Career break CV template

Career break CV template by Michael Cheary Looking for a new job after a lengthy career break and not sure where to start?Whether your career break was due to travel, redundancy, further study, personal illness, family commitments, or something else knowing how to address it on your CV can be a challenge. But the biggest mistake you can make is to ignore it.The example we’ve used in this template is for a break brought on by family commitments, but for more specific help, you can read our guide on  how to explain a gap in your CV.Just here for the template? Click the link below: Career Break CV Template Email address: Please enter a valid email addressmessage here By clicking Submit, you accept our Terms & Conditions and consent to receive emails and career related topics. See our Privacy policy for details. Continue without submitting Download Career Break CV TemplatePersonal statementStart with a personal statement tailored to the role in question.In terms of structure, consciously try and answer the following questions: Who are you? What do you have to offer? What are you aiming for in your career?You can reference the reason for your gap in this section, but don’t pay it any more attention than a single line or two. Leave any extra explanation for your cover letter, and use your personal statement to talk about your career before your time off, and to reaffirm your desire to begin working again.How to write a personal statementPersonal statement examplesPersonal statement: dos and don’tsSkillsInstead of letting a gap linger, you may choose to place precedence on your skills and/or major achievements.Just as with your personal statement, try giving examples that are applicable t o the role in question. For example, IT skills (naming specific programs), problem solving, public speaking and interpersonal skills, not to mention a friendly and welcoming demeanour, are all desirable qualities to have.Skills based CV template  Five CV skills employers look for in every jobseekerEmployment historyFor most roles, successfully demonstrating your experience and achievements in previous positions is essential. Write in reverse-chronological order, with the most recent jobs coming at the top.It’s not necessary to include all of your experience in your CV. If you were in employment for years before your gap, and held a number of different positions which aren’t applicable to the role in question, it’s to be expected that you’ll scale down the detailYou may also choose to reference your break in this section, rather than leave an obvious gap. Simply stating the reason and time period taken will be more than enough (i.e. ‘career break taken to raise a family, 20 08/2013’ in the example).If you have no recent employment historyIf you have no recent employment history, use this gap as your opportunity to be pro-active. Try volunteering with a local charity for a few weeks or at a locally-run business.They will be grateful for the help and you will prove to hiring managers that you’re fully reliable and ready to re-enter the workforce.Finally, rather than concentrating on daily duties, try and emphasise your accomplishments, wherever possible, or any other skills you picked up which may help you in the position you’re applying for. When in doubt, always use the STAR technique.How to explain a gap in your CVHow to start work after a gap year  EducationEducation should be included from GCSE (or equivalent) level onwards. Write in reverse-chronological order, with the most recent events coming at the top.State the number qualifications achieved and general grades you received (Maths and English at the very least). If you’re awaiting resul ts, you may state mock/expected results where possible, although this is not essential.Include your degree classification, A level/IB (or equivalent) results and any other higher education diplomas if you have them. You can also reference particular course modules you’ve undertaken to demonstrate your wider knowledge of the subject, which may be relevant to the role you’re applying for.Which parts of my education should I include in my CV?Hobbies InterestsA Hobbies and Interests section is optional. However, if you lack any notable work experience, this section can be a great way of getting your personality across.Ask yourself: Will they help you get the job? If not, its probably worth leaving them out.Finally, make sure you’re happy to expand upon your interests at an interview because theres nothing worse than an awkward silence whilst you struggle to come up with an impressive (and work-related) example of your love of socialising with friends.Six extracurricular activiti es to add to your CVHobbies and interests: Should I include them in my CV?  ReferencesUnless asked directly in the job posting, making references available on request is fine.However, always make sure you do have credible references. Close family friends, teachers, or career councillors are all good options, and most are usually happy to help.For a career break, a former boss would be a great reference to have. Not only will this demonstrate that you’re competent and you left your previous position amicably, it will also be a testament to your character to show you’ve kept in touch.How to get a reference  Need more CV advice?It takes an employer just seven seconds to save or reject a job applicant’s CV. This means creating a succinct CV is absolutely vital if you want to land that all-important interview. To find out how to make your CV stand out from the crowd, buy James Reed’s new book: The 7 Second CV: How to Land the Interview.Still searching for your perfect position? V iew all available  jobs now  Find a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSign up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the terms and conditions applicable to our service and acknowledge that your personal data will be used in accordance with our privacy policy and you will receive emails and communications about jobs and career related topics. CV templates CVs

Savor success. Forget failure.

