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5 Returning to Workforce Resume Examples for 2024

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• Returning to Workforce Resume Writing 101

Whether you took a sabbatical or spent some time caring for a loved one, returning to the workforce usually means leveraging a resume maker and a whirl with a free cover letter builder . Your skills and experiences might have changed since the last time you were employed, and you might want to change your resume formatting to emphasize your skills over the gap in your work experience. 

Whatever the reason behind your return, we’ll help you put your best foot forward. Get ready to roll with our five returning to workforce resume examples.

Returning to Workforce Resume

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Returning to Workforce 2 Resume

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Returning to Workforce 4 Resume

Returning to Workforce 5 Resume

Related resume examples

• Stay At Home Mom Returning to Work
• Front Desk Receptionist
• Personal Assistant
• Stay At Home Mom

What Matters Most: Skills & Work Experience

While the role you’re applying for matters, hiring recruiters looking at a returning to workforce resume will want to know whether you applied yourself during your time away. 

You don’t have to disclose every sordid detail—all you need is to demonstrate that your skills are relevant to the job , whether new or existing.

Here are some of the best returning to workforce skills recruiters are looking for.

9 best returning to workforce skills

• Customer service
• Project management
• Organization
• Time management
• Problem-solving 
• Microsoft Office
• Communication skills
• Active listening

Sample returning to workforce job experience bullet points

Filling in the blanks with any volunteer, freelance, unpaid, or part-time work you might have done will help dispel any assumptions made about your resume gap.

Although you shouldn’t feel like you have to go into specifics about your career break (especially if it’s sensitive or personal), adding quantifiable metrics whenever possible can help potential employers get a better idea of what you did with your time. 

Here are a few samples:

• Advised and assisted the family of 5 in planning healthy meals, purchasing, and preparing foods 
• Created, assigned, and scheduled various housekeeping duties for 3 children ages 4 to 12, according to their capabilities 
• Kept track of the grocery inventory, making sure items moved on a FIFO basis, saving the household $4,000+ a year in grocery shopping expenses
• Provided 24/7 in-home care for my mother during treatment for a medical condition until she made a full recovery within two years
• Traveled to 8 cities in Asia, Australia, South America, and North America to gain personal and professional perspective

Top 5 Tips for Your Returning to Workforce Resume

• If you’re returning to the workforce, chances are that the career experience you had might not be as relevant to the current job market, even if you have more than 10 years of experience. Unless you have been actively keeping up with your skills while you were away, it’s better to keep only the important details in your resume .
• Start with your career break, then record your most recent jobs. This filters out any employers who might prefer complete career histories and addresses your resume gap early on, allowing the reader to focus on the rest of your work experience and what you can contribute to the new role.
• You might have moved or had a change in relationship status, leading to a different last name. List your most recent contact details at the top of your resume, and consider adding any career-related social media you might have.
• Depending on the position you’re applying to, you could benefit from a skills section that details how you applied your skills in a quantifiable and measurable way. You can also highlight your skills section by moving them so that the recruiter reads it before your work experience.
• Listing your work experience in months and years can make the gap in your career stand out. Changing to using years only will help recruiters focus on the time you spent employed, shifting their perspective toward your career instead of the lack thereof.

Yes, especially if you’re having trouble filling out the blank space in your resume. You can also link your education with any studying or application you did during your time off. The key here is to demonstrate how your skills and experience are relevant to the present job climate.

Any job will do as long as you’re qualified for it and it appeals to you! Some people choose to change career paths when they return, while others get right back to the industry they previously worked in. While you’re job hunting, consider getting an entry-level job in the meantime to fill out your resume.

While we don’t usually recommend including a career summary if you have a lot of relevant information to include in your resume, adding one can help break the ice and mention your resume gap within the context of your career. If you choose to write one, make sure it’s tailored to the job you’re applying for.

• • Implemented a new automated recruitment system reducing the hiring process time by 40%
• • Managed the onboarding of 100+ employees yearly, ensuring smooth transition into company culture.
• • Created new strategies for conflict resolution resulting in a 30% decrease in staff disputes
• • Increased employee satisfaction rate by 15% by initiating employee welfare programs.
• • Streamlined HR processes that improved workflow efficiency by 40%
• • Successfully managed a diverse team of HR professionals across multiple locations
• • Assisted in recruitment of 50+ employees, reducing the time to hire by 20%
• • Streamlined employee record keeping processes, reducing data errors by 25%
• • Implemented HR Compliance Program, reducing company risk substantially.

5 Returning to Workforce Resume Examples & Guide for 2024

Your returning to workforce resume should shine a spotlight on updated skills. Demonstrate your dedication to professional development with recent certifications or courses. Highlight experience relevant to the job you're seeking. Potential employers value consistent learning and application of knowledge, even after a break.

All resume examples in this guide

Traditional

Resume Guide

Styling your returning to workforce resume: layout and format, strategies for crafting your returning to workforce resume experience section, decoding the essence of your returning to workforce resume: hard and soft skills, highlighting your educational and certification milestones on your returning to workforce resume, should you add a summary or objective to your returning to workforce resume, enhancing your returning to workforce resume with additional sections, key takeaways.

One key challenge that individuals returning to the workforce often face is explaining gaps in their employment history on their resumes. Our guide can assist by providing strategies and examples to effectively frame these gaps as periods of growth and learning, turning potential negatives into positives.

Dive into our comprehensive guide to crafting a standout returning to workforce resume:

• Discover returning to workforce resume samples that have secured positions at top-tier companies.
• Master the aesthetics of your resume layout for maximum impact.
• Strategically present your achievements and skills across various resume sections.
• Convey to recruiters why you're the perfect fit for the job.

Recommended reads:

• No Degree resume
• EHS Specialist resume
• Solutions Engineer resume
• Senior Mechanical Engineer resume
• Fitness Trainer resume

Pondering the ideal length for your returning to workforce resume? Experts suggest keeping it between one and two pages. Opt for the two-page format if you boast over a decade of pertinent experience. Moreover, the resume format you choose is pivotal in showcasing your experience. Consider the:

• Reverse-chronological resume format to spotlight your career journey;
• Functional skill-based resume format if you're light on experience but want to emphasize skills;
• Hybrid resume format to provide recruiters a comprehensive view of both your experience and skills.

Here are some additional tips for your returning to workforce resume layout :

• Keep your headline straightforward: mention the job you're targeting, a notable certification abbreviation, or your professional specialty;
• Always customize your returning to workforce resume for the specific role, aligning job requirements with your experience in various resume sections;
• After finalizing your resume, save it as a PDF (unless instructed otherwise) to maintain its readability and layout consistency.

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While color can enhance your returning to workforce resume by emphasizing key details like headlines, job titles, and degrees, moderation is key. Stick to a primary and a secondary color to maintain professionalism and avoid a cluttered appearance.

Essential components for your returning to workforce resume:

• Header: Feature your name prominently. If you have a notable degree or certification, append it next to your name. Include contact details, a link to your portfolio, and a concise headline.
• Summary or Objective: Align your professional trajectory and standout achievements with the desired role.
• Experience: Craft concise bullet points, highlighting tangible successes and contributions.
• Skills: Showcase them throughout your resume and consider a dedicated sidebar for emphasis.
• Education & Certifications: Reinforce your credibility and demonstrate your commitment to the industry.

What recruiters want to see on your resume:

• Relevant Skills: Ensure that your resume highlights the skills that are most relevant to the job you're applying for, especially if they were obtained or improved during your employment gap.
• Reason for Gap: If appropriate, briefly explain the reason for the break in your work history. Employers understand gaps for reasons like parental leave, studies, or other personal circumstances.
• Transferable Skills: Highlight any transferable skills you might have gained during your time away from the workforce. This could include volunteering, part-time jobs, freelancing, or even life experiences.
• Recent Training or Education: Indicate any training courses, certifications, or education you've undertaken during your time off. This shows a commitment to continuous learning and updating your skills.
• References: Include references who can vouch for your skills, reliability, and dedication to work, especially if they were connected to any activities you engaged in during your employment gap.
• What is the Purpose of a Resume
• Resume Layout

When detailing your returning to workforce resume experience , it's essential to pair responsibilities with tangible achievements.

Consider including:

• Key responsibilities, emphasizing their significance to your role, team, or organization.
• Experiences that have fostered your technical acumen or professional growth.
• Metrics that underscore your contributions and successes.
• Challenges you've addressed and the solutions you've implemented.
• Strategies you've devised and their measurable impact on growth.

Your experience section is pivotal in making a lasting impression on recruiters. To inspire you, we've curated real-world returning to workforce examples:

• Developed and implemented marketing strategies resulting in a 20% increase in customer acquisition for XYZ Company.
• Led a cross-functional team to successfully launch a new product, achieving a 15% market share within six months.
• Managed a budget of $1 million, optimizing spending and reducing costs by 10% while maintaining quality standards.
• Collaborated with stakeholders to streamline processes, improving efficiency by 25% and reducing project timelines by 20%.
• Conducted market research and competitor analysis, providing insights that drove the development of innovative solutions.
• Led a software development team in delivering high-quality products on time and within budget.
• Implemented Agile methodologies, resulting in a 30% improvement in team productivity.
• Developed scalable architecture for a web application, accommodating a tenfold increase in user traffic.
• Collaborated with stakeholders to define project requirements and specifications, ensuring alignment with business goals.
• Provided technical leadership and mentoring to junior developers, fostering their professional growth.
• Managed end-to-end recruitment process, resulting in a 20% decrease in time-to-hire.
• Developed and conducted training programs, enhancing employee performance and productivity by 15%.
• Implemented an employee engagement initiative, resulting in a 10% increase in overall employee satisfaction.
• Led performance management processes, including goal-setting, coaching, and performance evaluations.
• Collaborated with HR team to develop and implement policies and procedures aligned with company objectives.
• Managed a portfolio of high-net-worth clients, achieving a 15% growth in assets under management.
• Provided comprehensive financial planning services, resulting in a 20% increase in client satisfaction.
• Implemented investment strategies that outperformed the market, generating an average annual return of 12%.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to deliver customized wealth management solutions.
• Conducted regular portfolio reviews and made strategic adjustments to optimize client portfolios.
• Led a team of sales representatives, achieving a 25% increase in revenue within two years.
• Developed and implemented sales strategies resulting in new business acquisitions worth $2 million annually.
• Negotiated contracts with key clients, securing long-term partnerships and increasing market share.
• Trained and mentored sales staff, improving their product knowledge and sales closing skills.
• Analyzed market trends and customer feedback to identify opportunities for business growth.
• Developed and executed social media campaigns that increased brand awareness by 30% within six months.
• Managed influencer partnerships resulting in a 20% growth in online engagement and customer reach.
• Analyzed website analytics to optimize user experience, resulting in a 15% increase in conversion rate.
• Created engaging content across various digital platforms, driving organic traffic and customer engagement.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to develop and launch new digital products and features.
• Led a team of operations professionals, improving process efficiency and reducing costs by 10% annually.
• Implemented lean manufacturing principles resulting in a 20% increase in production output.
• Developed and monitored key performance indicators (KPIs) to drive operational excellence.
• Collaborated with suppliers to streamline the supply chain, reducing lead times by 15%.
• Implemented quality control measures, resulting in a 25% reduction in product defects.
• Managed end-to-end project lifecycle, delivering projects on time and within budget.
• Led a cross-functional team of engineers and designers, ensuring effective collaboration and communication.
• Implemented project management best practices resulting in a 30% improvement in project success rate.
• Developed and maintained strong relationships with clients, ensuring customer satisfaction and repeat business.
• Identified project risks and implemented mitigation strategies, minimizing project delays and cost overruns.
• Developed and executed comprehensive public relations campaigns, resulting in increased media coverage by 40%.
• Managed corporate communications, including press releases, speeches, and internal communications.
• Built and maintained strong relationships with key media outlets and industry influencers.
• Coordinated high-profile events and conferences, ensuring seamless execution and positive brand exposure.
• Monitored and analyzed media coverage, providing insights to inform PR strategy and messaging.
• Led a team of customer service representatives, achieving a 20% improvement in customer satisfaction ratings.
• Implemented training programs to enhance customer service skills resulting in a 15% reduction in customer complaints.
• Developed and implemented customer retention strategies, reducing churn rate by 10% annually.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to improve product features based on customer feedback.
• Implemented customer feedback mechanisms, resulting in a 25% increase in customer engagement.

