How to overcome situations outside of your control on résumé

Dear Sam: I am 59 years old and trying to return to work after being on disability for six years. How do I handle this on my résumé? I have never had the need for a résumé prior to this "new age" handling of job applications and searches. Most jobs require an online application and this stops me in my tracks, in the "old days" it was all done in person!

Also I have another question for a relative. He was let go from his employment due to a personal vendetta by a harassing superior. He is very well qualified for his area of expertise. He has been given the idea that this previous supervisor is black balling him when it comes to receiving unemployment benefits and also in his application for future employment. He cannot omit this employer from his résumé as this would leave a gap and would seem dishonest. He was such a good employee for this company, that when they had to downsize several years ago, he was one that received a very generous departing package! They then called him to come back at a higher wage and great benefits. He also has letters of praise from other supervisors at this company. Not until the hiring of this new individual was there ever a problem! He is now at a loss as to why this has happened but would like to move on. What does he do about this on his résumé? — R. in Columbus

Dear R: Let’s address your situation first. Obviously you have to follow the guidelines mandated by an employment application, so there is little you can do to hide disqualifying factors on an application, other than making sure you are focusing on areas in which you went above and beyond when at all possible. There are, however, a number of things you can do to make your résumé more effective.

First, be sure you are only presenting the amount of experience that really supports your candidacy. Typically hiring managers like to see focus paid to the last 8-10 years of experience, but in your case you may have to go back a little further due to your recent six-year absence from the workforce. Second, present a strong qualifications summary showcasing what you have to offer (experiences, skills and education) in relation to your current career objective(s). This should be a direct response to the job postings you are interested in, and should answer the hiring managers question of why they should hire you. Use this section to highlight your strengths, which will also serve to minimize potentially disqualifying factors. Third, be sure you are not noting your absence from the workforce on your résumé. Now of course there may be a gap in employment, but there needs to be no mention of the reason why. I know this might seem strange, but I’ve seen cases where we can make such a strong picture of the candidate’s "value" both through a qualifications summary and accomplishments section, that the dates of employment play a minor role when evaluating their candidacy. Additionally, if you can pull out your accomplishments or career highlights and place them on page one, possibly your professional experience will fall to page two of your résumé, along with your dates of employment. Lastly, if you have pursued any professional development or training, however informal, during the past six years, be sure you present that on résumé. This will help make the that you continued to learn new skills particularly important if you are pur suing employment requiring a certain technical skill set.

To answer your question for relative, I am so glad you mentioned that he has letters of praise from previ ous supervisors. The key in this situa tion, at least in regards to his résumé is to place the strongest comments from those letters directly on résumé. These can go above beneath the qualifications summary, even in their own section (see Early Education Teacher résumé sam ple on my Web site for a visual). These testimonials will serve to reinforce own claims about the results he drove the service he offered, and the ethic he exhibited. While validating his claims, they will also help mini mize the impact of a potentially nega tive reference. Lastly, be sure he on his résumé that he was recruited back to the company due to his excep tional performance, and even received a promotion. All of these facts help support his candidacy and rein force his claims (probably brought during a personal interview) that left due to an unfortunate situation with a new supervisor.