Introduction

Many people believe poker is a game of luck, when in fact, it’s a game of skill. Because the cards are always random, the luck factor tends to even out with time. A superior strategy is bound to eventually win. In this article, you’ll read about how to build poker success and the main principles of poker.

From the Table to the Cloud

Poker is one of the oldest gambling games, but it has surely kept pace with technology. It’s easy to find both online and live versions of this casino staple. Even in countries with tricky legislation on online gambling, players can play it for free or for real money, like in Hungary.

If you live in Hungary, you can only play on government-licenced casinos. A quick search for bingo játékok should give you the best options available. In any case, follow our gambling expert Sultés Szilvia for the latest news of the gambling world.

This game manages to keep its thrill regardless of its platform. But the way players interact may change. Live poker comes as close as possible to the brick-and-mortar feeling. Simpler online versions of this game allow little interaction.

Anyway, a basic poker strategy requires you to observe how your opponents play their cards. Below, you’ll find the main principles to improve your game.

Four Keys to Strengthen Your Game

Apart from obviously knowing poker game rules by heart, there are other core abilities that a serious player should build. In this section, you’ll learn the principles of how to become a professional poker player.

Silence is Gold

Not everyone enjoys talking while playing. Some of the best players in the world find it disruptive. Patrik Antonius and Phil Galfond are examples of quiet and effective playing. Silent champions argue that talking causes distractions, claiming that it can cloud your judgment and impair your calculations.

Estimate the Odds

Calculating the odds for a game like poker may sound like something for supercomputers. But you don’t need mathematical superpowers to loosely estimate whether your hand is a try or if the pot is worth the hassle.

For example, consider the highest pairs in Texas Hold’Em: aces, kings, queens, jacks, ace and king, and tens. Those are hands you’re likely to get once every 29 rounds.

You can roughly calculate your odds using the concept of “outs”. An “out” is a card that you consider to be the winning one. Multiply the number of potential outs by two, and then you have an approximate likelihood of winning. For instance, if you need a five to make a straight and there can be still four in the pack, your chances stand around 8%.

Don’t Be Afraid to Fold

Many amateur players call bets far too often when there’s no winning chance. They go with the flow and tend to lose a lot of money with this behaviour. Experienced players maximise their winnings and reduce their losses, depending on the bet or when they fold. But calling is a passive action. A player who calls more often than raises, chances, or folds, is probably not making the most out of their opportunities in the game.

Understand Pot Odds

Here’s another tool to guide your decision: pot odds calculation. Pot odds is the ratio between the money on the table and the money you must bet to stay in the game. For instance, if you have a $10 pot but you have to $1 to keep playing, then the odds are 10 to 1.

It means you’re risking $1 for the chance of winning $10. But if you bet $10 and there’s $10 in the pot, you push your opponent to bet with odds of 2 to 1. This kind of bet makes your opponent lose money in the long run.

Conclusion

There are countless tips for better odds calculation, reading the players on the table, and different strategies. Still, the best way to improve your game is by practising. Luckily, there’s a generous supply of poker websites to play for free and for real.

A chocolate lab – a blanket name for any labrador with a near-black or brown coat – is just as healthy and fun-loving as any other kind of labrador. If you are thinking of coming home with a new four-legged addition to the family, then you need to understand how to care for them and what sort of requirements they might have.

Making Your Home Safe

A labrador is always going to have a curious streak, and that means that they can put themselves in danger if you are not properly prepared to have them arrive. Little things can make a huge difference: keeping medications out of the way, covering up chewable wires, and getting toxic house plants raised up off the floor.

It helps to look at your home from the perspective of a puppy: they will need time to develop an understanding of what different things are and what they are supposed to interact with. Try to imagine things that an excited lab might take an interest in, especially things that they could start chewing on in the night when nobody’s around to watch them.

Adapt As They Grow

A young labrador can start out with a lot of energy, and this does not always fade away – but they still need different things at different stages of their life. For example, you might have to take the puppy out for multiple pee breaks during the first two weeks, but they will generally settle into a routine by week three.

It is important to not settle into one routine. If your chocolate lab seems unhappy with the current schedule, it might have started to grow and change in ways that need your attention. The need for exercise will get stronger by three months, but the bulk of the physical growth will happen by the six-week mark, so you have time to prepare in advance.

House Train Them Properly

Make sure you teach your puppy where they can and can’t relieve themselves, especially at an early age. There are going to be accidents during the early stages, but that is all part of the process: you will usually want to teach your lab that their poo and pee breaks are mostly during walks.

It is a good idea to keep track of how often you are taking them out, too. If you take them on three walks one day but one the next, they might be preparing for the wrong schedule and end up having an accident in the middle of the afternoon because they were expecting another walk that never came.

Feed Them Appropriately

Always increase the amounts of food you give a chocolate lab slowly instead of jumping up ‘levels’ as they grow. A slow increase in the size of their meals allows their stomachs to get used to what you are giving them, and it will stop them from getting overloaded.

