Dear Cindy – Résumé Gap that's Not a Gap

After working with a company for 14 years, they relocated to another state (that was August 2005). I wasn't sure what I was going to do at that time. I was given an opportunity to work from home for a friend of the family who had just started his own business, and I worked typing reports for him. This is my dilemma – I was paid under the table and now that the market has taken a plunge, he has moved to another state. I worked for him for about 1.5 years. How do I address this on a cover letter, because I don't want to mention the name of the company nor do I want to mention his name? I have recommendation letters from my former employer.

Sincerely,

C

If the work you did for the family friend is not relevant to the jobs for which you want to apply, in your résumé, you can simply say something like, "September 2005 to April 2007: Worked outside of the X field" or "September 2005 to April 2007: Worked outside of the X field, helping a family friend with a new business." And in your cover letter, you can say something like, "For the past 18 months I have worked outside of the X field, and am eager to return to my area of specialty."

If the work you did for the family friend is relevant, I don't see why you don't want to mention the duties you performed or the name of the company. Not only would it show that you have current work experience, but your family friend could no doubt be counted on to provide you with a good reference if a potential employer even asked. (I say "if," because references provided by friends and family members are often not considered to be particularly objective.) It's extremely unlikely that, even if you advertised the "paid under the table" detail – which you shouldn't – a potential employer would report either of you to the IRS.

In summary: It's always best to tell the truth, but this doesn't mean that you should go into graphic detail.