Covering the Gaps with a Cover Letter

Re-entering the work force after a long break from it?  You need a cover letter.  Gaps in employment never look good at first, and the only way to counter those first impressions is to explain yourself and prove that you have what it takes to get back in the game.

First, you need to acknowledge your absence from the workforce.  Not only are you addressing the "elephant in the room," but you are now in control of whether that gap in employment will continue to define you as an employee or not.  Rather than your absence in the workforce, your skills and experience and qualifications should take center stage in potential employers' minds when defining you.  So admit your time away from working, yes, but do it briefly and concisely.  Then proceed to explain how your leave has produced relevant skills or experiences that contribute to who you are as a new employee.

How do you do that?  Well first, determine what the employing company values and is looking for in their employees, both from a professional and personal standpoint.  Second, compare those values to your entire employment history and see how you match up.  Include skills recently learned or with which you have lots of experience.  Especially focus on what experiences and skills you had during your gap in employment that you could highlight.  Examples could be strengthening your knowledge or skills through education or developing better management skills through volunteer work, raising children, or taking care of a personal crisis.  Whatever experiences you had during your absence, determine what you learned from it and emphasize it in your cover letter.  The point is to show yourself still to be active and ever-educating yourself through life's experiences, even when taking time off from employment.  And remember, keep it clear and brief.  You don't want to sound like you are simply making excuses for yourself.

Next, sell yourself just like you would in any other cover letter.  Yes, you had a gap in employment, but here is what you learned during your time off...  And now, this is why you should be hired.  This is the final step and should include the relevant information from your employment history concerning your repertoire of skills and experiences.

Here's what it comes down to: you don't want to look back on your time off from employment as a problem that keeps coming back to haunt you, and you most certainly don't want your employer to see it that way.  So do yourself a favor and accept that time away as a life experience that doesn't strip you of your potential as an employee but rather, offers you even more qualifications to add to your personal and/or professional experience.  Then sell that to your employer with the confidence that he or she is looking for in a person who strives to be a better employee, even when taking time off.  And with that, welcome back into the workforce!