It is also a good idea to cut back on their food if they start putting on more weight than they should be, since this can have bad repercussions on their health in the long run. It might be a good idea to create your own dog food, too, since you can control what is in it – a lot of pre-made dog food types are aimed at larger or older animals, causing fullness but not necessarily helping with growth.

Nurture Their Social Skills

Dogs are happiest when they are social, but if you are not careful, you can leave a puppy with no real understanding of how to interact with other dogs and/or people. Do not flood them with new faces and voices straight away, but do not keep them isolated, either. Once they get their vaccinations and checkups, try to include them in social situations.

This also gives you a chance to see how they interact with others, as well as reinforce the good behavior and try to prevent the bad behavior. This can be tricky at first, but once you start to build up a better understanding of your pup’s personality, you can often figure out what they like and don’t like.

If you are interested in finding out more about how to get hold of a chocolate lab safely, then take a look at https://chocolatelabradorretriever.ca/lab-puppies-for-sale to see what kind of process you might have to go through. The more you know, the better.

Clinical trials are fundamental tenets of the drug development process. Conducting a successful clinical trial hinges on a strong clinical plan and a competent investigator on the one hand, and a dedicated project manager and robust project management on the other. ¹

This article emphasizes the need to retain skilled project managers as a critical aspect in achieving clinical trial success. (1)

Managers’ Role in Achieving Successful Clinical Trials

Effective management is a crucial phenomenon in achieving efficient and quality clinical trial feasibility. Trial managers oversee the planning, execution, and supervision of the project, and ensure its completion within the stipulated timeline and budget. ¹

As the ultimate team leaders, project managers possess the requisite leadership skills to not only motivate the team but also boost productivity. They ensure that the project roles and responsibilities are well understood among the team and align with the overall goal of the trial.

Project managers are proficient in risk mitigation and laying out robust contingency plans for the team. They ensure effective communication among team members regarding the trial specifics and progress.

The Need for Skilled and Experienced Project Managers

A competent project manager turns a robust work plan into a success through strategic implementation. They remain clinically focused on the one hand while seeking to achieve business goals on the other. Ideally, a project manager should possess the following skills:²

• Scientific competence – Project managers should be well-versed with the relevant regulatory guidelines and requisite expertise and competence in overseeing quality clinical trials.
            
• Communication and presentation skills – Competent project managers communicate seamlessly with stakeholders regarding clinical trials, including sponsors, authorities, and the team.
• Project managers are skilled in strategic planning and can adopt a viable approach to conduct an effective clinical trial process.
• Competent project managers possess the requisite skills to not only negotiate but also mediate between various stakeholders in a clinical trial
            
• Financial management skills to oversee the budget appropriation and monitor the project costs
            
• Project managers have the leadership skills to guide, organize and motivate team members

The Essence of Retaining Competent Project Managers

As the industry experiences rapid growth, so is the increasing demand for competent managers. The success of trial projects hinges to a large extent on the input of experienced, competent, and reliable project managers who oversee the entire project management process.

Such managers earn the loyalty of sponsors; thus, increasing repeated business and upholding the organization’s reputation. A project manager links the team and the sponsor, and his change can adversely affect the harmonious working relationship and the ultimate project outcome. A significant amount of time and financial resources are required to change a project manager, particularly during an ongoing project trial. Notably, employee recruitment and orientation may take weeks, while completely integrating the team would be more time-consuming.

Companies may encounter challenges in retaining skilled project managers.³ Attracting and retaining such managers remains a fundamental requirement to achieving competitive advantage. Project managers are indispensable in achieving the desired trial outcome and performance; therefore, companies must address barriers to their retention to remain competitive.

Addressing Employee Retention Dilemma

Turnover has proven costly to companies. High turnover may adversely impact on the relationship between companies and sponsors, leading to business loss.

To overcome the challenge of turnover, organizations embrace myriad initiatives to retain competent managers.

Such initiatives may include;

• Providing a suitable working environment to encourage growth, including availing of learning opportunities and upskilling.
• Motivating project managers by acknowledging and/or acknowledging achievements
• Providing support to the project managers and integrating their concerns and ideas into the management process.
• Upholding job satisfaction by appreciating the efforts of the managers; offering competitive remuneration; and, advocating for work-life balance.

How Dokumeds Retains Project Managers

The company embraces a meticulous recruitment process to ensure the hiring of a competent project manager. Offering careers in clinical research, Dokumeds provides career growth opportunities among project managers. It has a well-established program to oversee, manage, and evaluate the managers’ performance and provide organizational support. To retain the project managers, Dokumeds ensures job satisfaction through multiple approaches, including fostering open communication between managers and team members. Such initiatives justify the company’s low staff turnover rate below the industry as reported in 2020.

References

1. Mitchell E, Goodman K, Hartley S, et al. Where do we go from here? – Opportunities and barriers to the career development of trial managers: a survey of UK-based trial management professionals. Trials. 2020;21(1):384.
2. Farrell B, Kenyon S, Shakur H. Managing clinical trials. Trials. 2010;11:78. Retaining project managers–an empirical analysis of the antecedents to project manager’s satisfaction and intention to quit. Available at: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/retaining-project-managers-an-analysis-satisfaction-8943#:~:text=Hence%2C%20retaining%20project%20managers%20becomes,%2C%20%26%20Allen%2C%202007. Accessed on: 06 April 2021.