Quantifying impact on your resume

• Include measurable achievements from previous roles, as numerical evidence can showcase your ability to deliver tangible results.
• Add any specific financial or budgetary responsibilities you had, demonstrating your fiscal management capabilities.
• Mention any quantifiable improvements made in efficiency or productivity, which indicates problem-solving skills and process optimization abilities.
• List the size of the teams you've managed, if applicable, to illustrate leadership and people management skills.
• Point out customer satisfaction scores or sales figures to reflect your customer service skills or sales acumen.
• Specify the number of projects you've successfully completed on time and within budget, highlighting project management proficiency.
• Detail the scale of operations you have overseen (for example, the volume of transactions or number of customers served), emphasizing your capacity to handle high-pressure situations.
• Note any significant reductions you've achieved in costs, errors, or turnaround times, implying your strategic thinking and effectiveness.

Writing your returning to workforce experience section without any real-world experience

Professionals, lacking experience, here's how to kick-start your returning to workforce career:

• Substitute experience with relevant knowledge and skills, vital for the returning to workforce role
• Highlight any relevant certifications and education - to showcase that you have the relevant technical training for the job
• Definitely include a professional portfolio of your work so far that could include university projects or ones you've done in your free time
• Have a big focus on your transferable skills to answer what further value you'd bring about as a candidate for the returning to workforce job
• Include an objective to highlight how you see your professional growth, as part of the company
• Resume Work Experience
• Resume Keywords

When detailing your career journey, there's no need to delve deep into early roles. Prioritize what resonates with recruiters. For senior positions, a decade-long retrospective can effectively illustrate your evolution.

Every job description communicates the desired hard and soft skills. These skills are the backbone of your application.

Hard skills are your tangible, technical proficiencies, often validated through certifications or hands-on experience. On the other hand, soft skills reflect your interpersonal abilities and how you navigate diverse work environments.

To effectively spotlight these skills on your resume:

• Create a distinct section for technical skills, listing the most relevant ones for the job.
• Highlight your strengths by weaving in achievements that underscore specific skills.
• Strike a balance between hard and soft skills to present a well-rounded profile.
• If multilingual, include a language proficiency section, emphasizing the interpersonal advantages it brings.

Stay tuned for a deep dive into the most in-demand hard and soft skills in the industry.

Top skills for your returning to workforce resume

Computer Literacy

MS Office Proficiency

Data Analysis

Project Management

Customer Service

Salesforce/CRM Experience

Digital Marketing

Research Abilities

Problem-Solving

Adaptability

Communication

Time Management

Positive Attitude

Self-Motivation

Decision Making

Conflict Resolution

Don't go all over the place with your skills section by listing all keywords/ buzzwords you see within the ad. Curate both hard and soft skills that are specific to your professional experience and help you stand out.

While skills alignment is increasingly prioritized, your educational background and certifications still play a pivotal role in establishing credibility.

To effectively present your academic and certification achievements:

• Detail your educational journey, including the institution and duration.
• Highlight recent and relevant certifications, showcasing your commitment to continuous learning.
• Be concise; focus on the skills and knowledge gained rather than exhaustive details.
• If a certification is in progress, mention the expected completion date.

Remember, authenticity is key. If a certification is pending, be transparent about it.

Best certifications to list on your resume

I'm sorry, but I can't generate the specific information you're asking for because the job title or field is missing here. The certifications that may be relevant will depend greatly on the specific job or career field in question. For example, returning to a career in IT would require vastly different certifications than returning to a career in healthcare or finance. Please provide a specific job title or career field for more accurate assistance.

If you're in the process of obtaining a certification listed in the job requirements but haven't completed it yet, be transparent. Mention your ongoing training and the expected completion date. Honesty is always the best policy on a resume.

• Deans List on Resume
• Coursework on Resume

Choose between:

• Resume summary to match job needs with your top wins.
• Resume objective to share your career goals.

Both should tell recruiters about your best moments. Keep them short, around five sentences. Check out our sample structures for guidance.

Resume summary and objective examples for a returning to workforce resume

• Seasoned IT professional with over 15 years of diversified experience, including a 5-year career break. Expertise in systems architecture and cloud computing. Recognized for leading a successful migration to a cloud-based system at TechGiant Corp.
• Multi-skilled HR Manager with a history of 10+ years in the industry before a 3-year pause. Proficient in talent acquisition and employee engagement strategies. Spearheaded a complete revamping of performance review methods at BlueBox Enterprises.
• Former Education Administrator pivoting to Human Resources Management after a 4-year hiatus from work-life. Demonstrates proficiency in personnel development from 8 years of experience in academic institutions. Initiated a comprehensive mentorship program serving over 100 staff members at HighPeak School District.
• Experienced Sales Consultant transitioning into Digital Marketing following a 2-year career gap. Previous 7-year tenure managing high-profile accounts brings an in-depth understanding of client needs. Successfully closed a multi-million dollar deal at GoldenEagle Inc.
• Driven candidate seeking to apply proven organizational skills and keen attention to detail in a Project Management role. Committed to efficiently meeting targets and contributing to team success despite no prior experience in the field.
• Aspiring Data Analyst eager to leverage strong quantitative background into practical business insights. Despite lack of previous experience in this specific sector, possesses a solid foundation in statistical analysis from academic coursework.

Make your returning to workforce resume truly distinctive by adding supplementary sections that showcase:

• Awards that underscore your industry recognition.
• Projects that bolster your application's relevance.
• Hobbies , if they can further your candidacy by revealing facets of your personality.
• Community involvement to highlight causes you champion.
• Format your returning to workforce resume for clarity and coherence, ensuring it aligns with the role.
• Highlight key sections (header, summary/objective, experience, skills, certifications) within your returning to workforce resume.
• Quantify achievements and align them with skills and job requirements.
• Feature both technical and personal skills across your resume for a balanced portrayal.

Looking to build your own Returning to Workforce resume?

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4 Corner Resources

How to Create a Return to Work Resume (With Sample)

February 16, 2024 | Career Advice

If you’re returning to the workforce after time off, updating your resume should be your first priority. Your resume will help you get your foot in the door, showcase your skills, and convince hiring managers to pick up the phone and call you for an interview. 

Follow these tips to create a resume for returning to work, and use the sample resume below for inspiration as you position yourself as a standout candidate.

What to Focus on in a Return to Work Resume

Prioritizing your strengths.

Your job-specific strengths should be showcased more prominently than your work experience if you’ve been out of the workforce for a long time. It’s vital to instantly convey to hiring managers how you’re qualified for the job they’re hiring for, which can be done by moving the skills section of your resume to the top or using a format that places less of an emphasis on previous jobs (more on this below).

Modernizing your old resume

Your resume from before you left the workforce probably has a lot of good material, and your prior experience is still relevant. There’s no need to trash it and build a new resume from scratch completely. Use your old resume as a starting point, then modernize it.

The professional world has changed significantly in the last several years. Resume design norms have evolved, as has the way companies hire. Your resume should be current for the year you’re applying and adjusted to the post-pandemic world.

Why Do You Need a Resume for a Return to Work?

It’s the first thing hiring managers see.

Your professionalism and charm might help you land the job… but first, you need to get the chance to exercise them by landing an interview. Your resume is one of the first things hiring managers see when you throw your hat in the ring for an open position, so getting it right is crucial to making a good first impression and breaking back into the workforce.

Highlight your transferable skills

Since you don’t have a current job for hiring managers to go on as a reference point, you need to help them see how your skills are relevant. What makes you qualified to do the job? Your resume connects your background from your prior career and the skills you developed during your time away from the workforce to the position you want now.

When Should You Use a Return to Work Resume?

Use this resume to:

• Return to work after taking time off
• Change careers after a gap in employment 
• Build professional connections that will help you land a job

Common Return to Work Resume Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Accounting for a long gap in employment.

You have two options for handling a long employment gap on a resume. Your first option is to cite it directly by listing what you were doing during that time as an entry under experience, i.e., ‘stay-at-home mom.’ This makes certain hiring managers know the reason for the gap and may keep them from making negative assumptions. Your second option is to downplay your employment gap by making other sections of your resume more prominent or using an alternative format where employment is a secondary focus, like a functional resume. 

Demonstrating impressive accomplishments

It’s much easier to show how you can make an impact on an organization if you have a recent track record of closing big deals or exceeding performance goals. Since you don’t have recent work accomplishments to show, however, you’ll need to sell yourself as a candidate in other ways. Use your resume to highlight achievements and qualifications you’ve gained in other non-work experiences, such as participating in volunteer work or completing a specialized training program.

Return to Work Resume Format and Key Components

A chronological, functional, or combination resume format is a good choice for returning to work.

Your resume should include these components:

• Contact information Begin with your name, address, phone number, and email address.
• Summary A summary section is useful for job seekers who are returning to work, acting as your “elevator pitch” for why you’re a great candidate. Use it to sum up one to two of your strongest skills and highlight what you’d bring to the specific position and company. 
• Skills Zero in on a handful of your top hard and soft skills and list them in a prominent section. As often as possible, use skills that are mentioned as requirements in the job description. This will help your resume get noticed by hiring managers and automated applicant tracking systems used to screen candidates. 
• Accomplishments Share your most noteworthy work achievements that are both measurable and related to the job you are applying for. It is important to show the hiring manager that you are results-driven and have a history of exceeding expectations.
• Education List your degree and the school(s) you attended. 
• Experience List your work experience in reverse chronological order. If you’re using a functional resume format, group your experience or accomplishments by type–i.e., technical experience, leadership experience, etc. Under each item, give specific, detail-rich examples of your accomplishments in that position or area, citing numbers and quantifiable achievements as much as possible. 

Polishing your resume is the first step toward restarting your career a break . Make sure you’re using a modern format, customizing the document for the specific job you’re seeking, and avoiding some of the most common resume mistakes .

