How to Beef Up Your Work History

How to Beef Up Your Work History How to Beef Up Your Work History Maybe you took some time off to raise your family. Or maybe you’ve held only a couple of jobs your entire career. Or maybe you’ve been job searching for a really long time without any luck. So now as you’re writing and editing your resume, it’s, well, a little thin. Don’t despair, job seekers! There are ways to beef up your work history while staying honest! Here’s how. Heres how to beef up your work history: Include skills. Sometimes the skills section of a resume doesn’t get a whole lot of love, but it should, especially if other areas of your resume aren’t as strong. So if you don’t have a whole lot of work history to include, you’ll need to look to other areas of your resume to help balance it all out. You can do this by adding extra skills to the work experience and skills sections of your resume, as they relate to the job you’re trying to apply for. You don’t have to make it into a laundry list of dutiesexclude those that are obvious (i.e., addressing envelopes or knowing how to navigate the Internet)but be sure to include those that can help beef up your history. Incorporate experiences. A big mistake some job seekers make when revamping their resumes is to leave out experiences or volunteer work, simply because they didn’t get a paycheck for it. These culled experiences can greatly help expand the work experiences segment of your resume with real-life scenarios that totally count! It might be time spent fundraising for your child’s school, getting your town to agree to a zoning issue, or starting your own blog, but all of these work skills used in the real world can be included in your resume. Add education. Depending on the format of your resume, you might have a small section that’s dedicated to your education. Chances are, though, it’s probably just a listing of the schools you’ve graduated from, degrees earned, and dates of completion. But let’s say that you went back to school for some certifications or to further your education. You can include this information in your work history, too, by putting it either at the top or bottom of your history, depending on your timeline. Not only does it show initiative on your part to further your education (which can be a plus in the eyes of a hiring manager), but it also helps to flesh out your work history. And if you dont have anything else to add here? Get some additional education! There are tons of ways to learn new skills online, and as soon as you enroll in a course, you can add it to your resume. It can be discouraging when you’re trying to job search but feel that your resume is subpar. It doesn’t have to be, though. With some creativity, you can build a solid resume that will impress potential employers- and hopefully get you a job interview for a position that you really want! Want more job search advice? Head over to our Find a Job section  and browse articles related to your job hunt! Readers, have you struggled to beef up your work history? Let us know in the comments!