Hi Leon,

I’m so glad you reached out to us. Your question about the gap is one we hear very often at CAC. It’s also worth knowing that with ongoing shifts in the economy and job market, more and more people have gaps on their résumé for reasons unrelated to health.

On your specific question: yes, we’d generally recommend moving away from a strictly chronological résumé toward a format that leads with a Core Competencies or Areas of Expertise section before the reader ever reaches your timeline. This can help focus a hiring manager’s attention on your abilities first and the place to quantify your scope.

A few more practical tips for managing the gap itself:

• Listing any volunteer work, courses, or certifications completed during your gap can help offset it on the page, framed in a way that shows you were intentional with your time. If you haven’t done this yet, it’s not too late. There are free options online and through local libraries that can help you refresh your technical knowledge before you apply.


• Listing your work history using years only, rather than months and years, is standard résumé practice, and it can help reduce how large a gap appears without misrepresenting anything.

It’s also worth remembering there’s generally no requirement to discuss your health or health history in an interview, so if you’re asked about the gap, you don’t need to go into detail. We teach a verbal technique called The Swivel for this; it lets you acknowledge the question briefly and confidently, then redirect the conversation forward, something like: “I stepped away for a health matter that’s fully resolved, and I’m looking forward to getting back to the environmental remediation work I’ve built my career on.” The key is that the language feels natural to you, so it’s worth writing it out and practicing it ahead of time. You can learn more about the Swivel technique here.

I’ve also included a couple of additional CAC resources below that you may find helpful as you navigate your search:

• Our free Resume & Cover Letter section.


• Our Job Search Toolkit, which includes a Functional/Chronological sample résumé template built for exactly this kind of situation.

I and the CAC team will be here if you have any additional questions.

Hi Leon,

Thank you for reaching out and I'm glad to hear that your health has improved and you have returned to work!

First, I want to emphasize that your 20 years of experience in environmental science represents a substantial professional background. Although you've been away from the field for ten years, your experience and accomplishments still have value.The challenge is convincing potential employers that your skills and knowledge remain relevant and that you can successfully transition back inot environmental work. Of course this means you need to get informational meetings and interviews. Here are my recommendatiions for achieveing this.

1. Use a combination resume with a strong professional summary on top followed by a section featuring your core competencies and then your relevant environmental experience. Cancer and Careers offers a free individualized resume review service and I am the coach who does the reviews. It is temporarily paused due to high demand but you can sign up to be notified whennit reopens.

2. Emphasize quantified achievements on your resume and when you are networking to demonstrate the value you can bring.

3. Address your ten-year gap strategically. You do not need to disclose your medical history on your resume or in your cover letter. You can also choose to add a Career Break section on your resume similar to what LinkedIn does.

4. Demonstrate that your technical knowledge is current. Are you up to date on environmental regulations, remediation practices, and technology? Consider taking a relevant continuing education course or updating technical skills like GIS if they are relevant. Are you a member of professional associations in environmental science and remediation? If so, attend meetings and reach out to members.

5. Make networking a priority rather than exclusively relying on on online applications. Reconnect with former colleagues, supervisors, and professional contacts. Reach out to environmental consulting firsm, state agencies, and other relevant organizations. Schedule informational conversations with professionals who are currently working in the field.

6. Consider targeting positions that are slightly below your previous level.

Leon, I would not assume that your ten-year gap is the only reason you're having difficulty getting interviews. Your resume may not be communicating your qualifications and keywords for ATS effectively, or you may need to adjust your job search strategy. I wish you success and please don't hesitate to write back with any additional questions.

Take care,

Julie Jansen

Thank you both very much for your thoughtful and encouraging responses! You've provided some practical, actionable advice that I intend to incorporate into my job search moving forward.

I confess that I've been hesitant to reconnect with former colleagues and professional contacts. I anticipate the inevitable question of what I've been doing over the past decade, and I'm struggling with how to respond naturally without getting into personal health matters.

I was initially diagnosed shortly after relocating from Phoenix to Denver, and I admit to feeling a little guilty about having lost touch with people I once worked closely with. After so much time, I'm not quite sure how to reach out and explain that I'm "back" without making the conversation awkward or unnecessarily personal.

Do you have any suggestions for approaching those initial conversations? I'd like to reconnect professionally while acknowledging the passage of time without feeling obligated to explain everything that happened along the way.

Or perhaps I'm simply overthinking it!

Thank you again for your time, encouragement, and guidance.

Hi Leon,

It is understandable that you feel nervous about reaching out to people after a ten year absence as well as not wanting to discuss the personal details of your illness. It is important to reframe your thinking and remember that you don't owe anyone your medical history and can acknowledge stepping away without explaining why. You also don't need to apologize for losing touch. Professional relationships often go dormant for years for all of us. You don't need to make a big announcement that you are back, and you are reaching out as a former collegaue and fellow professional, not as someone who is asking for sympathy.

I would identify starting with three to five people who feel safest to you. These would be people with whom you had particularly positive relationships with. A few positive interactions will help build your confidence.

Keep your initial outreach short, warm, and forward-focused. You can simply acknowledge the passage of time, express interest in reconnecting, and explain that you are exploring opportunities to return to environmental science.

Your script could be something like this:

Hi Name,

It's been quite a while since we 've been in touch and I hope you are doing well. I've been thinking about reconnecting with people I enjoyed working with in environmental science, and you came to mind.

After an extended time away from the field, I'm exploring opportunities to return and would really enjoy catching up and hearing what you've been working on.

Would you have 15 minutes for a call sometime in the next week?

Be prepared with a brief response if someone does ask you where you have been or what you have been doing. "I stepped away from my career for personal reasons and I am excited about reconnecting with people in the field and exploring what's next." OR "I had some health issues that required me to step away for a while. Now that these are resolved, I am focused on returning to environmental science, and it's been exciting to see how much the field has evolved."

Good luck!

Julie