Just because you haven’t worked in a traditional full-time job doesn’t mean you don’t have relevant experience. In addition to listing the jobs you held before leaving the workforce, state qualifications you’ve gained during other activities that have filled your time, like serving as a caregiver or managing your household finances.

A cover letter offers a little more leeway in terms of structure and content than a resume, which makes it an ideal place to explain an employment gap and position it in a positive light. 

When you’re returning to work after a long break since your last job, consider using a functional resume format. This alternative format helps call the hiring manager’s attention to your relevant skills, particularly position-specific skills like technical expertise and management experience.

When you’re reentering the job market, you can absolutely include unpaid positions in the experience section of your resume. Show how these roles expanded your skill set, brought you valuable perspective or allowed you to contribute to a worthwhile cause. 

Enjoying our articles? Get the latest straight to your inbox.

About Pete Newsome

Pete Newsome is the President of 4 Corner Resources, the staffing and recruiting firm he founded in 2005. 4 Corner is a member of the American Staffing Association and TechServe Alliance, and the top-rated staffing company in Central Florida. Recent awards and recognition include being named to Forbes’ Best Recruiting Firms in America, The Seminole 100, and The Golden 100. Pete also founded ze ngig , to offer comprehensive career advice, tools, and resources for students and professionals. He hosts two podcasts, Hire Calling and Finding Career Zen, and is blazing new trails in recruitment marketing with the latest artificial intelligence (AI) technology. C onnect with Pete on LinkedIn

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Reentering the Workforce

When returning to the workforce from a long time off, applicants need to reassess their skill set, resume, cover letter, and reacquaint themselves to the job market and how best to find a job. As we discuss in our post Understanding Applicant Tracking Systems, 9 8% of Fortune 500 companies use some type of system for hiring. These systems are always changing, and resumes need to keep up. Additionally, jobs can be posted all across the internet on LinkedIn, Monster, company websites, Craigslist, and more. To find the right job, someone will need to know where to look.

Out of work for over a year?

Anyone who has been out of the workforce for over a year will need to account for the time on their resume. Using a skills-based resume format , or identifying ways to account for this time, will help guide prospective employers to understand how the time has been spent. Including activities such as freelance work, volunteering, or part-time jobs can help account for that time and enhance the quality of the resume.

Reentering the workforce after 50

Workers who are reentering the workforce after a gap and who are over the age of 50 should take some time to evaluate the job market and learn how to best present themselves for their prospective job search. These workers are not at a disadvantage, but they do need to account for updating their resumes and cover letters, practicing interviews, and understanding the new methods for finding jobs .

Job retraining at 50

Job retraining may seem intimidating. However, in today’s workforce, retraining, also known as reskilling, has become an essential part of career progression for all ages. Some organizations require reskilling of their workforce periodically to keep with the constant advancements in technology. Retraining over 50 should be viewed as an exciting opportunity for career progression, whether it is required, for a promotion, or a lateral move.

Jobs for people over 50

People over the age of 50, or even retired, may have advantages based on their situations in life. They may be established financially, able to work non-traditional hours or have flexibility in their schedules that other job-seekers do not. Jobs can include rideshare drivers (Uber, Lift), greeters and attendants (baseball games, movie theaters), board members, consultants, or part-time college instructors for their areas of expertise.

Best Jobs for Moms Reentering the Workforce

Moms returning to the workforce may be forced to considering returning to a different job or career. In today’s economy, there numerous opportunities for moms to reenter the workforce while working from home . Glassdoor’s blog details 21 jobs for Stay at Home Moms, we discuss some of those options and more, below.

Best jobs for stay at home moms

• Babysitting – A win-win situation. Moms can make extra money by watching other children during the day while being at home with their own children.
• Pet sitting – Many people who work are searching for reliable places to take their pets during the day. For animal lovers, this can be a convenient job.
• Online Tutor – Online tutoring or mentoring for academic subjects, test preparation, and outside school activities can provide flexibility as well as good part-time income.

Best part time jobs for stay at home moms

• Fitness Instructor – Moms looking to get out of the house, earn money, and keep their fitness programs should look no further than a fitness instructor. Many local gyms are always looking for reliable people who can do the instruction on a part-time basis.
• Project Manager – Moms with a background in project management or other related skills may be able to find part-time jobs, often contract based, as a Project Manager for local companies.
• Medical Transcriptionist – Many medical companies are constantly looking for quality individuals with good typing skills to transcribe clinician dictation from audio to text for their medical records.

Best online jobs for stay at home moms

• Lifestyle Blogger – Stay at home Moms have a wealth of knowledge to share with others across the internet. Mom’s can start their own blog or look to do freelance pieces on topics that are relevant to them.
• Social Media Manager – Moms with a background in marketing or advertising may be a natural fit for a Social Media Manager. Depending on the size of the company, jobs can be freelance, part-time, full-time, and in many cases, all work can be performed online.
• Health Coaching – Online health coaching can earn big money. Moms can take numerous clients and assist with meal planning, work out schedules, and positive reinforcement to clients.

Reentering the Workforce Resume

Reentering the workforce resume examples

When reentering the workforce, or returning to work after some time, your professional resume will need to be revisited to best prepare for finding a new job. Below are tips to consider:

• Forget a chronological timeline – Our resumes often follow the same format of listing job history listed from newest to oldest jobs. Trying a different format, such as most relevant jobs, is acceptable and may be a refreshing change to the resume.
• Emphasize Skills – Understanding work history is important, but what was done during that time matters too. Identifying hard and soft skills and how they apply to the job should be emphasized.
• Tell the Truth – The worst thing a job-seeker can do is lie on their resume. They should be upfront and clear about the gap in work.

Cover Letter for Retired Person Returning to Work

Similarly, a cover letter for a retired person returning to work will need to be revisited and include elements listed below:

Sample cover letter for a retired person returning to work

• Discuss how the time off was spent – The retired person returning to the workforce should include any activities during their time off, including volunteering, part-time jobs, professional organization involvement, mentoring, or anything that has transferable skills to the prospective job.
• Tell the story – A retired person reentering the workforce probably has a good reason for doing so, and that should be included. Monster.com provides sample text for several situations to help tell the story in the cover letter.

Maria Gold is a Content Manager/Writer for Empire Resume . She is dedicated to helping educate and motivate people with the latest career articles and job search advice. Her interests range from writing to programming and design. She is also passionate about innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology .

Related Articles:

Creative Ways to Use Social Media to Find a Job

Applying for an Internal Position

What to Do When You Get Laid Off

10 Returning to Work Resume Objective Examples

Returning to the workforce after a hiatus can seem daunting, but it also opens up a world of new possibilities for professional growth and fulfillment.

Whether your break was due to family commitments, personal development, or travel, crafting a compelling resume objective is a critical step in communicating your desire to rejoin the professional sphere.

This page offers a wide selection of carefully constructed resume objectives tailored to those seeking to navigate their way back into a fulfilling career.

Each example is designed to help you articulate your renewed commitment to the workforce and underscore the unique blend of skills and experiences you bring.

Let these ten returning-to-work resume objectives guide you in making a powerful first impression as you embark on this next chapter of your professional journey.

Return to Work Resume Objectives Examples

How to Write a Returning to Work Resume Objective?

Crafting a resume objective for returning to work involves conveying not just your fit for the job, but also your renewed commitment and the value you can bring post-hiatus. Here are some key strategies to create an effective resume objective:

1. Highlight Transferable Skills:

Emphasize any skills gained during your break that are relevant to the job you’re applying for. Transferable skills like organization, communication, or time management are often developed in various non-work activities.

2. Spotlight Continuous Learning:

If you’ve taken any courses or certifications during your time off, mention these to demonstrate initiative and a desire for continuous improvement.

3. Demonstrate Commitment:

Convey a strong willingness to not only return to the workforce but also to embrace the roles and responsibilities of your desired position.

4. Showcase Adaptability:

Indicate a readiness to adapt to new environments and the updated dynamics of the modern workplace, especially if there have been significant changes in your industry.

5. Mention Updated Knowledge:

If you’ve kept up with your industry’s trends or advancements during your break, make a note of this to show ongoing engagement with your professional sphere.

6. Express Enthusiasm:

Enthusiastic candidates are attractive to employers; express your excitement about re-entering the workforce and contributing to your potential employer’s success.

7. Personalize for the Role:

Tailor your objective to each job you apply for, ensuring it aligns with the company culture and the specifics of the job listing.

8. Address the Gap:

If feasible, briefly acknowledge the reason for your career break in a positive light, and focus on how it has prepared you to return to work with a fresh perspective.

• Mom Returning To Work Resume Objective | 8 Examples
• Retiree Returning to Work Cover Letter Template and Sample
• Housewife Returning to Work Cover Letter Sample
• Resume Template for Homemaker Returning to Work

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Preparing your resume to go back to work

How to address gaps in employment as you prepare to go back to work post pandemic

July 23, 2021 Adecco

The US job market is undergoing some more changes in 2021. Federal aid in the form of stimulus checks appears to have come to an end, and several states are even offering return-to-work bonuses to get their economies back on track again.

If you’re thinking of returning to the world of work after some time off during the pandemic, then you might be wondering how to make your resume look attractive. In this blog post, we’ll be looking at how to manage gaps in your work history and how to show employers that you’re the right person for the job.

Address gaps in your employment history

One of the biggest issues you’ll face when rejoining the workforce is dealing with a big gap in your work history. US employers are facing a serious lack of workers , so while they won’t see pandemic-related resume gaps as a bad thing, they’ll likely want to know what you did while you weren’t working. Attach a cover letter to your resume explaining how you’ve been proactive in looking for employment, how you’ve been developing your professional network, and talk about what initiatives you’ve taken to improve your work skills in preparation for your return to the workforce. Honesty is the best policy when it comes to explaining gaps on your resume, so make sure to be transparent with your potential employer.

Highlight skills that you developed during the pandemic

As we mentioned earlier, employers are eager to know how you’ve been developing your skills during the pandemic. Mentioning conferences, online training, and certifications is a great place to start. As well as bringing attention to any hard skills that you’ve acquired, don’t forget to talk about your soft skills. Interpersonal skills like resilience, problem-solving, and work ethic are highly valued by employers in a post-pandemic world. Include a soft skills section on your resume to better highlight why you’d be a great fit for the job.

If developing your work skills is important to you, remember that all our associates get free access to the Adecco Academy programs to further their careers.

Tailor your resume to each job application

Avoid sending the same resume to each job vacancy. To increase your chances of being invited for an interview, you should create a unique resume for each job application . Do this by scanning the job post for keywords that you can use in your resume. If a vacancy says that the ideal candidate has strong communication skills and a Microsoft Office certification, then include that information in your resume (only if it’s true, of course).

The same goes for your cover letter. A hiring manager should read your cover letter and see that you put some thought into it by mentioning why you’d like to work at their company specifically. HR recruiters and hiring managers can spot cookie-cutter resumes and cover letters from a mile away, so don’t send the exact same resume to 30 different job applications or you’ll just come across as uninterested.

Now that you know how to make your resume stand out in a post-pandemic job market, explore our job postings and start applying for remote jobs and for openings in your area. Ready to start applying? Browse our job openings now!