Savor success. Forget failure. My son already has experience taking care of an animal and selling it. Last year, his 4-H project was pigs. He showed them, then he sold them, and we even went to the carcass show, which is where fifty people go into a meat freezer with a agriculture professor and find out why one kid’s carcass got a blue ribbon and one kid’s got a white ribbon. If you guessed marbling, you guessed right. But the Farmer says this is an outdated way to look at meat. He says you get lots of marbling from feeding animals corn instead of letting them graze on the grass, but corn feed is like candy feed because theres so little nutrition. Okay. So even though we fundamentally disagree with the carcass show judging process, my son did take care of animals and then kill them, which is no small feat for a kid transplanted from New York City to rural Wisconsin. In fact, I’d have to say that by now, my sons childhood is more like the Farmers than mine. For instance, I walked out the back porch one day, and I saw my son chopping wood with an ax. Where I grew up, swinging an ax is like swinging a gun. Dangerous and only for crazy people. So the Farmer and I agree to disagree, and when my son swings an ax over his head, I turn the other way. And pray. I defer to the Farmer when its time to sell the goat. He says it’s fine to keep goats as pets, but we cannot keep having babies if we are not selling them. My son likes the babies, so he agrees to sell one of the males so we can get the two females pregnant. He is selling Samuel, our favorite goat. I try not to dwell on the favorite part. But we climb into the trailer and give him kisses goodbye before we start our trip to the auction house. My son understands that if he is going to learn how to operate on the farm, he needs to stay far away from me. So when it’s time to sell his first goat, he rides in the truck with the Farmer. I follow along in my car My son is excited. He feels grown up. And he does calculations to figure out how much money hell make from the sale. At the auction barn, there are lots of goats. My son and I are curious. We get out of the car. We traipse around. The Farmer tells us not to get muck on our shoes. Muck is not the word he uses. Probably manure or something like that. There is lots of muck at the sale barn and the farmer does not want us tracking biohazards back to the farm. Our farm is locked-down, or whatever the word is for the Farmer not letting other farm animal stuff onto our farm because of diseases. He has disease-free herds of pigs and cattle and surely that is from living for 20 years by himself. But I don’t say that. I just try hard to watch where I step. I am concerned about how the animals are treated and I want to take pictures. I snap a few and the Farmer tells me that if they catch me we will not be able to sell the goat. PETA has come there. Or some PETA sympathizer types. In rural America PETA is a catch-all term for all people who are bothersome. I take pictures while the Farmer is figuring out who is next and what we need to do to get Samuel into the holding pen. I love when the Farmer takes charge. When we are fighting I tell him that I don’t need him to run a farm. I could run a farm by myself just fine. But the truth is that having him around makes my life so much more fun. I get to pick my head up and look around instead of sweating the logistical details of each step we make. Samuel is scared, and I am scared watching Samuel be scared. We have protected him for so long. Someone left him to freeze in sub-zero temperatures two winters ago. We saved him. He is looking at us now, nuzzling our hands, assuming we are doing something good for him. I look away so I don’t cry. I try to look away like I am curious and I sell beloved family pets for slaughter all the time. My son answers the questions that the sale barn guy asks about breed, and age, and feed. My son knows everything about the goat but gets stumped when the sale barn guy asks for our zip code. Right after, the Farmer puts his hand on my sons back and says, “Nice job.” My son is quiet. I know something is up because when the Farmer says nice job about something farm related, my son usually beams with pride. The Farmer tells us to walk up to the auction room and wait for Samuel to come out for bidding. “See how much you get for him!” The Farmer says as he heads off to park our truck. I walk with my son to the auction room but on the way, he starts crying. Then I start crying.  I say, “Do you want to bring Samuel home?” “No. It’s too late.” “It’s not too late.” The Farmer sees us crying. He pulls me aside. He says, “It’s too late. Don’t encourage him by you crying, too.” “He wants Samuel back.” “He’s just sad. It’s part of the process of learning to farm.” I turn to my son, “Do you want to take Samuel home?” My son says yes. The Farmer is so upset he has to go out to the truck. I call to him. “Don’t be upset! I’m sorry!” He says, “You can’t take an animal back. They don’t do that. It’s already processed in their system.” “I can get Samuel back.” The Farmer keeps walking to the truck. I find the auctioneer. I tell him we are from New York City and we can’t sell our favorite goat and I am crying and my son is crying and they stop the auction and give us the goat back. Then we are in the parking lot. Me, my son, and Samuel. Samuel is a bio-hazard now. He has poop from 100 other goats on his hoofs. I tell the Farmer I’ll put Samuel in the back seat of my car and we can give him a bath when we get him. The Farmer looks down. Shakes his head. Laughs. He says, “No. Put him in the trailer. Let’s just bring Samuel home. This is the moment, right here, that determines what kind of person you are. If you see failure, you are a failure. And of course, failure is easy to see. We are not learning to be farmers. We are bringing bio-hazards onto the farm, and Ive undermined the Farmers work teaching my son how to raise animals for slaughter. There is success, too. There is the Farmer adjusting to our discomfort with farm life. He used to be much more rigid with us, and we would probably have had a big fight about this earlier in our relationship. I am helping my son to act on his emotions instead of hiding them. And, of course, we have Samuel back at the farm, and we love him. Moments like this are so common in worklife. We can see success or we can see failure. We can choose. The right choice is to savor success and forget failure. That gives you energy to keep learning and trying new things. It gives you confidence to believe in your abilities. And remembering failure might seem educational to youbut its not. Its a downer. So just forget it. The Farmer usually approaches life this way, but this time, I wasn’t sure. Until we stopped for gas. My son wanted snacks. For himself and for Samuel. So we bought sunflower seeds, and while gas was pumping, the Farmer and my son stood at the back of the truck munching on seeds and sharing with Samuel. When we got home, the other two goats were right there waiting, eyes glued to the trailer, looking for Samuel. And when Samuel came out, everyone knew that the goats were now pets. So we compromised and got only one goat pregnant. We are learning how to be farmers, with some pets on the side. And the Farmer is learning how to raise a family, with some pets on the side.

