Facing a 6-Year Career Gap: How Can I Secure a Job Quickly with My Experience?

Hi everyone, I'm Shweta. I have a 6-year gap in my career. Now, I'm planning to restart my career. I have applied to many positions, but there has been no positive response. I am looking for guidance. What can I do to secure a job immediately? Please suggest. I have 2 years of experience as a Lecturer and 2 years of experience as an HR Executive.

Nowadays, companies do consider candidates with career gaps, provided you have a genuine reason and justification. I would suggest firstly updating yourself with all the latest trends in HR, amendments in labor laws, and current demands in the market. Lastly, work on your interpersonal skills, mainly communication, decision-making, and listening skills, which play a vital role in the HR domain.

All the best!

Regards,
Piyush
Manager HR

Dear Shweta, guidance on getting a job in the field of HR will come a little later. First, you need to learn how to write a post on HR forums. While the main body of your post had just a few words, the heading was far longer! Maintaining the verbatim, I have edited your post. Grammar also needs improvement.

Your post, though very small, sends a big signal about your casual attitude. If you wish to improve your career in HR, you need to shed this casualness first. This is a forum for HR professionals, and there are many senior persons. Therefore, if you learn to differentiate between the informal posts of Facebook and the formal posts of HR forums, it will serve a big purpose for yourself.

When members upload a post on this forum, they also indirectly demonstrate their communication skills, which include the sequence or the structure of the sentence, the choice of words, etc. All these reflect the mindset of the individual. Therefore, whether to impress others with a professional approach or keep others away from a casual approach, the choice is yours!

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Dear Shweta Madam, please don't be discouraged by the observations of the so-called senior colleague who mentioned that you are casual in your approach regarding seeking guidance for an HR/Lecturer's job after a career gap of six years. I find it difficult to agree with this misplaced and far-fetched, curt observation.

Yes, I agree that you need to work on your English, grammar, and general presentation skills, in addition to catching up on the latest trends in the HR domain if you are seeking a job in HR. In fact, with a combination of teaching and HR experience, you might be better suited to explore opportunities as a Training professional as part of the HR team.

Alongside, you can hone your skills and knowledge base by joining a part-time recognized Certificate course or Diploma course in Training and Development offered by ISTD.

Regards, HR and Employee Relations Consultant

Dear Mr. Vinayak Nagarkar,

This is a reply from the "so-called" senior. Yes, my feedback was a little upfront. My frankness was for the simple reason that posts on the public forum are bound to have public scrutiny. A critical examination of the post(s) sends the right signal to the other members of this forum as well. This is a professional forum, and to maintain professionalism, straightforwardness was necessary.

You have advised the poster to take up a job in the field of HR Training. However, may I remind you that a trainer is expected to be head and shoulders above the participants? On a few occasions, trainers get participants who are far more intelligent. Standing in front of such participants is not child's play. What if they start pointing out mistakes in front of the other participants? In no time, the trainer could lose the confidence of the participants. It may, in turn, lead to a loss of credibility itself. Which client will accept that?

Nevertheless, your suggestion to take up a job in the training profession reminds me of the famous saying of George Bernard Shaw. He has said, "He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches."

For Shweta: You could have been a little more thoughtful while writing my name. This was in spite of the feedback from the so-called senior on your casual approach. By mistyping my name, you have provided one more evidence of how cursoriness has entered into your blood. Your casual approach has forced me to give one more advice - be choosy while selecting your future boss. Choose a boss who will mollycoddle and not the one like me who cuts short a junior's indulgence without hesitation!

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar