Whether it's been six months or 10 years, searching for a job aftera workforce absence can be daunting. The work world somehow continuedwithout you, and you may feel like you've been left behind.

The good news is that you can reenter the workforce armed with adynamic resume and an aggressive job search plan. Whether you've beenunemployed and looking for work, on sabbatical, raising a family,caring for an ill family member, attending school, on disability or inretirement, follow these tips to create your resume.

Before You Write Your Resume

• Assess Your Skills and Experience: Research your jobtarget to learn what hiring managers now find desirable in idealcandidates. Write a list of your matching skills, experience, trainingand personal attributes. How would an employer benefit from hiring you?


• Refresh Your Skills: Your research might have shown thatsome of your skills need to be updated. Because you are competing withjob seekers who have been on steady career tracks, do what is necessaryto compete successfully. Enroll in courses, study independently andpractice your skills whenever possible. This will boost your confidenceand get you back in the game.


• Maintain Ties to the Working World: Besides being a greatopportunity to network, immersing yourself in professional activitieswill give you relevant, recent experience to add to your resume. Dovolunteer work, join a professional organization, attend conferences,complete freelance and consulting projects, and accept temporaryassignments.

When Writing Your Resume

• Pick the Right Format: Many people returning to work assumethey need a functional resume to hide the gap. But be careful aboutselecting this format, because hiring managers might suspect you'retrying to hide something. You might do better with a combinationresume, which is a reverse-chronological resume that leads with a Qualifications Summary.The summary emphasizes your most related credentials so hiring managersreadily see your qualifications. Consider a functional format only ifyou've been out of work for many years and you need to emphasize yourfunctional skill set.


• Accentuate the Positive: Organize your resume so your keyselling points are immediately evident. The top third of page one isthe most important part of your resume, so include your most marketableskills and experience there. If you are concerned about your time gap,think about creative ways to obscure it. Maybe you traveledinternationally and can mention your exposure to different cultures andlanguages. Perhaps you led or participated in a fund-raising event fora charity. Continuing education, volunteer work, professionaldevelopment and independent study are all valid uses of your time whileout of the workforce. Try to tie in how your experience relates to yourcareer goal. Convince employers that you still have what it takes tocontribute to organizational goals despite your workforce absence.


• Don't Call Attention to Dates: Try not to emphasize dateswhen formatting your resume. Avoid surrounding dates with white space,which will draw the eye. Instead, place them in parentheses next toyour job titles.


• Put Your Cover Letter to Work: Use your cover letter toexplain why you temporarily stepped away from your career, emphasizingthat you're now available and excited about pursuing employment. Letyour enthusiasm for reentering the workforce shine through your letter.

Remember, you will need to work harder at job searching thancolleagues with recent work experience do. Keep an open mind andpositive attitude. You might need to take a pay cut or accept aposition at a lower level than the one you had before you left. Itmight be a blow to the ego, but the reality is that employers like tohire workers with a recent track record. If you accept a position at alower level than desired, use it as an opportunity to prove yourselfand you'll soon work your way back up the ladder.