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5 Ways to Explain a Spotty Work History

Is your employment history the kind we used to call “checkered”? Well, you’re not alone, or even in the minority. People bounce around between jobs, industries and locations like crazy these days — but the result can be that your resume makes you look confused, finicky or otherwise undesirable.

Here are five ways to smooth out your career storyline and help employers understand the genius behind your meanderings:

1. Tell a Story in Your Resume Summary

Most of our resume summaries (or resume objectives) trot out the same say-nothing language: “Results-oriented professional seeking challenging assignment in yada, yada — whatever.” No one cares about that. You should instead use your resume summary to get across the power behind your story:

“I started out in accounting before discovering my love for customer problem-solving and making the move to sales. I grew a natural-foods vendor from launch to $20M and then started an online boat-sales Web site with a childhood friend. We sold that business last year, and I’ve been consulting with sales VPs and writing a sales-training book since then. I thrive in small- and medium-sized sales organizations where the products or services justify a 10X larger audience.”

Put your personality into the paragraph, along with your story.