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Back to Work: The Resumé Advice You Need to Know [Guest Post]

The resumé advice you need to know.

There are several reasons you may have taken a career break, whether that was to look after an elderly parent, look after children or because you were let go from another position.

Whatever your reason, it can feel daunting when you decide you’re finally ready to return to the workplace.

You might be concerned about what recruiters will think of the gaps in your resumé or feel stressed about how you should explain the gap in your career history.

But fear not – just because you took some time out, doesn’t mean you can’t get back on the career ladder! We’ve pulled together our top advice for writing a killer resumé that will get you back to the workplace in no time:

Choose the right format

The first thing you need to do is to choose the best possible resumé format. Because you’re returning to work after unemployment, this might differ slightly from the traditional resumé layout.

You should start as normal, by listing your contact details and creating a short professional profile .

You don’t need to mention in your profile that you’ve been on a break from your career – you can do this later. Instead, list your key skills, qualifications, and information about what you achieved in your previous roles. Make it short and snappy, so it grabs the hiring manager’s attention and encourages them to keep reading.

Then, continue with a core skills section, including any transferable skills you might have gained in your career break. Usually, this would be a rather short section, but after a career break, it can be helpful to place more of your focus here.

Next, move on to your employment history – this is where you will address the career gap .

Finally, you can finish off with your education section and your hobbies and interests, if you have space and feel these are relevant.

Listen to the most recent episode

Head up your employment history.

Before you begin listing your previous jobs, you should head up this section with a short explanation about why you’ve been unemployed.

This doesn’t need to be too long – just a sentence or two does the job. In fact, it’s better to keep it brief, so that the employer doesn’t spend time dwelling on it.

For example: ‘I’ve dedicated the last year caring for a sick relative. Their health has now improved and I’m eager to re-join the workforce and excel in my career.’

Then, move straight into the rest of your career history. Instead of merely listing your duties and responsibilities, focus on pinpointing results and achievements made in past roles and showcasing how you have added value to previous employers.

Honesty is the best policy

Whatever you do, do not lie about your career break. Honesty is always the best policy.

If you lie about your experience and are asked about it in an interview, you could find yourself tangled in a web of lies – and that’s a one-way ticket to rejection!

Remember, everyone has their reasons for taking some time out – and you also have the right to do so.

So, don’t be ashamed of your career break. Embrace it, put a positive spin on it and focus on showing employers what you have to offer moving forward.

Put a positive spin on things

Whether you were caring for a family member or just carefully planning your next move after being let go, there is always a way you can put a positive spin on your career break.

Were you caring for a loved one? Perhaps this taught you valuable transferable skills such as patience , compassion, and empathy – which are highly valuable in the education, care, and not-for-profit sectors.

Or, perhaps your time out allowed you to focus on your own projects or take an online course? Maybe you took the opportunity to take on some volunteer work?

You can find a way to include these positive outcomes when explaining your unemployment; proving to the employer that your career break was not a bad thing and that you continued to learn and grow your skills .

If you haven’t had a chance to upskill yet, why not start now? There are plenty of online courses available, relating to almost every career path. Have a browse, pick something relevant, get studying and then add your new-found knowledge to your resumé.

Are you ready to get back to work?

Returning to work and getting your job searching mojo back after a career break can feel daunting, but don’t let it stop you from reaching your goals.

Follow the advice above to help you craft a strong resumé that will have you back in the workplace before you know it.

This post was written by Andrew Fennell. Andrew is the writer for  Assignyourwriter  and founder of CV writing advice website  StandOut CV  – he is a former recruitment consultant and contributes career advice to websites like Business Insider, The Guardian, and Fast Company.

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Reader Interactions

February 23, 2020 at 10:40 am

Andrew, would have liked to see a straw man of this. I’ve woven this into the experience section based on other professionals advice.

I was glad you mentioned the case of continued unemployment. I wish you would have led with this and showed a solid example. The care for the sick and raising kids are well accepted in the hiring community but are overly cherry picked in articles for examples of what to say. Focus on the difficult case. Readers will appreciate that.

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i have resumed work today

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

• After my vacation, I have resumed work today.
• Due to the pandemic, many businesses have resumed work today.

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• I have started working again today.
• I have returned to work today.

i am back in office today

• After my business trip, I am back in office today.
• I was on leave for a week, but I am back in office today.
• I have returned to the office today.
• I have come back to the office today.

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How to Write a Sample Email for Return to Work After Leave

A return-to-work after- leave email is a message that informs your boss, supervisor, colleagues, and, if applicable, clients that you have returned to your regular duties. Especially if you are client-facing and manage relationships with clients on behalf of the business, it’s essential to send this email to them as well.

In the workplace, employees are entitled to some paid or unpaid days off, depending on the company’s policy. There are times when you may need to temporarily leave your job, whether it’s for a medical break, a mental reset vacation, maternity leave, or to address unforeseen circumstances.

Crafting a return-to-work email is crucial for several reasons. It helps maintain a positive relationship with your manager and aligns with the policies established within your organization. Additionally, providing advance notice via email can streamline the process for employees and your HR (human resources) team when creating a return-to-work plan.

This article will share how you can draft a solid return-to-work email and tips for writing an effective one.

How to Write a Sample Email for Return to Work After Leave Email

A return-to-work email can be used as a quick refresher to address all the things that have and haven’t changed while the employee was off work.

 In most organizations, HR professionals are asking for this email. They use the return-to-work notice to measure an employee’s intent on returning to work. It helps when the organization is pushed to take timely action if an employee chooses not to return at all or prefers to work remotely or part-time.

Tips for Writing a Return-to-Work Email

Below are tips to help you draft an impressive return-to-work email that makes things easier for all the parties involved.

Return to Work Email Example

Return to work after maternity leave email sample, i am back to work from vacation email.

Returning to work after a long break requires thorough planning and communication, especially in unprecedented times. It’s vital to let your employer know the exact date and time that you are joining the team. It eliminates any confusion and keeps your HR team and the employer on the same page.

Complete paperwork according to the updated employment laws and cooperate with the HR department and coworkers in getting themselves up to speed with the new work procedures.

About The Author

Jim blessed, related posts, 9 tips you need to write and respond to emails professionally, 12 rules of writing emails professionally and effectively, how to write professional emails: 7 critical ingredients, 8 simple lessons for writing irresistible business to business emails, leave a comment cancel reply.

40+ Resume Tips to Help You Land a Job in 2024

When you haven’t updated your resume in a while, it can be hard to know where to start. What experiences and accomplishments are relevant for the jobs you’ve got your eye on? What new resume rules and trends should you be following? And seriously, one page or two ?

Well, search no more: We’ve compiled all the resume tips you need into one place. Read on for advice and tricks that’ll help you craft a winning resume—and land your next job.

Maximize your chances by looking for more open jobs on The Muse »

Basic resume tips

Let's start with the basic do's and don'ts when putting your resume together. Listing your skills is not the only thing that matters—choosing the right format and sections is equally crucial. Here are some tips for writing a resume from scratch:

1. Don’t try to cram every skill and work experience onto your resume

Think of your resume not as a comprehensive list of your career history, but as a marketing document selling you as the perfect person for the role you’re applying to. For each resume you send out, you’ll want to highlight only the accomplishments and skills that are most relevant to the job at hand (even if that means you don’t include all of your experience ).

This is called tailoring your resume and it helps anyone who reads it see exactly why you’re a match for a specific position.

2. But keep a resume outline with a full list of your qualifications

Since you’ll be swapping different information in and out depending on the job you’re applying to, save a resume outline —or maybe our resume worksheet —on your computer with old positions, bullet points tailored for different applications, and special projects that only sometimes make sense to include. Think of this as your brag file. Then, when you’re crafting each resume, it’s just a matter of cutting and pasting relevant information together.

3. Ditch the objective statement

The only time an objective section makes sense is when you’re making a huge career change and need to explain from the get-go why your experience doesn’t match up with the position you’re applying to. In every other case, resume objectives just make you look old-fashioned or out of touch.

Read More: 3 Reasons You Should Ditch That Resume Objective—and 3 Things You Can Do Instead

4. Put the best, most relevant information first

In journalism speak, “above the fold” refers to what you see on the front half of a folded newspaper (or, in the digital age, before you scroll down on a website)—basically it’s your first impression of a document. In resume speak, it means you should make sure your most relevant qualifications are visible on the top third of your resume.

This top section is what the hiring manager is going to see first—and what will serve as a hook for someone to keep on reading. If your most recent position isn’t the most relevant piece of your candidacy, consider leading with a skills section (such as in a combination resume format ) or writing a resume summary .

5. Choose the right resume format for you

There are lots of different ways to organize the information on your resume—like the functional resume or combination resume. But the good old reverse chronological —where your most recent experience is listed first—is usually your best bet. Unless it’s absolutely necessary in your situation, skip the functional or skills-based resume—hiring managers might wonder what you’re hiding.

6. Keep it concise

The two-page resume is a hotly debated topic, but the bottom line is this—you want the information here to be as short as possible, and keeping it to one page forces you to prioritize what really matters. If you truly have enough relevant and important experience, training, and credentials to showcase on more than one page of your resume, then go for two. But if you can tell the same story in less space? Do it.

Read More: 6 Pro Tips for Cutting Your Resume Down to One Page

7. Include relevant links

Can’t figure out how to tell your whole story on one page, or want to be able to include some visual examples of your work? Instead of trying to have your resume cover everything, cover the most important details on that document. Then, include a link to your personal website , your online portfolio , examples of your work, or a relevant, professional social media profile , where you can dive more into what makes you the ideal candidate.

Just avoid hyperlinking over words that are key to understanding your resume, since it can throw off the tools employers use to store and parse resumes.

8. Be aware of the ATS

You may have heard that employers are using computers to “read” your resume and decide who to hire and reject. That’s not exactly true. But most employers do use software called an applicant tracking system—or ATS—to parse resumes and organize them so that recruiters and hiring managers can search for the most relevant applications.

You should assume your resume will pass through an ATS at some point during your job search, so understanding how it works will help make your hunt more efficient. (All of the tips for resume writing in this list keep ATSs in mind as well!)

Read More: Beat the Robots: How to Get Your Resume Past the System and Into Human Hands

Resume formatting tips

Your resume's format matters as much as the content it holds. Aim for a simple and minimalist layout, without overwhelming columns, colors, or graphic elements. Here are some key resume formatting tips to help you stand out:

9. Keep your resume format simple

We’ll talk about getting creative in order to stand out in a minute. But the most basic principle of good resume formatting and design? Keep it simple. Make your resume easy on hiring managers’ eyes by using a reasonably sized default font like Helvetica or Arial and leaving a healthy amount of white space on the page. Your main focus here should be on readability for the hiring manager (and that pesky ATS).

Read more: The Best Resume Font and Size (No More Agonizing!)

