When Is a Good Resume Like Swiss Cheese?

When is a good resume like Swiss cheese? When it stands strong even if it has a few holes.

Yes, I’m saying there are times when you can openly have holes on your resume that don’t hurt you… as long as you build a strong structure around those holes. When you do this well, the employer will easily consider you for the job.

A Good Resume Can Have Holes

Here are three cases in which I worked with members of my Ready-Made Resumes resume builder to write their resumes, each with an obvious hole in his or her resume. All of these resumes led to job offers.

Hole #1: Currently Unemployed

Recently I worked with a job seeker who had a big hole in his work history – he had been unemployed for the last two years. Imagine, right smack dab on the top of the work history in his chronological resume he had a noticeable work gap. He had nothing relevant to fill the gap, so we decided to leave it blank – that's right, we didn't try to explain the gap with unpaid work. We just left it blank.

I know, I know, this is a resume sin in most books (my own book, included). But we decided to do it anyway. Why? Because the rest of his career was so very stable and impressive. He had all the requirements for his job objective and tons of great experience with known employers. And because he was going for jobs within a somewhat local industry, most people would understand that he had been an victim of a plant closing.

So we didn’t try to fill the gap with unpaid work. We just left the hole and built a strong structure around it: great Summary and Certification sections above the Experience section. Then really good achievement statements for his most recent job. We made it a strong resume that an employer couldn’t resist.

And it worked! His Swiss cheese resume won him the interview he wanted; and in just a few weeks he was happily employed. Oh, and he was offered a salary that was 35K more than what he got at his last job!

Hole #2: No College Degree

Another job seeker didn’t have the required master’s degree for the job she wanted. This "degree hole" made her so insecure she wasn’t sure she should apply for the job. But she knew in her heart she would be a good fit. I convinced her to at least give her resume a chance.

And so we rewrote her resume. Under Education, we didn’t lie -- we listed just her bachelor’s degree and kept the Education section near the end of the resume. This drew less attention to the perceived deficit.

Then we leaned heavily on her experience. We made it clear that she had more than the required amount of experience for the job. And we made a point of stressing her best strengths in her Summary section near the beginning of her resume.

Once again, a good resume passed the test even with a big hole. My client got her foot in the door for the interview and later found herself with the job she once thought she couldn't get.

Hole #3: Wrong Job Titles for a Career Change

Another job seeker was making a career change. The problem she faced: her last job titles didn’t support her career change objective. Using a straight chronological resume format didn’t give enough structure around these "job title holes" so we decided to use a combination resume format. The combination resume gave my client a way to make her job titles relevant by putting two skill sections under each job title. This allowed her to keep the holes (the job titles that weren't relevant) and still impress the employer with skills that supported her career change.

Again, a good Swiss cheese resume got an employer to take the leap and offer my client the job.

“Holey” Resumes!

What holes do you have on your resume? Is there a chance you could choose a resume format that puts a strong structure around your holes? If so, you'd could come with a good resume that puts your next job within reach!