4 Career Failings You Should Forgive Yourself For - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

4 Career Failings You Should Forgive Yourself For - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career “To err is human; to forgive, divine.” Alexander Pope’s famous quote touches upon an unfortunate quirk of human nature. We all make mistakes, but we also all struggle to forgive them. Moreover, our harshest condemnation is often reserved for the person most needful of our forgiveness: ourselves. Time for a rethink. Within the workplace, there will be times when we come up short. There will be times when the fault lies squarely upon our own shoulders. Such mistakes are as unavoidable as they are desirable â€" because it is through trial and error that we learn and grow. Rejection The news isn’t good. You didn’t get the job. Or the promotion. You didn’t close the deal or get your work published in a prestigious journal. You weren’t good enough. Someone else was chosen. You failed. Rather than getting caught up in a spiral of negativity, accept rejection as a necessary part of life. Nobody wins every race they run. Vincent van Gogh only ever sold one painting in his lifetime. Stephen Spielberg was rejected from film school three times. Harry Potter was turned away by twelve publishers. If you can pin the rejection on a personal shortcoming then evaluate and amend the problem, and repaint this rebuff as a valuable learning experience. If chance or competition held you back then dust yourself off and try again. There is always more than one path to the top. Blundering It wasn’t just that you made a mistake. It was that you made such an avoidable mistake. If you’d only proofread that document carefully enough, you’d have noticed the glaring typo in the title. If only you’d written down the details of your important meeting you wouldn’t have forgotten all about it. Beating yourself up about blunders isn’t helpful, even if they were caused by your own laziness or incompetence. What’s done is done. If the mistake is fixable, stop worrying and start planning how to put it right. If it isn’t fixable then own up to the problem, apologize to the appropriate parties, brainstorm ways to make amends… and move on. Always remember that there’s no such thing as irrevocable damage. Even if a client refuses to work with you again or you get fired from your job, you can always find new clients and new jobs. Life is full of bumps in the road which we’ll never be vigilant enough to always anticipate. Pick yourself up and keep moving forward. Quitting Your in-tray is still piled sky-high but you’ve had enough. You grab your coat, go home, run a relaxing bath… and immediately start feeling guilty that you’re not still at the office working into the night. Especially when last month you bailed out of that after-work event that was so boring you were falling asleep where you sat… Modern corporate folklore is that being a good worker means putting in insane overtime, surviving off four hours sleep a night and spending all your free time networking at industry events or signing up for an after-work course in Mandarin. But this idea is unhelpful, morale-sapping, and nigh-on impossible to achieve. The fact is that the human brain is simply not wired to cope with such an excessive level of strain. After working hard for a set period of time it needs to switch off; that’s why taking regular breaks is so effective at restoring our productivity. There is a big difference between laziness and reaching the end of your capacity. When you know you’ve stopped being productive, stop working. Take more time for yourself, enhance the “life” part of the work-life balance, and you may even find that your overall productivity spikes! Confrontation Somewhere around the 100th passive-aggressive email from Susan-who-hates-you, you lost your cool and sent a snarky email back. Then Tim from Accounts continued his habit of cutting you off while mid-flow during the company meeting, and this time you found yourself snapping back. Of course, there is a right way to deal with personality clashes in the workplace. Of course, losing your temper isn’t ideal. But you are a human being, not a robot. Human beings do not always act professionally, they do not always maintain complete politeness, and sometimes when people are being extremely difficult they lose their