I have a particular resume problem that I've never seen addressed in forums such as these. Without going into my entire life history, I do have to share a couple of details completely relevant to my job-seeking challenges. I am a former addict whose life has been turned around. I am thankful to say that I am now leading a full, healthy, happy, productive life (I am currently working as a volunteer). I am more than ready to re-enter the job market. Unfortunately, during the decade-and-a-half that I lived that former lifestyle, I lost a whole lot of jobs, either by walking away from them, or in a few cases, getting fired. I have valuable skills, experience, and training that should make me an attractive candidate. However, having too many jobs listed on my resume is proving to be a big red flag to potential employers. I've tried making my resume experience-focused rather than a chronological account of my previous employment, but it still seems to draw attention to the number of jobs that I've held. Do you have any suggestions on how to focus my resume on my skills and training, and downplay my past mistakes, while maintaining integrity and not being dishonest?

Hi melissa_mac,

Thank you for posting your excellent question to this forum! It's wonderful to hear that you are turning your life around and making positive choices.

It's difficult to make recommendations without seeing a draft of your resume -- would you post your resume here and include all of your work experiences? If you do, remember to remove your personal information before you post your resume.

There are strategies for downplaying your chronology, but the fact is that employers are going to see your work history -- whether you list your full history on your resume or complete a job application. Networking and proactively searching will be key for you to get your foot in the door. If you're participating in any recovery groups, ask around re: resources and leads.

This article might be helpful:
Resume Dilemma: Employment Gaps and Job Hopping

I hope you decide to post your resume here so we can give specific suggestions.

Thank you for your kind words and suggestions! I don't mind posting my resume. I don't see an option to upload it, so I'll copy and paste it here (some formatting lost):

Work Experience: 

Administrative Assistant / Office / Clerical / Receptionist work – 12 years of experience

·    Currently working as a volunteer administrative assistant for New Life in Christ church

• New Hope Medical Ministry – Administrative Assistant for non-profit medical clinic
• Sunflower Broadband – Administrative Assistant to the General Manager
• KU Political Science Dept. – Administrative Specialist, Admissions

 Customer Support / Help Desk / Call Center work – 4 years of experience

• Affinitas – Outbound Sales. Consistently performed well and achieved Top Performer status and bonuses on multiple occasions. I left this job to work for the clinic.
• Sunflower Broadband – Internet Division, began on Help Desk, providing customer support for cable modem connections and troubleshooting computer problems. I became Office Mgr. of this dept. and was eventually promoted to the General Manager’s Administrative Asst. position listed above.
• Time Warner Cable Co – Customer Support, cable store

 

Guest Services / Front Desk / Reservations & Switchboard work – 2 years of experience

• Great Wolf Lodge – Guest Services Associate, became Reservations Lead

           

Retail Store Manager – 5 years of experience

• Sears Portrait Studio
• Westport, Ltd. (a division of Dress Barn)
• GH Bass & Co.

 

Restaurant / Food Service work – 7 years of experience

• Have worked as a server, server trainer, and bartender in a variety of restaurants, from casual to fine dining. Also have experience in food preparation, baking, and grill.

 

Education and Training:    

Eudora High School -- Gifted Student Program, Graduated with honors in 1983. 

Maybe Kim has some other tips, but here's my two cents.

I feel your resume isn't focused enough. You've listed your work experience and education/training, but you don't have an objective, or a career or qualifications summary and no separate skills section.

Those sections typically go on the top of a resume and show what sort of job you're looking for and what you have to offer employers in that field. If you do that, you can drum up enough interest that a spotty work history is going to be less important. In that case you could also separate your experience into separate "relevant work experience" and "other experience" sections.

Good luck!

Thank you for your help!

Hi melissa_mac,

Stijnhommes has given you excellent advice and I hope you decide to add a Qualifications Summary. Your summary can highlight your strongest qualifications and also provide a career focus to your resume.

I see what you did by adding up the number of years of experience for each functional area, but I think you should include actual dates. Including the number of years of experience will raise red flags -- even redder than job-hopping. While having many positions isn't ideal, you are job searching at a time when that kind of background is very common. So I strongly suggest trying a more chronological format as it will be less confusing to the reader.

If you revise your resume, please feel free to post it here again for additional feedback.