Hi Debra,

Thanks for writing to us. Congratulations on 10 years of survivorship! It sounds like you’ve been very productive in the last few years and have a wealth of valuable experience to contribute to a new job.

I've passed along your question to our career coaches for their insight, but think that the following resources might be helpful to you too:

• Resume Review Service: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/resume_reviews/new
• Job Search Toolkit (2nd Edition): http://www.cancerandcareers.org/publication_orders/new (features a advice on improving resumes, cover letters; interview and networking tips and other useful tools to help you during a job search)
• The Swivel (a technique used to address questions about gaps on your resume): http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/looking-for-work/interviewing/the-swivel
• Resume and Cover Letter Resources: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/looking-for-work/resume-cover-letter

One of our coaches will be in touch soon. Best of luck with your job search!

Kind regards,
Nicole Franklin, MPH
Manager of Programs
Cancer and Careers

Debra, Debra, Debra...
You have been very busy and gainfully active in self-development and employment in the past ten years, it is just that the employment has been in an entrepreneurial capacity. I think you have a very exciting story to tell, and you can do it without referring to your cancer experience.

You are right to focus on the past 10 to 15 years of experience, your graduate degree, your coaching certificate and ICF Certification, and the small business experience you gained in coaching others, and founding and running a family winery.
You did not tell us your past profession before becoming a leadership and life coach and entrepreneur, so I am not sure how to advise you about positioning that work, but I would advise to use a functional resume that emphasizes skills.
Depending on your target professional opportunity, you can choose three or four key areas, such as leadership, management, coaching, marketing and then highlight accomplishments under each area.
Your summary can paint a picture of a life-long learner with entrepreneurial drive, measured risk-taking and innovation skills and the ability to build a business from the ground up. Emphasize all the areas in which you were involved.
Your community service can be listed as that... a separate section in which you describe your advocacy for the disabled, or for community organizations in the fundraising capacity, or other areas in which you excelled. You don't have to mention the names of the organizations if you choose not to.

Once you draft a initial functional resume, do send it to our Resume Review experts to gain some input. They will advise you on any changes that will make your positioning stronger. Also, do be sure to sign up for LinkedIn and create a personalized profile to ensure that recruiters and hiring managers can find you. More employers use LinkedIn today that ever before and you are more apt to uncover opportunities there than through the methods we all took for granted just a year or two ago.

I encourage you to attend the job search webinars we offer, and to check out all the resources and other posts in this section. I believe that this will give you a little extra push of confidence, that your past ten years certainly deserves.

I wish you well, my sister in survival.
Warmly,
Kathy Flora, Career Coach