rag. It happens. Accept that you’ll occasionally see red, and work on containing the situation afterwards. The first thing to do when you’ve lost your temper is to remove yourself from the situation. You cannot solve the problem while you are still angry, so take some time to calm down and evaluate things rationally. Then, reapproach the party you had the disagreement with. Apologize for raising your voice, but outline the issues that lead to your reaction and suggest that you both find a way to move forward from this. If they won’t engage with you, then your only recourse is to find a way to have as little as possible to do with them or escalate the situation to a higher authority. Beth Leslie writes graduate careers advice for Inspiring Interns, a graduate recruitment agency specializing  in matching candidates to their dream internship. Check out their graduate jobs London listings for roles. Or; if you’re looking to hire an intern, have a look at their innovative Video CVs.

5 Simple Steps Everyone Should Take Before Changing Careers

5 Simple Steps Everyone Should Take Before Changing Careers Once upon a time it was perfectly normal for a person to finish school, then train in a trade or profession, maybe do some TAFE Courses, and then to work in that sector for their entire working career until retirement. You got the whole ‘gold watch and a handshake’ kind of deal, and then you were out the door to pave the way for a new generation of up-and-comers. Times, of course, are changing, and now it’s actually incredibly common for people to not only have many different jobs and roles today, but to change their skills and career path entirely. Many people are flying in the face of traditional roles as well, and are adopting a new way of approaching the working week in an unconventional way. As a result of this, many people are now changing careers midway through their twenties, thirties and beyond. It makes sense that you wouldn’t perform such a huge undertaking without following some kind of preparation first, so we’ve created a handy list of some steps that you can follow if you’re thinking about changing careers. Do your research. If you’re unsure about what you want to shift careers to but know you want to change, then consider chatting to some people who might be in your industry already, and find out exactly what the role is like. This kind of in-depth approach will allow you to find out the nitty-gritty components of a new role that you just aren’t going to discover at university or at a training course. It may impact on your decision making as well. Re-skill if you need to. It may be the case that you simply have to retrain or reskill as a means of getting your new chosen career or job. If this is the case, see if you can work the new training and up-skilling either into your current role, or around your working hours. That way you can simply slip over to your new role with as little disturbance as possible. Consult with some experts. If you’re struggling with the shift and wondering about things like your mortgage, financial freedom, your superannuation and other potential benefits or risks, it might be wise for you to get in touch with a careers advisor and speak to them about the best way to transition all of your finances. Have fun with it. This is a golden opportunity for you to strike out again and start afresh! Why the hell wouldn’t you get out there and have as much fun as possible with it? If you’ve always wanted to be a horse trainer then for god’s sake get out there and give it a go! No one is going to make these kinds of dreams happen for you â€" you truly just have to do it yourself. Leverage your resources. If you have done the up-skilling, figured out who you really are and why you want to make this shift but have been aimlessly trawling the classified ads for weeks now, then think about hitting the streets, or at least hitting your LinkedIn. A healthy dose of nepotism might be just the think you need to get your new career as a fairy floss vendor off the ground. After all, it’s not what you know (not entirely, anyway) but whom you know that makes the difference. This is by no means an exhaustive guide to transitioning in your career, so think about the possible options and all of the resources available to you, both in the real world and online, and make sure you make good use of all of them.

