Although it’s not uncommon to have gaps in your work history, holes can lead to trouble on a cruise ship resume. These holes or gaps in employment may be a red flag for potential employers if the details are left up to the imagination.
Once you realize that you have a gap you need to do some damage control to prevent the gaping hole from jeopardizing your chance at landing your dream cruise job.
So, what is the best way to explain an employment gap on a resume?
A recent article on www.WorkOnCruiseShips.com outlines the types of employment gaps that are acceptable as well as how to turn the gap into a resume asset.
What if you were fired from a job, should you still list that job? What if you had to take a year off to look after a sick family member, how do you put that on your resume?
Although employment gaps of less than six months can be easily disguised by creative formatting of your resume, a larger gap requires full disclosure. The size of an employment gap will make the recruiters ponder why, and you need to be straight forward with the facts. You need to control how those gaps are addressed with an honest explanation and turning your career gap into an asset on your cruise ship resume.
For the most part you should be able to fill the gap rather than leaving it as a hole in your resume.
Prolonged unemployment doesn’t have to be a liability if you can promote the skills you honed during the time you were off. What skills did you develop during that period? What did you learn from your travels? You need to be able to spin your employment lapse into a character building life experience.