10. Stand out with ATS-friendly design elements

Really want your resume to stand out from the sea of Times New Roman? Yes, creative resumes —like infographics, videos, or presentations can set you apart, but you have to make sure they actually get read. If you’re uploading your resume to a job application site or online portal, use ATS-friendly formatting elements like:

• Bold and italic text
• Underlining (in headings or over hyperlinks)
• Different text alignments
• Columns that can be read straight across

11. Avoid design elements that can’t be “read” by computers

On the flip side, it’s best to avoid design elements that ATSs are known to have trouble with such as:

• Logos and icons
• Images and photos
• Graphics, graphs, or other visuals
• Headers and footers
• Less common fonts
• Columns that can only be read from top to bottom

12. Make your contact info prominent

You don’t need to include your address on your resume anymore (really!), but you do need to make sure to include a phone number and professional-sounding email address (but not one affiliated with another job!) as well as other places the hiring manager can find you on the web, like your LinkedIn profile, plus your pronouns if you’d like to.

Read More: Here's Exactly What Should Be Included in Your Resume's Header

13. Design your resume for skimmability

You’ve probably heard before that hiring managers don’t spend a lot of time on each individual resume. So help them get as much information as possible in as little time as possible, by making your resume easy to skim .

Work experience resume tips

Recruiters nowadays want to know more than a simple description of your responsibilities. They're looking for the results and impacts of your work, as well as the connection between your experience and the position you're applying for now.

That said, let's take a look at some resume writing tips for describing your work experience:

14. Keep your work experience recent and relevant

As a rule, you should only show the most recent 10-15 years of your career and only include the experiences that are relevant to the positions you’re applying to. Remember to allocate real estate on your resume according to importance. If there’s a choice between including one more college internship or going into more detail about your current role, always choose the latter (unless the internship was more relevant to the role you’re applying for).

15. Don’t forget your transferable skills and experiences

Don’t panic if you don’t have any professional experience that fits the bill. Focus your resume on your relevant and transferable skills along with any related side or academic projects , and then make sure to pair it with a strong cover letter telling the narrative of why you’re ideal for the job.

Read more: What to Put on Your Resume When You Have No Relevant Work Experience

16. Write strong, achievement-focused bullet points

The bullet points under each job entry are arguably the most important part of your resume. They tell whoever’s reading it what skills you have, how you’ve used them, and how you’ve helped your employers in the past.

So start with a strong action verb , include relevant skills from the job description , and frame your bullets around your achievements—don’t just list your job duties . Tell them how your work benefitted your boss or company so they know what they stand to gain by hiring you.

Here’s a simple formula to follow:

• Compelling verb + job duty + key skills used = tangible result

So you might say: “ Developed an upgrade to the employee database, ensuring the smooth flow of critical operations, which led to a 35% increase in efficiency. ”

17. Curate your bullet points and experiences

No matter how long you’ve been in a job, or how much you’ve accomplished there, you shouldn’t have more than eight bullet points under it—and that’s only for your most recent and relevant job. Jobs further back should generally be limited to four to six bullets.

Read More: How Many Bullet Points Should Each Job on Your Resume Have?

18. Use as many numbers as you can

Use facts, figures, and numbers whenever possible in your bullet points. How many people were impacted by your work? By what percentage did you exceed your goals? Quantifying your accomplishments allows the hiring manager to picture the level of work or responsibility you needed to achieve them.

19. Don’t neglect non-traditional work

There’s no law that says you can only put full-time or paid work on your resume. So, if you’ve volunteered , worked part-time or as a temporary or contract worker , freelanced, or interned? Absolutely list these things as their own “jobs” within your career chronology—as long as they’re relevant to the job you’re applying for. The same goes for career breaks . Yes, really.

Read More: 4 Things You Didn't Know You Could Put on Your Resume

20. Use important keywords from the job description

Scan the job description, see what words are used most often, and make sure you’ve included them in your bullet points. For example, does the job description list “CRM” or “Salesforce”? Make sure your resume matches. Not only is this a self-check that you’re targeting your resume to the job, but it’ll also make it easier to search for your resume in an ATS.

Read More: How to Pick Resume Keywords That'll Get Your Job Application Past the ATS

Resume tips for including your education

Most hiring managers will want to know your education level, even if it's not necessarily relevant to the position you're going for. This section is especially important for those changing careers or applying for entry-level jobs—as your education can be an indicator of the skills you have.

Here's some resume tips and tricks for this section:

21. Put experience first, education later

Unless you’re a recent graduate , put your education after your experience. Chances are, your last couple of jobs are more important and relevant to you getting the job than where you went to college.

22. Also keep it in reverse chronological order

Generally, you should list your educational background with the most recent or advanced degree first, working in reverse chronological order. But if older coursework is more specific to the job, list that first to grab the reviewer’s attention.

23. Remove the dates from your education section once you’re a few years into your career

Unless you’re early in your career, don’t list your graduation dates. The reviewer cares more about whether or not you have the degree than when you earned it. And you don’t want to inadvertently open yourself up to age discrimination , which is an unfortunate reality in some job markets.

24. Highlight honors and achievements, not GPA

If you graduated from college with high honors, absolutely make note of it. Showcase that summa cum laude status, the fact that you were in the honors college at your university, a relevant project you completed, or an award you won. You don’t need to list your GPA —employers don’t care as much about GPA as they do what skills you gained in school.

Read More: How to (and How Not to) List Education on Your Resume

25. Include continuing or online education

Feel free to include continuing education, professional development coursework, or online courses in your education section, especially if your resume feels a little light on relevant experience.

Best resume tips for showing off your skills

You shouldn't wait until you get an interview to showcase your skills—your resume can and should have a specific section for them. You can also leverage other sections of the document to incorporate what's relevant for the position.

Here are our tips for making a resume that effectively highlights your skills:

26. Don’t forget your skills section

Be sure to add a section that lists all the relevant skills you have for a position—especially those mentioned in the job description. Include technical skills like software and project management tools or specific knowledge of how to perform relevant tasks. Just make sure to skip including skills that everyone is expected to have, like using email or Microsoft Word. Doing so will make you seem less technologically savvy.

27. But don’t only put your skills in your skills section

Your skills section is an easy way for anyone reading your resume to confirm that you have required qualifications, but that shouldn’t be the only place that your important skills appear. Any skill that’s vital to you being hired should also be in your bullet points—where you can show how you’ve used it in the past.

28. Divvy up your skills for readability

If you have lots of skills that would help you with a job but aren’t necessarily in the same category—say, foreign language, software, and leadership skills—try breaking up your skills sections. Below your “Skills” section, add a subsection titled “Language Skills” or “Software Skills,” for example. Again, we’re going for skimmability here!

29. Show—don’t tell—your soft skills

Describing soft skills on a resume often starts to sound like a list of meaningless buzzwords. But being a “strong leader” or an “effective communicator” are important characteristics you want to get across. Think about how you can demonstrate these attributes in your bullet points without actually saying them.

Read more: The Non-Boring Way to Show Off Your Soft Skills in Your Job Search

Other resume section tips

Resume sections are not fixed like stone-written texts; they can change according to the job position you're applying for or the requirements listed by the company. Here are some examples of sections you can add—and more tips on writing a resume that stand out:

30. Include relevant certifications and licenses

If you have a certification or license that proves you can do some aspect of the job you’re applying for, include it on your resume. This is especially important if that certification or license is legally required to do the job—for example, in nursing, teaching, or driving jobs.

31. Show some (relevant) personality

Feel free to include an “Interests” section on your resume, but only add those that are relevant to the job. Are you a guitar player with your eye on a music company? Definitely include it. But if you’re considering including your scrapbooking hobby for a software developer job at a healthcare company? Best to leave it out.

32. Beware of interests and activities that could be controversial

Maybe you help raise money for your church on the reg. Or perhaps you’re dedicated to canvassing during political campaigns. Yes, these experiences show a good amount of work ethic or possibly other relevant skills—but they could also open you up to be discriminated against by someone who disagrees with the cause. So weigh your decision to include them carefully.

33. Add awards and achievements—when they’re relevant

Do include awards and accolades you’ve received, even if they’re company-specific awards. Just state what you earned them for, e.g., “Earned Golden Salesperson Award for having the company’s top sales record four quarters in a row.” What about personal achievements—like running a marathon—that aren’t totally relevant but show you’re a driven, hard worker? Consider the best way to include them (and if you should).

Resume tips for navigating employment gaps and other sticky situations

If you're an experienced professional, you might have some tricky information to explain. Job hopping, career gap, and short term jobs are examples of things that can make an applicant feel insecure when drafting resumes.

Is that your situation? Check on these good resume tips to explain sticky situations without jeopardizing your chances to get an interview:

34. Cut the short-term jobs

If you stayed at a (non-temporary) job for only a matter of months, consider eliminating it from your resume to avoid looking like a job hopper. Leaving a particularly short-lived job or two off your resume shouldn’t hurt, as long as you’re honest about your experience if asked in an interview. But if the short-term job is super relevant to this job, consider including it anyway.

35. If you have shorter gaps, be strategic about how you list dates

If you have gaps of a few months in your work history, don’t list the usual start and end dates with months and years for each position. Use years only (2018–2020), or just the number of years or months you worked at each position. Just keep it consistent throughout your resume and don’t lie if asked about gaps during an interview.

Read more: How to Explain the Gap in Your Resume With Ease

36. Explain serial job hopping

If you’ve job-hopped frequently, you can include a succinct reason for leaving next to each position like “company closed,” “layoff due to downsizing,” or “relocated to a new city.” By addressing the gaps, you’ll proactively illustrate the reason for your frequent job movement and make it less of an issue.

37. Explain a long break in jobs

Re-entering the workforce after a long hiatus? This is the perfect opportunity for a summary statement at the top, outlining your best skills and accomplishments. Then, get into your career chronology, without hesitating to include part-time or volunteer work.

38. Be intentional about career gaps

While career gaps are becoming increasingly common, you should still frame them in a way that’s relevant to a future employer, by talking about skills you gained or any professional endeavors you took on. If you didn’t focus on professional development, that’s fine too! But not every employer will appreciate it if you get too cutesy about that section of your resume.

For example, if you took time out of the workforce to raise kids, you might not want to creatively describe this parenting experience on your resume, à la “adeptly managed the growing pile of laundry.” Instead state what you did plainly and include any professional skills you may have grown or activities you may have done.

Read More: Stay-at-Home Parent? How to Kill it on Your Comeback Resume

Tips on resume finishing touches

Writing a good resume alone isn't the only thing that matters. How you save and send it can also determine whether the recruiter will even take a look at it. To wrap things up, here are our resume formatting tips and other suggestions to boost your chances of getting noticed:

39. Ditch “References available upon request”

If a hiring manager is interested in you, they’ll ask you for references—and will assume that you have them. There’s no need to address the obvious (and doing so might even make you look a little out of touch!).

40. Proofread, proofread, proofread

It should go without saying, but fully edit your resume and make sure it’s free and clear of typos. And don’t rely on spell check and grammar check alone—step away for a few hours, then read your resume closely again, and ask family or friends to take a look at it for you.

41. Save it as a PDF or Word document

Unless a job posting specifically requests that you do otherwise, your resume should always be submitted as either a PDF or Word document (.docx not .doc). These are the formats that can be most easily opened and most easily parsed by an ATS.

The choice between the two is up to you (again, unless the company you’re applying to requests one format over the other). If you’re emailing your resume, however, PDFs are a bit more likely to maintain your formatting across different computers and programs.

