
How to Explain Gaps in Employment (Resume & Cover Letter)
An employment gap is a period of time (months of years) when a job seeker didn't have a job. While out of work, employees use their time to have children, travel or go to school full time.
You care, and you want to do your part to help those less fortunate than you. You’ve also got the skills to make a difference. Prove it with this sample Peace Corps resume.
You’ve got the skills—and the desire—to make the world a better place. But you don’t just walk into the Peace Corps headquarters and get assigned to a life-changing community project. You need to complete an application process first.
And this means you have to write a resume that shows how you can bring real value to communities around the world. So a generic resume template that’s stuffed with “corporate speak” buzzwords won’t cut it.
We’ll show you how to write a Peace Corps resume that feels authentic and clearly highlights your unique strengths.
This guide will show you:
Want to save time and have your resume ready in 5 minutes? Try our resume builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ resume templates and create your resume here.
Sample resume made with our builder—See more resume examples here.
Do you need a specific kind of Peace Corps resume? See these guides:
Healthcare Resumes
Economic Development Resumes
Youth Development and Education Resumes
Steve Cortot, Teacher
steve.q.cortot@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/steveqcortot
510-320-8869
Professional Summary
Passionate teacher with bachelor’s degree in education and 1 year of experience as an ESL tutor. Skilled in student assessment and curriculum development. Seeking to provide engaging teaching as Peace Corps English Co-Teacher in Thailand. At Tutor.com, raised student ESL test scores for 35 students by an average of 25%. Maintained 98% positive student feedback in exit surveys.
Work Experience
ESL Tutor
Tutor.com
June 2018–May 2019
Waiter
Applebee’s
Jan 2016–Feb 2018
Education
2015–2019 San Jose State University
Bachelor’s Degree in Education
Skills
Volunteer work
Volunteer coordinator for 2 years, AIESEC, organizing multicultural events.
Volunteer trail builder, 2 weeks per year for 4 years.
Here’s how to write a Peace Corps resume that gets jobs:
Peace Corps volunteers work to promote world peace as well as friendship. They help people in willing countries by meeting the need for trained women and men. A Peace Corps resume must show passion, but it’s equally critical to prove needed skills.
Caring is not enough.
Your resume must prove professionalism.
The best way to format a resume for Peace Corps jobs is in the chronological resume style:
Pro Tip: Save a resume file format PDF. Why? PDFs stay nicely-formatted after you submit them. Of course it’s a different story if the job offer bans them.
What are your chances?
Zero, if they don’t read your Peace Corps resume.
But you can change that with a business elevator pitch.
The summary for your resume should give them a snapshot of your skills and history.
Need to know how to write a resume with no experience?
Write an objective for your resume for Peace Corps roles instead.
It’s the same as a summary, but you prove soft skills like leadership or teamwork.
Example: You were in charge of three other landscapers in a lawn care job, so you list that to show leadership.
Heads up:
You won’t get interviews if you don’t mesh with a specific Peace Corps job.
One of the best Peace Corps resume tips is to find your job before you write.
Here’s how to describe work experience on a resume:
Pro Tip: The right words to use in a resume are always action words like increased, added, maintained, or contributed.
Believe it.
Education makes a difference in a Peace Corps resume.
Here’s how to describe education on your resume:
Tell them your school, degree name, and dates.
But—
Add skills-proving achievements. Example: they need leadership skills and you were the president of a student group.
Use this list of Peace Corps resume skills and abilities.
Technical Skills:
Agriculture Skills
Education Skills
Healthcare Skills
Economic Development Skills
Environmental Skills
Youth Development Skills
Soft Skills:
Warning—
Before you write your list, see the online posting for the small list of skills they’re after.
Pro Tip: What are hard skills? They’re the technical abilities you need to perform specific tasks like nursing or bookkeeping. Your Peace Corps resume needs both hard and soft skills.
When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.
When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.
There are five basic sections of a resume:
But—
Adding advanced sections can help a Peace Corps resume a lot.
Choose from:
Not sure how to write language skills in a resume? Only list them if they’ll help the exact Peace Corps opening you’re applying to.
Pro Tip: Here’s how to add certifications in a resume: if it’s vital to the job, proudly show it in its own “Certifications” section. Place it beneath “Education.”
To cover letter or not to cover letter?
That’s not the question.
The question is, how can you write an attention getting cover letter for a resume for Peace Corps jobs?
Send a follow up email for a job application each week after you apply. Make it short, but remind them about a key fact in your resume.
Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:
See more cover letter templates and start writing.
That’s it!
That’s how to write a resume for Peace Corps jobs.
Do you think braggy Peace Corps resumes are a mistake? Would humility work better in a Peace Corps resume? Give us a shout in the comments. We’d love to talk!
An employment gap is a period of time (months of years) when a job seeker didn't have a job. While out of work, employees use their time to have children, travel or go to school full time.
Want to send a cover letter along with your resume? You've got two options: email your cover letter as an attachment, or write an email cover letter. We'll show you how to do both.
In this guide you’ll learn *when* and *how* to use a general, universal resume. Plus, you’ll see an easy-to-use template you can copy and tweak in no time.