I’ve been out of the workplace for 2 years and I’m wondering how best to present this fact! I’ve taken some full time courses in education, and filled my spare time with volunteering for a local charity and evening courses in counselling skills. How do I get around this gap on my CV?
When it comes to your work record, there really isn’t a ‘gap’. I’d include your time in education, your counselling and your volunteering just as you would as real jobs, with dates and places, putting whatever you are doing currently, or for longest, at the top. Bring out all the skills and qualities, and the achievements, in those fields just exactly as though you were talking about formal jobs. It doesn’t matter if the dates overlap, as it is getting increasingly common to be doing two things at once. If the overlapping dates look odd just say: ‘concurrently with x, I have been doing y’.