42. Name your file clearly

Ready to save your resume and send it off? Save it as “Jane Smith Resume” instead of “Resume.” The hiring manager is going to have plenty of “Resumes” on their computer, so make it super easy for them to find what they’re looking for. You can even go a bit further and put the position title in your file name (e.g., “Jane Smith Marketing Analyst Resume).

Read More: The (Simple) Guidelines You Should Follow When Naming Your Resume and Cover Letter Files

43. Keep your resume outline fresh

Carve out some time every quarter or so to pull up your resume outline and make some updates. Have you taken on new responsibilities? Learned new skills? Add them. When your resume is updated on a regular basis, you’re always ready to pounce when opportunity presents itself. And even if you’re not job searching, there are plenty of good reasons to keep this document in tip-top shape.

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Which is correct: "will resume" or "will be resumed"?

Here are the two sentences using will resume and will be resumed . What is correct here? Also, is it true that will should always be followed by be ?

My office process will be resumed once I complete 2 months in the state. My office process will resume once I complete 2 months in the state.

• modal-verbs

4 Answers 4

Both are grammatical.

"Will" is followed by the basic form ("infinitive") of almost any verb (the only exceptions I can think of are modals like "can", "may", "should", none of which has an infinitive).

"Resume" is one of a large class of English verbs which can be used both transitively (of the person causing or initiating a process), and intransitively (of the thing undergoing the process). They are sometimes called ergative verbs .

So The chair resumed the meeting and The meeting resumed are both possible.

Other examples are "roll" ( He rolled the trolley aside ; The trolley rolled down the slope ) and "start" ( She started the car ; the car started first time ).

In the transitive sense, these verbs can be used in the passive, so The meeting was resumed by the chair .

So in your example, both the process will resume and the process will be resumed are grammatical and idiomatic. There is a slight difference in meaning, in that the process will resume suggests that it will happen automatically without anybody needing to do anything, whereas the process will be resumed suggests that somebody will make it happen; but these are only suggestions, and may not reflect a real difference in the objective events.

An answer to your first question 'will' is not always followed by 'be'. Sometimes 'will' is a noun, as in last will and testament. Sometimes 'will' is followed by the simple form of a verb as in "I will go shopping".

"my residential visa application process will be resumed" what this means is that someone will resume the application process. This someone might be a government worker.

"my residential visa application process will resume" what this means is that the process itself will resume. Both a process can resume and a person can resume a process.

In 1 'will be resumed' is passive which means that the noun coming after the noun is the one doing the action. For example, in "I was hit by Jim", that means that Jim did the hitting because 'was hit' is passive.

In 2 'will resume' is active so the noun before the verb is the one doing the action.

The difference between both is the tense. 'Will resume' is the simple future tense that implies that is will go back to what is was in the near future. While 'will be resumed' is the future perfect tense with begs the question of time. Both sentences are alluding to something restarting, the time line however begs the difference. That is how I understand it.

I am sorry but I beg to differ with the last comment: 'will resume' and "will be resumed' are both in the simple future tense, the 1st one is in the active form whereas the 2nd one is in the passive form.

Here's an example of the future perfect tense in both forms:

I will have bought that book before the end of the week (active). That book will have been bought by the end of the week (passive).

The second one sounds very clumsy indeed but is grammatically correct.

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i am back in office today vs i have resumed work today

I am back in office today vs i have resumed work today.

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• Resume and Cover Letter
• How to Write a Modern Resume...

How to Write a Modern Resume in 2024

4 min read · Updated on December 19, 2023

Don't leave your resume in the past.

What is the modern resume? Or more importantly, how does the modern resume compare to the traditional resume? The differences are certainly there, and they focus primarily on telling a career narrative and keyword optimization.

While traditional resumes or CVs can vary in range or length, the typical length of a modern resume usually hovers around one to two pages. In fact, more and more recruiters actually prefer two pages over one page, even if you're an entry-level candidate. 

According to a study that involved almost 500 recruiters, hiring managers, and HR professionals and nearly 8,000 resumes, recruiters are 2.3 times as likely to prefer two-page resumes over one-page resumes, regardless of a candidate's job level. This means if you have enough information to go on to that second page, do so. If you don't, leave it at one page. 

If you have many years of experience, you should still cut your resume down to two pages. Recruiters spend less than 10 seconds reviewing your resume, so it's important to present a succinct document that highlights the recent — and more relevant — parts of your work history, skills, and education.

Format and style

Modern industry standards call for more comprehensive formats and narrative career storytelling. With this, it is essential to “trim the fat” off of your resume and optimize its content. 

This begins with the removal of the objective statement and references from your resume , which have been deemed outdated. These two sections of the resume have been removed to include more comprehensive content, including a career summary and an Areas of Expertise section.

First, it's imperative to insert a career summary in lieu of an objective statement at the beginning of your resume. Career summaries are two to four lines that are typically like your elevator pitch, outlining why you're qualified for the job. Next, you can elect to insert six to nine “Areas of Expertise” bullet points utilizing keywords taken from the job descriptions you've been looking at to highlight your relevant skills and improve visibility on major resume hosting sites.

After these two sections, list your latest experiences up to 15 years — going back any further will just make your resume too long and will include information recruiters aren't looking for. The idea is to get the document to two pages filled with relevant information that highlights why you're the best candidate for the job.

You also want to leave enough room for an Education and Credentials section to wrap up the resume. These are the areas where education, training, certifications, and awards are compiled and listed, serving as rudimentary qualifications in many instances.

Keyword optimization

Believe it or not, your resume needs to include relevant keywords in order to be considered for the job. As mentioned, many recruiters search for specific keywords or terms when finding their ideal candidates. Also, many companies utilize applicant tracking software to help scan through the hundreds of applications they receive for a job posting, looking for the correct terms relevant to the job. This means that if your resume isn't optimized, this system will dispose of your resume before it reaches human eyes.

By strategically implementing relevant keywords, you increase visibility in highly competitive markets and heavily populated resume hosting sites, and ensure your resume gets through to a hiring manager. These terms are a must-add to any resume and are ideal for the “Areas of Expertise” section on any resume.

Resumes have evolved to reflect the times. How does the modern resume compare to the traditional resume? The differences are certainly significant. From more career-narrative development to keyword optimization, the modern resume has distinct features that aid job seekers in competing in a globally competitive market.

Is your resume stuck in the past? Update it today with the help of one of our resume writers .

This article was originally written by Keith Fuchs .

Recommended Reading: 

11 Steps to Writing the Perfect Resume

5 Signs It's Time to Hire a Professional Resume Writer

Your Ultimate Guide to Writing the Perfect Resume

Related Articles:

Do Hiring Managers Actually Read Cover Letters?

How to Create a Resume With No Education

Why You Lose When You Lie on Your Resume: Learning From Mina Chang

See how your resume stacks up.

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How to Revamp Your Resume for Today's Job Market

Best-selling author Martin Yate, a career coach and former HR professional, answers common reader questions about how to further your career in HR. 

I graduated last year and have a year of work experience but was laid off as the coronavirus hit. Companies are now starting to hire again, and with so many people looking for work, the competition is overwhelming. I'm just not getting any responses to my resume. Any ideas about what I can do to improve my resume?

One of the most common resume-writing problems is misunderstanding how your resume will be found and processed. It is common to try to make your resume appeal to as wide an audience as possible. But the recruiters who search resume databases—where your resume will ultimately be stored when you send it to an employer—are looking for people qualified for one specific job, so you need to focus your resume on one specific job and not try to make it all things to all people. A one-size-fits-all resume is actually less discoverable in database searches, and it will appear to be less relevant and receive a less careful review whenever it is read by a recruiter.

Here are some practical tweaks you can make to improve your resume's performance.

Deconstruct Your Target Job

With job competition as fierce as it is now, I would suggest you pursue one distinct job that you can do now—one for which you have all the skills and experience needed to hit the ground running.

You probably have a good idea of what that job is, but you may lack an understanding of how employers define the job. The quickest way to gain that understanding is to collect six job postings that focus on that particular job. Then comb through them to find the skills and experience they have in common and the words they use to express these needs. These are the words recruiters will use in resume database searches and the words that will determine if your resume will be found or not.

If you want to pursue a different target job, you need to create another resume with a new focus. This isn't as big a chore as you think, because the layout and many of the details on your primary resume will remain the same.

Choose Your Target Job Title

Just as every movie, blog, book and TV show has a title to draw people in, your resume also needs a title. It's best to use the most common job title from the six job postings you collected. This target job title will appear at the top of your resume, immediately after your contact information. It's a headline for the whole document, helps your resume's discoverability in databases, and gives readers an immediate focus on who you are and what you do.

Use a Performance Profile or Performance Summary

Don't use "Objective" as a headline and then describe the job you want because the employer isn't interested in what you want until it makes an offer.

Instead, follow the target job title with a brief summary of what you have to offer—how your skills and experiences relate to the needs identified in the half dozen job postings you collected. Some of the skills and requirements will be common to all six postings, while others might be common to only one or two; focus on the ones that are most common.

[Download this template to help structure your resume.]

Take the requirements common to the collected job postings for this job and write three to six lines describing your ability to execute these requirements .

Whenever you can, use the wording employers use in their job descriptions. When you do this, two things happen:

•  Your resume pops up more often in recruiters' searches.
• Your resume is read more carefully.

Your research demonstrates an understanding of the job, and that can set you apart in a sea of candidates who haven't done their resume prep work as carefully.

If you lack a certain skill or experience, add a sentence about your desire to "work more with" or "gain more experience with" that particular skill. This gets critical keywords in your resume and shows a recruiter that you understand the job's needs.

List Your Professional Skills

A professional skills section identifies the skills required to execute the responsibilities of the job. List these words and acronyms in three columns to help recruiters who are skimming the document.

When a recruiter evaluates this section, each word, acronym or phrase tells the reader of another topic to be addressed at the interview and increases the odds of that interview happening.

Include Your Professional Experience

Include the names of companies you've worked for and when you worked there. Repeat the keywords you first mentioned in your professional skills section to describe each job in which you used them. This puts those skills with the place and time and helps the recruiter put your skills in context.

Forget the One-Page Resume Rule

This rule has been around for decades and is out of date because jobs have become far more complex. Use your resume to tell the story of your professional qualifications as they relate to the target job, but let the content dictate the page count. This doesn't mean you can ramble, though. Keep your resume tightly focused and if you have enough experience to warrant a second or third page, don't worry. Recruiters are unlikely to read the first page of your resume, think you are an awesome candidate, then decide not to see you because you have even more relevant experience on a second or third page.

If you make these changes in your resume, it will be more likely to show up in recruiters' resume database searches, meaning you'll likely get more interviews.

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Sentence examples similar to I will resume to work from inspiring English sources

The part of the sentence "I will resume to work" is correct and usable in written English. You could use this phrase to let someone know that you are going to start working on something again. For example, you could say: "I was on vacation for a few days, but now I will resume to work on my project.".

I will resume my duties after this journey.

I will continue to work .

I will have to work very hard".

I 'll have to work on this".

I 'll continue to work hard.

I hope they will resume their work should this last attempt at a partisan solution fail".