Writing a Teen Resume For Summer Employment

Writing a Teen Resume For Summer EmploymentWriting a teen resume for summer employment can be an easy task to complete. The best way to do this is to write your resume in such a way that it will catch the attention of the employers. Some tips that can help you in making your resume stand out are discussed below.Age does not matter to the employers. This means that when a person looks at a resume, their first thought is usually the same as yours and is that of how young or old the person may be. So, it is important that you highlight the most important features that can prove useful for you in your job hunt.Ensure that you include all the required information on your resume. This means that while you are writing your resume, make sure that you are including all the required information. Include details like educational background, work experience, all the information which would show that you have learnt about the job you are applying for. Also, you should include a good work history which would also go along with your educational background. Also, show yourself in the best light by including in your resume some skills that can make you more desirable.It is better that your resume has all the information mentioned above. By doing so, you can be sure that your resume will catch the eye of the employer. You will not have to stress yourself over your job hunt. Instead, you can just sit back and relax and wait for the employer to call you for an interview. This is a very important fact that you should remember.Make your teen resume to look neat and clean. When you are writing a resume, it is very important that you create a neat and clean design that will stand out from the others. Also, you should highlight any mistakes that you may have done in your resume.Your resume should be easy to read. This means that you should ensure that your resume is printed in black and white or in a font that is easy to read. The best type of resume that you can use is that which has a straight text layout. When you have to write a teen resume for summer employment, make sure that you keep it in a neat and clean format.While you are preparing your resume, make sure that you learn what the requirements of each job are. This will help you a lot in creating a well structured resume. By learning the requirements of different jobs, you will be able to meet the requirements easier. After you have learned the requirements of each job, you will be able to look for the right job for you.Now that you have read this article, you can begin writing a teen resume for summer employment. In the end, you will be thankful that you prepared a resume. This is the very first step towards getting the best job in the market.

The Global Womans Crusade - Kathy Caprino

The Global Womans Crusade Nicholas Kristof’s New York Times article “The Woman’s Crusade” of August 17th is very moving, about the plight of women and girls in our world.   Hope you’ll check it out here.   In response to Kristof’s “Half the Sky” competition for compelling stories of individuals who are empowering girls and women in the developing world, I submitted for consideration my inspiring friend and colleague Theresa Wilson, Founder of The Blessing Basket Project.   Here’s my post on Kristof’s blog.   The New York Times Magazine this Sunday is a special issue focused on women in the developing world, including an extract from “Half the Sky,” the new book by Nicholas Kristof and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn.     May it become a true movement that betters the lives of girls and women everywhere.   It’s truly amazing what one person can do to reduce world poverty and oppression. Each of us, in fact, can make a vast difference in our world. One small dream, followed by aligned action, changes everything.   Kristof’s work makes me want to do more, and be more, and it makes me think, “What else can I do today?”   May breakthrough be possible in ourselves and our world today, Kathy

Books, books, books - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Books, books, books - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog As you can see from the five previous posts I got some reading done in Goa :o) Thats just one of the many advantages of long flights and of lazing by the hotel pool. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related