Hi Katherine,

Thank you so much for reaching out! I have sent your post on to two of our career coaches but I wanted to respond with a couple thoughts off the top of my head.

One, generally it is good to wait to discuss your cancer treatment and recovery-if at all-until you are in the door of a company. Legally, you don't ever have to share it unless you will be requesting a reasonable accommodation. Obviously, practically it isn't always possible to avoid but I wouldn't recommend including it on your resume as quite frankly, it allows for prospective employers to discriminate.

Two, in this economy it is way more common for people to find themselves with gaps in their resume for a myriad of reasons so sad as it is to say this helps you out as well.

Third, there are different styles of resumes and maybe you need to rethink the one you are using. For sample templates of two kinds check out the Job Search section here: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/women/charts_checklists/. And for more detailed information on resume building and job search in general you can listen to archived presentations from two of our career coaches on here: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/healthcare_professionals/videos/details?vid=11363001 and here: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/healthcare_professionals/videos/details?vid=7761004.

Please don't hesitate to be in touch with follow up questions and again keep an eye out for our coaches responses to your post as well.

Best,

Rebecca Nellis

Director of Programs

Cancer and Careers

Hi Katherine,

I agree with all 3 of Rebecca's points. I think that writing about cancer in a resume could easily be misconstrued. Resume writers (and it is a profession) constantly push the point that the resume is written for the audience. You don't know your audience personally nor do they know you. But I think that if you're comfortable talking about it in the interview, it can be a selling point. Here, too, you might want to consider if you want to describe it as a healthy problem or an illness rather than cancer specific. Your point is to show your strengths and resilience and you might not want people to get distracted by the label.

You want to be sure to frame your resume so that your employment "gaps" are not the focus but your strong skills are - show the value added you give and people will be less concerned with the time you haven't worked. A skilled resume writer can be very helpful and you might consider it.

I hope that this helps.You sound like you have a positive attitude and that will shine through.

Rosalind Joffe

ciCoach.com

Dear Katherine,

The most important thing for you to focus on is your incredibly successful and brave journey through your cancer diagnosis and treatment! This said, I would be cautious about relaying this experience to the world, especially on your resume. I believe that doing so puts up a huge red flag that potential employers can't help but focus on.

The number one fear that cancer survivors have is being judged unfairly because they had cancer. The reason this is such a prevalent fear is because all too many people do make assumptions that aren't usually true. By advertising this on your resume, you are enabling a potential employer to make an unfair judgement. As you know, a resume is an exclusionary document and employers receive so many that they look for reasons not to interview someone.

Explaining your reasons for leaving a company should be handled in an interview and only if asked. The good news is that there are many people who have gaps on their resume, not only for health reasons but because of the economy. Your focus should always be on how to articulate your strengths and what immediate value you can bring to a job and potential employer.

Good luck!

Julie