10 Tips for Staying Employable During an Employment Gap

* Work With Your Current Employer:

Your current employer, assuming you are still working, may value you and your experience. Talk with your employer to identify potential part-time or consulting work or periodic assignments you can do during the years you plan to work less than full time. If you work in marketing, for example, perhaps you can do freelance work on brochures, the website or press releases. If you work in Human Resources, you may contract to update the employee handbook annually or teach a class periodically.

* Build and Keep Your Network Before You Need It:

It is easier to maintain current professional contacts than to build a new group. Professional contacts become dispersed to new positions; mentors retire; valued coworkers move on to new jobs. It is up to you to maintain relationships, sometimes for years, with people who will remember your talents when you decide to return to full-time employment. It is also imperative that you relate to friends and associates in your off-work life as an educated professional , make sure your friends know what you do professionally as well.


* Stay Active in Professional Associations:

Most career fields have professional associations that sponsor meetings, conferences, committees, training sessions and more for members. Stay active in your local association by attending meetings, writing for the newsletter, acting as a good will ambassador and attending national conferences.


* Volunteer in Community, School and Civic Organizations:

Challenging volunteer work can help to fill the gaps in your resume whether you return to your original career or create a career change in the future. Do invest thinking time in determining what kinds of volunteer work will be the most strategic for your longer term goals. Do think about how the volunteer work will appear on the resume and stress contributing in volunteerism related to your future employment.


* Keep Your Resume File Updated:

Keep track of new skills and activities you have developed and experienced during your time away from the workforce. Keep the resume file filled with notes about your volunteer work and other contributions. When you want to return to work, you’ll be happy you kept good records of the time you were unemployed.


* Create a Small Business and Work Even a Few Hours a Week:

Think creatively. A mom I know just left the workforce to spend time with her eleven-year-old daughter. She is launching an Internet home baked doggie treat business. Active for years in Greyhound associations, she has identified her initial customer base and plans to expand from there. Write for newspapers, magazines and businesses; write and edit an About site; develop marketing materials for organizations; sell your professional expertise as a consultant; make candles or other crafts; design and maintain gardens; operate a daycare center or a home-based school; design and build websites; paint, wallpaper and decorate homes and businesses; cater special events; and provide virtual office assistant services over the web.


* Keep Your Skills Current:

Can you imagine a computer programmer finding a new position after five years outside of the workforce? Neither can I. Not unless she can demonstrate current skills. Fields such as banking, employment law, securities and financial planning change quickly. Attend school, take graduate seminars, participate in online learning and read to stay current in your field. Keeping abreast of your field every year is the best way to stay employable at something you’d like to do.


* Use the Time at Home to Change Careers:

Maybe it’s time to try something new. A time away from work is perfect for pursuing career options and learning more about yourself and your interests. You may want to Create the Life You Want With a Mid-Career Crisis. If you decide to change careers, you can invest the time to earn a needed degree. Or, you can spend your volunteer or home-based business time on skills needed for the new career.


* Consider Part-time Work:

Work part-time in your field, your career change field or just to keep your work record fresh. The money may also come in handy for the family or to fund your future goals.


* Consider Job Sharing:

Many people have chosen to leave the workforce for periods of time. According to the Wall Street Journal, the percentage of mothers with a child under one-year-old who are working, dropped to 55 percent in 2002 from 59 percent in 1998. This reverses a thirty year trend according to the Census Bureau. Employers may have to consider creative ways to keep valued people working or to fill hard-to-fill positions. Job sharing, either half days, or splitting the week can work for both the employees and the employer. The shared work may work best for all concerned when two talented people invest their energy in the same job.

Good way but I want to know when fresher starts searching for the job and till 1 year to 2 year he/ she is not getting job then what to do ?