

Agreed. Write your resume like a recent grad. DONT include that long winded story in your cover letter. DO matter of factly (and briefly) state in the interview that your mother was really sick and you were taking care of her full time. DONT make apologies or excuses (you don't need them). FOCUS on the future not the past.

[MaLoTu]

I believe that Lilia's suggestion is probably the best. The fact that you worked in fast food, then your mother got sick, then you went back to school because of the economy are all fairly justifiable, but are better brought up in person than in a resume. I would leave out that you dropped out of school from any discussion.

Almost always from my phone... please excuse my typos!

All 4 passed - 2016

CA CPA

[Missy]

Say as little as possible, and only if asked. There's a fine line between explaining and making excuses and sadly it's the listener who determines where that line is placed. The truth is an employer only, asks that question to help make a guess, about your work habits since you've got nothing else to go on. Give a dialog about your work ethic in school.

Old timer,  A71'er since 2010.

Finance manager/HR manager

 

 

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[fuzyfro89]

Any information prior to your degree from 2010-2015? need not be represented on your resume.

Plenty of people had careers or were hippies before deciding to get degrees in accounting. You don't need to list all your hippy activities before you went back to school.

If asked, you can keep it brief, but don't volunteer that information unless specifically asked. Most people won't care anyway. Why would an employer want to know what you did with yourself more than 5 years ago? Heck, since you just graduated, they barely care what you did more than 1 year ago.

It could be a good topic when you are in an interview.

“When I graduated high school, I really didn't know what I wanted to do with my career/life, and ended up bouncing around a few different places. Unfortunately, one of my parents became ill in the mid-2000s and I took time off my career to move back home and care for them. I restarted coursework in 2010 after deciding on a career in Accounting because of X, Y and Z, which brings us to today…”

Again, no need to volunteer that, but if it comes up, it does show you are a human and where you're at today and what you want.

[Ganondorf]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I had considered leaving the fast food job off my resume, but I thought maybe it would be considered lying if I didn't list it. My main concern now with leaving it off is that my resume would be rather empty without it. I wasn't a member of any club or fraternity during college. I did have one accounting related volunteer experience, but that's pretty much it. So on my resume I have my education, my one volunteer experience, and my fast food job. Without the job, my resume is rather blank.

[Missy]

The trick to listing a fast food job on a resume is phrasing it in a way that translates to the job you're looking for. Instead of saying you rang the register, you can say you were able to maintain a cash drawer with 99% accuracy (as an example), instead of saying you waited on 200+ customers per day you say you provided exceptional customer service and were able to proactively resolve customer concerns with minimal guidance from managment.

Many soft skills from fast food translate to the accounting profession. If its that or a blank resume, don't leave it entirely blank. After you get in for an interview they are likely to realize you are mid-30's and expect to see SOMETHING on a resume.

Old timer,  A71'er since 2010.

Finance manager/HR manager

 

 

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Anonymous]

A surprising number of recent grads have no work experience at all, so I'd Google ideas for resume writing for recent grads without work experience and follow those to fill out your resume. Some suggest having a “Skills” section, some suggest elaborating more on the college experience, etc. It's only lying if, when asked, you say you've never worked before. Most people don't list all their jobs on their resume (I've had too many brief jobs to list them all without just cluttering things up), so there's no presumption that a resume is full job-history. Thus, there's no reason it's lying to not list it.

[trish_1234]

hey there is a thread for more advice

How to land a accounting job?

But the below passage is a copy and paste from above link that might interest you in particular!

” I'm a tax accountant and the irs offers a course. It's called vita and after you do the course, you volunteer prepping returns for lower income individuals. I know a few coworkers who did it before getting their first job. Anyway, not sure you want to taxes but if so, it's a good way to go. At least you won't have any more gaps in your resume. Also, you might have to move for your first job.”

AUD 69, 92 7/15 Gleim and Ninja test bank
FAR sometime in 10/15 Gleim
BEC not taken
REG not taken

[Anonymous]

I started my resume with my graduation date which is May 2015 and I got plenty of interviews and 4 job offers.. Anything before that is none of the employer's concern. So, I second what Lilla said! So why not do what I and other fresh graduates did?

And I think age is non of their business either. And if I were you, I would remove the fast food job from the resume. It has absolutely no value in the eyes of corporate employers because I went to college and I know how professors talk about McDonalds and gas stations jobs being beneath what a reasonable person should look for. It's not what I think, but it's what people think. Leave that to the interview and don't mention it at all until you are specifically asked.

[fuzyfro89]

No harm in putting the fast food job on your resume. You “worked part time through school to fund tuition and fees.” Your resume doesn't have to show everything. It is only a marketing tool. However, if you accept a job offer, you will have to fill out a complete job history (depending on your state, up to the last 5-7 yrs I think), in which case you'll have to put actual dates. At that point, no one is second guessing whether they want you.

Nothing low about that at all. In fact, many partners I knew worked odd college jobs to support themselves. Whether it's fast food, janitor, school cafeteria worker, resident assistants, etc. All minimum or low wage jobs. You just need to highlight transferable skills and accomplishments.

I don't want to teach resume writing here, but there's a difference:

Loser version: “I took orders and told cooks what to make.”

Winner version: “I arrived on time every day for the last 3 years, kept customer lines within company guidance wait times, and funded 50% of my tuition/fees with an avg. work week of 30 hours on top of a full student course load.”

Of course, don't write a paragraph, but you get the idea.

[Ganondorf]

Thanks everyone. I think I am just going to rewrite the fast food job as a single bullet point under “Other Skills” like Lilla mentioned. I will leave off the years and only mention them in an interview if asked. Hopefully this will get a better response from employers.

[Author]

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