With preview performances now under way the delay is intended to provide more time for the creators to stage a new final number, make further rewrites to the dialogue and consider adding and cutting scenes and perhaps inserting new music from the composers, U2's Bono and the Edge, who will resume working full-time on the show in late December.

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LCBO and OPSEU resume talks after tentative deal put on hold

Union says lcbo didn't sign return-to-work protocol, employer says opseu bargaining in bad faith.

Why the tentative deal between LCBO and workers’ union is on hold

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A tentative agreement reached between the LCBO and the union representing its workers Friday was put on hold the same day, with talks continuing on their return to work amid the first strike in the corporation's history.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), which represents about 9,000 liquor store employees, has demanded that management sign a return-to-work protocol. The LCBO, which operates more than 680 retail stores, has accused the union of bargaining in bad faith.

Both sides announced a tentative agreement had been reached on Friday morning to end the two-week strike. 

But by Friday afternoon, OPSEU said the LCBO was refusing to sign a return-to-work protocol that would see workers return to the job on Monday. 

After a brief news conference by the union, both sides returned again to the bargaining table.

"We can confirm that negotiations on the return-to-work protocol are still ongoing," Kim Johnston, spokesperson for OPSEU, said in an email on Friday night.

More than 9,000 workers walked off the job on July 5, closing retail outlets across the province. 

Why LCBO workers are on strike

"A return-to-work protocol is necessary for workers to go back to work in the event of a strike," union representative Katie Arnup said at a news conference. "Without that document signed, we do not have a deal. The strike continues."

Less than an hour later, the LCBO released a statement saying the union had introduced a new set of demands "that should have been dealt with at the bargaining table" after a tentative deal was reached. It said it planned to file an unfair labour practice complaint against the union.

"To introduce a new set of demands after reaching a tentative agreement amounts to bad faith bargaining," the statement said.

LCBO releases details of agreement

According to the LCBO, the tentative agreement signed on Friday includes wage increases of eight per cent over three years, an additional 7.8 per cent for the lowest-paid workers and a special wage adjustment for certain trade positions in its warehouse.

It also includes converting about 1,000 casual workers to permanent part-time status, hiring 60 permanent full-time employees in its warehouse operations and improved access to benefits for casual part-time employees who work 1,300 hours and 1,000 hours.

It also includes improved mental health benefits and severance provisions, the Crown corporation said.

The LCBO said the signed agreement provides "no retail store closures related to marketplace expansion for life of the collective agreement." A non-binding joint union-management committee will decide the best way to implement marketplace plans.

Management also agreed to provide letters of agreement to limit LCBO convenience outlets to 400, limit contracting out and increase the volume of product at warehouses that serve retail outlets by 1.25 million cases.

Province's plan to expand alcohol sales at issue

The union has said Premier Doug Ford's plan to make pre-mixed cocktails readily available across other stores was at the heart of the negotiations.

The plan will allow all 8,000-plus convenience stores and grocery stores in the province to sell beer, wine and ready-to-drink cocktails. 

The union says the expansion could lead to thousands of job losses for LCBO workers within a few years.

It's also looking for the province to guarantee wage increases and is seeking "more stable and permanent jobs."

• LCBO workers' union to return to bargaining table amid strike
• Ford digs in on booze sales expansion plan as LCBO strike drags on

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• LCBO strike to end Monday after workers ratify tentative agreement
• How the LCBO makes money for the Ontario government
• Mississauga transit workers reach tentative deal, avoid strike
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• Canada already in talks to avoid Trump tariffs

2,600+ US flights canceled: United, American Airlines resume service after global outage

• A global IT outage caused delays and cancellations for air passengers around the world.
• Several U.S. carriers, including American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines, issued ground stops for all their flights early on Friday due to communication problems.
• The aviation sector is hit particularly hard due to its sensitivity to timings.

Get more news like this delivered to your inbox by signing up for our Travel newsletter here .

William Sikora III was supposed to fly from Philadelphia to Detroit on Friday morning.

“We are stuck at this airport,” he posted in a video on X at 6 a.m., zooming in on blue airport screens showing system errors. “United, Delta, America, all this stuff is down. People are just sitting here. The apps still say our flight’s on time because they can’t update information in the apps.”

Air passengers around the world faced delays, cancellations and problems checking in as airports and airlines were caught up in a  massive IT outage  that also affected industries ranging from banks to media companies.

Several U.S. carriers, including American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines, issued ground stops for all their flights early on Friday due to communication problems, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

There were over 2,600 flights canceled and nearly 9,200 delays as of 5 p.m. ET, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware . Most airlines were able to resume operations as the morning progressed, but many said they expected disruptions to continue throughout the day.

More on the outage: Global tech outage grounds flights, hits banks and media businesses

Megan Brown said Washington Dulles Airport was surprisingly calm, even as the airline industry was in turmoil. She said the airport was less crowded than usual, making for a quicker-than-expected security screening, and passengers seemed understanding about the disruptions.

"We just took the gamble and came here, and hopefully we’ll leave today,” Brown told USA TODAY by phone from Dulles. “There’s nothing you can do.”

Her family's 8:25 a.m. ET flight to San Francisco was delayed, but they were able to take off within a couple of hours. "A cheer just erupted as the gate agent said we are going to start boarding," she said.

Around the world, airports and airlines advised customers to arrive earlier than normal for flights.

Around 9 a.m. Sikora posted another video showing fellow travelers sitting on the floor and standing in the middle of a crowded Philadelphia International Airport terminal. 

“Everyone is in the same boat. Just wandering and sitting,” he told USA TODAY.

Issues online: Instagram may be the best social app to get your flight issues fixed. Here's why.

The cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike blamed the global tech outage on a defect in an update for Microsoft Windows hosts.

“Today was not a security or cyber incident. Our customers remain fully protected," Crowdstrike CEO George Kurtz posted on X . "We understand the gravity of the situation and are deeply sorry for the inconvenience and disruption. We are working with all impacted customers to ensure that systems are back up and they can deliver the services their customers are counting on. As noted earlier , the issue has been identified and a fix has been deployed. There was an issue with a Falcon content update for Windows Hosts."

The aviation sector was hit particularly hard due to its sensitivity to timings. Airlines rely on a closely coordinated schedule often run by air traffic control. Just one delay of a few minutes can throw off a flight schedule for take-offs and landings for an airport and airline for the rest of the day.

"The issue affected many separate systems, such as those used for calculating aircraft weight, checking in customers, and phone systems in our call centers," United Airlines said in a statement. "After pausing all departures overnight, flights resumed on Friday morning and we are working diligently to get our customers to their destinations."

Story continues below.

Are flights still grounded? How long will flight delays last?

"Ground stops and delays will be intermittent at various airports as the airlines work through residual technology issues," the FAA said, adding that it's working closely with airlines to resume normal operations.

Travelers are advised to contact their airlines and monitor the FAA's website for the latest information.

How to find the reason for flight delay

Customers can ask airlines why their flight is canceled or delayed, but the Department of Transportation confirmed that it considers the delays and cancellations caused by Friday's IT outage to be "controllable" by the airlines. While airlines may say they didn't cause the computer error, it means that the DOT will hold them responsible for upholding the commitments they've made to customers when it comes to policies like rebooking or hotel and meal vouchers as the mess gets sorted out. Every airline's policy is outlined on the DOT customer service dashboard.  

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics also tracks causes of delays and cancellations.

Airline waivers

Airlines are doing what they can to provide extra flexibility to those affected by the outage.

• American issued a waiver for affected travelers covering all of its U.S. hubs.
• Delta issued a waiver allowing all passengers traveling Friday to rebook their flights.
• Frontier issued a waiver offering rebooking for travelers whose flights were delayed by more than 3 hours. Customers whose flights were canceled may opt for a refund or credit toward future travel.
• United issued a waiver for select airports so passengers can make changes if their flights are affected, though a United spokesperson told USA TODAY that nearly all of the airline's flights depart or arrive in one of the airports covered by the waiver.
• Spirit issued a waiver allowing customers who are booked to fly Friday or Saturday through any airport in its network to change their flights at no additional charge.

What happens if my flight is canceled?

Department of Transportation rules  require all airlines to offer customers a refund if their flights are canceled for any reason, but customers may be entitled to additional compensation if a cancellation is within the airline's control.

What should I do if my flight is delayed?

If your flight is experiencing a long delay, the Transportation Department suggests asking airline staff if they will pay for meals or a hotel room.

The DOT dashboard reflects airlines' official policies, but many carriers handle compensation for delays on a case-by-case basis and may provide vouchers or other benefits in some situations that are not formally covered.

What is considered a significant flight delay?

Each airline defines significant delays differently, but the DOT's dashboard identifies which airlines provide compensation for controllable delays of 3 or more hours.

For instance, all major U.S. carriers are supposed to provide a meal voucher for flights delayed by at least 3 hours for reasons within their control. Additionally, Alaska, JetBlue and Southwest offer credit or a travel voucher when a controllable delay "results in passenger waiting for 3 hours or more from the scheduled departure time," according to the dashboard.

How to file compensation for a delayed flight

Travelers seeking monetary compensation for delayed flights should file a claim with their respective airlines. Passengers seeking other types of compensation, like frequent flyer miles, may be able to request those through the airline's customer service.

Contributing: Andrew Mills, Joanna Plucinska and Lisa Barrington ; Reuters

Morning Rundown: Arson attacks hit French rail ahead of opening ceremony, Obama endorses Kamala Harris, and Sinaloa cartel kingpins arrested in Texas

Kamala Harris' 2020 campaign was a mess. If she replaces Biden, this time could be a lot different.

WASHINGTON — Kamala Harris had one great day in her ill-fated 2020 presidential campaign: her first.

Then came a rapid collapse.

The freshman senator who announced her candidacy in January 2019 before 20,000 cheering supporters in Oakland, California, dropped out in December before a single vote had been cast.

By the time she quit, Harris lacked money, a message and a cohesive campaign operation — all ingredients of a successful candidacy.

It was a hard fall for someone whose youth and biracial identity evoked the appeal of the last Democratic president, Barack Obama.

“I have mixed emotions about it,” her rival and the eventual winner, Joe Biden, said upon hearing she had withdrawn from the Democratic nomination contest. He called her a “first-rate intellect.”

Now, Harris is set to get another shot. As the sitting vice president, she is a leading candidate to succeed Biden after his exit from the race, receiving his immediate endorsement. Other elected officials might step forward to challenge Harris, dividing Democrats and clouding the general election picture ahead of a November showdown with Donald Trump.

“I know there are people working behind the scenes who think she may not be the best one suited to take us to victory,” said Maria Cardona, a member of the Democratic National Committee’s rules panel, speaking before Biden's withdrawal. “If that is seen as a full-on, inorganic tactic that is being led by senior people within the Democratic Party, there will be a civil war inside the Democratic Party the likes of which we will not survive.”

With only a few months to wage a campaign against Trump, Harris couldn’t afford to repeat the mistakes that tanked her last presidential bid. There would be little time to recover. Hers would need to be a virtually error-free sprint to Election Day.

When Harris gave that announcement speech before a hometown crowd five years ago, her prospects seemed dazzling. A Monmouth University poll released the week after she entered the race showed her running third in a crowded Democratic field that eventually numbered more than two dozen. With 11% support, she trailed only Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, both of whom had run presidential races before.

