Eve Tahmincioglu, our resident career diva, joined us for a live Web chat Friday afternoon.
Here are two of her answers and a complete archive:
Question from Laura:
Is there a way to fill in the time gap that having children -- in my case about four years -- leaves in your resume without sounding like you were sidelined?
Answer from Eve:
When you have a long absence from the work world, it's always a good idea to play up things you did that may have not gotten you a paycheck but helped you learn.
Did you volunteer? Did you take a course, or get any certification?
And you should be blogging or developing a presence in social media about a particular industry you're looking to return to or get into. I know stay-at-home moms who used their blogs on their resumes to fill in the gaps.
Question from Alex:
Can you suggest a way for recent grads to overcome the hurdle where companies require three to five years of experience for "entry level" positions?
Answer from Eve:
Today it's hard to get over that hurdle because you have many job seekers with tons of experience looking for entry-level gigs.
That's why internships are so important for people starting out in the job market. You need to have as much on your resume that shows you have experience, even if it wasn't a full-time job. Working as a temp is also a great way to get your foot in the door.
Complete archive:
If you have a question for our TODAY Money experts, submit it here.
To sign up for an e-mail reminder for our next chat, click here.