It’s usually really easy to spot: the nervous jitters as he talks about his most recent position, the disdain he is clearly trying to hide about his supervisor or colleagues, the glossing over of the actual job conclusion.

By the time I ask, “so what prompted you to leave” or “what brings you in today,” I can almost recite the words that always include “laid-off”, “let go”, “downsizing”,  “bad manager”, etc.

As a career coach, I encounter a myriad of clients who have a gap in their employment history.  Typically these clients address this issue with me in one of two ways.

They either shy away from the topic (think example above) to avoid mentioning it until half way through the appointment  — after the resume review — or they bring it up immediately and we spend the better part of an hour talking about this event that has defined them for the past several months of their job search. Click Here to Read Article …