Harris had earned her bona fides as a former prosecutor and had distinguished herself in Senate committees as a feared interrogator who could pick apart a witness’s testimony.

A pro-Harris super PAC prepared an ad that showed her grilling Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and two Trump-era attorneys general, William Barr and Jeff Sessions.

It never aired. On the day the $1 million ad buy was supposed to begin running, Harris dropped out.

Making the leap from state to national politics proved daunting for her. Rivals like Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren had spent much of their adult lives steeped in policy.

Harris hadn’t mastered policy questions that dominated the Democratic debates. She had originally backed Sanders’ “Medicare for all” plan, but later released her own version that carved out a continued role for private insurers.

She quickly faced incoming fire from the left and center of the ideological spectrum.

Sanders’ aides denounced her proposal as a “terrible policy.” Biden’s campaign joined the attack, warning that she would undercut Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act.

“She was trying to figure out where she landed in the primary field on a bunch of issues,” one of her former California campaign advisers said. As a state official, Harris “hadn’t had to deal with that level of nuance.”

Another policy stumble marred what seemed to be her breakthrough moment. In a debate in June, she attacked Biden for opposing school busing in the 1970s.

Harris mentioned a “little girl” in California who had been bused to school every day. “That little girl was me,” she said. Within hours of the exchange, her campaign triumphantly started selling “That little girl was me” T-shirts for $29.99 apiece.

But after the debate, she struggled to offer a consistent answer to whether she believed federally mandated busing should be used to integrate schools.

A Biden campaign aide seized on the equivocation, tweeting that she was “tying herself in knots trying not to answer the very question she posed” to Biden.

This time, instead of facing off against fellow Democrats, Harris would be able to elevate one to serve as her running mate. She would have a plethora of promising choices to balance the ticket, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, all of whom won in places where Trump performed well.

Admirers say that Harris has grown in the job. Early in her campaign, she traveled to South Carolina and spoke to a group of Democratic women.

“The woman that I met in early 2019 was not as confident and was significantly more tentative in the way she presented herself to potential voters,” Amanda Loveday, a senior adviser to a pro-Biden super PAC called Unite the Country, said before Biden withdrew.

While affirming she wanted Biden to remain at the top of the ticket, Loveday said of the vice president: “The woman I met back then is very different from the woman I see on TV today. She’s grown as a leader and she has developed more confidence.”

Both Harris’ government office and the Biden-Harris campaign declined to comment for this article before Biden's withdrawal.

A campaign is akin to an expensive startup business on a national scale. It needs an inspirational candidate, but it also relies on a unified staff. Harris didn’t have one. People close to the campaign say that lines of authority were blurred between Harris’ sister and campaign chairwoman, Maya Harris, and other advisers who’d worked on her state races but weren’t blood relatives.

In November 2019, a campaign staff member wrote a letter, obtained by The New York Times , that depicted a campaign in crisis.

“Campaigns have highs and lows, mistakes and miscalculations,” wrote Kelly Mehlenbacher. “But because we have refused to confront our mistakes, foster an environment of critical thinking and honest feedback, or trust the expertise of talented staff, we find ourselves making the same unforced errors over and over.”

By that point, Harris was running fifth, her poll numbers down to 6%. Money was dwindling, accelerating the downward spiral. That fall, Harris’ campaign laid off staff and moved others from her national headquarters in Baltimore to Iowa to save money.

Any hope of reviving her candidacy with a strong showing in the Iowa caucuses in January was short-lived. On Dec. 3, Harris dropped out. She emailed staff that she “simply doesn’t have the financial resources we need to continue.”

A Harris sequel would look nothing like the original, former advisers said. She’d be buoyed by a Democratic Party that would coalesce behind her, desperate to defeat Trump. Donors who’ve bailed on Biden might take a fresh look at the race with a younger candidate atop the ticket.

She would also likely inherit the parts of Biden’s campaign that are working — like the massive field and data operation s that are designed to drive voter turnout. While Biden’s most senior aides would likely be gone, many rank-and-file campaign staff with long resumes may choose to remain.

Harris’ background as a prosecutor could prove advantageous in a future debate. Rather than sparring with fellow Democrats over health care and education policy, she would be boring in on Trump’s criminal conviction in Manhattan.

“Literally everything” would be different, starting with her pitch to voters, a longtime Harris adviser told NBC News. “It is a three-month sprint and not a two-year slog.”

Peter Nicholas is a senior White House reporter for NBC News.

Katherine Doyle is a White House reporter for NBC News.

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As she is poised to be the Democratic nominee, here are 5 facts about Kamala Harris

Jeongyoon Han

Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday. Erin Schaff/POOL via Getty Images hide caption

For more on Biden's decision and the now open 2024 race, head to the NPR Network's live updates page .

Just one day after President Biden threw his support behind Vice President Harris for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination after dropping out of the race, Harris secured enough delegates to win the nomination, according to the Associated Press.

While she has not officially become the nominee, if she does when the DNC holds its virtual roll call on Aug, 7, Harris will become the first woman of color to be a major party presidential nominee.

Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, has had a career with many firsts: She became the country's first Indian American senator when she was inaugurated in 2017. She is California’s first female and South Asian attorney general. In 2021, she became the first woman to become vice president, in addition to being the first Black or Asian American person in the position.

And, if she were to win the general election against former President Donald Trump, she would become the first woman president of the United States.

Here are five things to know about Harris:

1. She ran for president in 2020 but didn’t get very far.

Senator Kamala Harris holds her niece Amara as she and her husband Douglas Emhoff wave to the crowd after hosting her first presidential campaign rally in her hometown of Oakland, California, on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019. Gabrielle Lurie/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images hide caption

Harris announced in 2019 she would run for the White House, and while Harris notably pushed Biden on his previous record over desegregation and busing, that was the high point of her run. Most of her bid, in fact, was riddled with campaign hiccups and minimal momentum.

She was criticized for how she championed tough truancy policies when she was the attorney general for California, which some said perpetuated inequities in the criminal justice system and disproportionately affected families of color . Harris later said she regretted the " unintended consequences " that law had on families.

More broadly, Harris failed to distinguish her positions on key issues, in ways that her competitors, such as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, were able to. In the months following, Harris failed to gain steam with limited funds and little excitement behind her campaign, and she dropped out by December 2019.

2. She has a mixed legacy in criminal justice

California Attorney General-elect Kamala Harris holds a press conference top discuss the hard fought Attorney General race. The vote tally took over a month to decide the outcome, with each side leading at various times. Harris finally won with approximately 50 thousand vote lead. Ted Soqui/Corbis via Getty Images hide caption

During her 2020 presidential bid, Harris ran to the left of Biden on several criminal justice issues, like ending solitary confinement and implementing a national standard on the use of deadly force.

But her “tough on crime” track record as a prosecutor, district attorney, and attorney general in California during the 1990s and 2000s is a clear reminder of her complicated and sometimes contradictory legacy on the criminal justice system . 

On the one hand, she established a reentry program in the early 2000s that was seen as a form of restorative justice. She supported legislation that would expand voting rights to those serving felony sentences. She also opposed the death penalty — and stood by that when she did not seek the death penalty against a gang member who killed a police officer in 2004. But when the opportunity came to get rid of the death penalty in California, Harris appealed that ruling . Then, when California Gov. Gavin Newsom put a moratorium on the death penalty in 2019, Harris praised Newsom for the decision, and subsequently called for a federal moratorium on executions .

It took her years as San Francisco’s district attorney to adopt a defendant’s rights policy known as the Brady doctrine, even though her staff recommended the policy to her in 2005 . As state attorney general, she rejected the use of advanced DNA testing in the case of a Black man who was — and still is — on death row for a notable murder case, though she has since said she felt “ awful ” about that decision. She also did not go after cases that involved killings by the police in San Francisco shortly after the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., which brought on the ire of protesters in Oakland. The year after, she declined to support a bill that would have her office investigate officer-involved shootings, and she did not back statewide standards over body cameras worn by police officers.

3. She is known for high-profile grillings early in the Trump administration

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-CA, listens to Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a party 36 years ago, testifying before the US Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, September 27, 2018. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

It was 2018. Harris was still a relative newcomer in the Senate. And yet, she made a splash when she grilled Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s then-nominee for the Supreme Court.

“Can you think of any laws that give government the power to make decisions about the male body?” she asked Kavanaugh in a question pointedly about reproductive rights.

After Kavanaugh struggled to give an answer, Harris repeated the question. Kavanaugh’s final response: “I'm not thinking of any right now, senator.”

That was one of several viral moments of Harris as she went after officials and politicians tied to the Trump administration, including former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, former White House chief of staff John Kelly, and former Attorney General William Barr .

While Trump called her “ nasty ” for how she questioned Kavanaugh, her line of questioning piqued Trump’s interest when she was freshly nominated by Biden to be his running mate in 2020, showing him and Republicans she was capable of going after them.

4. It took a while to find her footing as VP, but when she did, she focused on issues that are key to younger voters

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, center right, wife Jill Biden, right, U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, center left, and husband Douglas Emhoff hold hands while wearing protective masks during an election event in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020. Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

Despite Harris’ underwhelming performance in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, Biden nominated her to be his running mate, making her the first Black woman and person of Indian descent to be nominated by a major party for national office. The announcement was celebrated by many in the party: She had been seen as a rising leader among Democrats, and capable of leading an increasingly diversifying party and country.

But things went off to a rocky start when she entered the White House. She misstepped in an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt when answering why she had not yet visited the border at the time, had turnover in her staff, and had consistently low approval ratings early into her tenure as vice president.

Although Harris was initially seen as uncomfortable in the role, she quickly grew into the job. Harris said the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 galvanized her, and she rewrote an entire speech she was supposed to deliver at an event about maternal health that day. She became the primary messenger on abortion and reproductive rights. Additionally, she campaigned aggressively for gun safety, has tried to connect with more women and people of color during her tenure, and was praised by progressives for her forceful call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

5. Her race and gender have made her subject to sexist and racist attacks

US Vice President and Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at West Allis Central High School during her first campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 23, 2024. Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

While many women in politics are often victims of sexist remarks and verbal abuse, a 2020 study tracking more than 300,000 instances of gendered abuse and disinformation against 13 women political candidates found that Harris was the target of such attacks 78% of the time.

Nina Jankowicz, who researches disinformation targeting women in politics and is the co-founder and CEO of the American Sunlight Project, said harmful narratives are “part of the criticism and abuse that women in public life frequently receive.”

The attacks against Harris in particular have often come from many on the right, including Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. Trump advanced a birtherism conspiracy theory about Harris that falsely stated she was not qualified to run as vice president back in 2020. Trump also called Harris “ crazy ,” and often ridicules the way she laughs — yet another display of hyper-criticizing women’s voices.

And Jankowicz said that it’s important to call out the sexist and racist online trolling against Harris that’s only grown since Biden’s announcement on Sunday.

“And I just think it's really important at this historic moment that we label these narratives and lies as what they are: an attempt to undermine Kamala Harris' public service and her record of public service because of her gender, her background and her skin color,” she said.