Author of the article:  Janis Brix, CEO Wigwam

Making a career change, turning the scales and putting your hard-earned experience to use as you adopt a new vocation as an industry consultant represents an incredible milestone – and, in many ways, a rite of passage – to many. All those years dedicated to curating an impressive portfolio, garnering practical and theoretical expertise, and building your network within your chosen industry can, with the right moves, culminate in a remarkable new opportunity to make a significant impact on your industry, and ensure its continued strength and success.

This may all sound like pie in the sky but, for many, becoming a consultant represents the ‘ideal’ – both for their personal and their professional development.

Still, this represents a major career change – one that very few of us face without at least a small amount of trepidation and anxiety.

So, if you are considering becoming a consultant in your chosen industry, read more about five of the most essential steps to take to ensure the transition is as smooth and successful as possible.

1.      Make Your Mark on the Web

There is no skirting around the fact that maintaining a strong and professional website is the best way to reach your target market – and, of course, to make a stellar first impression. Making that initial investment into designing your website will come to represent your first major step toward establishing yourself as a key player in your industry, and ensuring that the right people will always be able to find you.

These days, by far the most effective, efficient and affordable way of creating a website is to utilise a dedicated site builder – particularly if it already offers website themes and templates that simply require a personal touch to create the face of your brand online.

It needn’t take hours, and it needn’t require a large cash investment – despite the fact that it will play a pivotal role in your career now, and many years in the future.

2.      Cultivate Your Network

Networking is a term that either inspires a shiver of excitement or fear, depending on the listener. Not only will networking likely be the catalyst that brings your initial few clients on board, but it will also spur on those all-important word of mouth recommendations – the importance of which, when it comes to this line of business, cannot be overstated.

While, in days gone by, networking may well have been a case of showing up at the right events at the right time, online platforms like LinkedIn now make it incredibly easy for you to reach a much wider market, and to turn that digital market into your clientele.

It may be difficult at first, but ‘putting yourself out there’ is certainly the key that will unlock this next stage of your career.

3.      Set Your Rates – and Don’t Undersell Yourself

Like networking, setting your rates as an independent businessperson is something that either comes naturally, or inspires an unpleasant, corporeal reaction. While the world of employment is certainly not without its difficulties, running your own consultancy business means going through the pain and self-doubt of putting a price on your time and expertise.

Setting your fees as a consultant is not something you can do without a certain amount of research. The biggest risk is, of course, underselling yourself. While overselling yourself will hold you back, it is much easier to drop your rates than to raise them after you have already begun taking on clients, and seeing return business.

4.      Don’t Spread Yourself Thin

For anyone who is self-employed – whether they are a fire engineering consultant, a graphic designer, or anything else – the temptation to say, ‘yes! Yes! Yes!’ to every job that comes your way is, in the very early stages, almost impossible to suppress.

Obviously, we don’t like to defer business, or to feel as though we are closing doors of opportunity when the future remains uncertain but, at the same time, one of the hallmarks of any promising new business endeavor is a level-headed and sustainable approach.

Saying yes to every prospective client – or, more accurately, promising immediate results to everyone who enquires – is a sure-fire way to spread yourself too thin, to sacrifice quality for quantity, and to burnout after hours of overtime at your desk.

It is important to strike this balance sooner, rather than later, and to practice giving prospective clients realistic timeframes that will enable you to offer both efficiency, and quality. They will respect you as a businessperson far more in the long-run.

Becoming a consultant is an excellent way to shake up your career in a way that puts your hard work, dedication and special expertise to good use. Keep these tips in mind as you develop your new venture, and enjoy the prospect of a fresh start in your chosen industry.

Even while we are separate individuals, we also have different turn-ons. We have different tastes in other things the same way we have different beliefs. Fetish is one concept every individual has in common; while some have discovered theirs, a handful of persons believe they don’t have primarily because they haven’t discovered it. However, there are several reasons why people have fetishes, and it expands from behavioral to cultural and social factors. While we have the psychological aspect of fetish, we also have the science behind it. It’s quite interesting to note that having fetishes could be a distinguishing trait and could come in handy.

One of the most popular forms of fetish is the foot fetish, also known as podophilia. It’s the act of being attracted to anything on the feet –most especially the feet itself. An individual with a foot fetish is likely to be sexual aroused when the feet, socks, stockings, or shoes come in contact with another body. The reasons behind foot fetishes are quite voluminous, but it’s important to note that it’s worthy of being your kinky.

Why do people have fetishes?

As explained above, there are several reasons people have fetishes, and it ranges from behavioral factors to social and cultural factors. However, various hypotheses were made regarding this topic, and it’s unlikely that one theory captures the whole reason. Hence, the need to explain the factors behind these reasons.

• Behavioral factors:

One of the several hypotheses states that learning and conditioning are also important for the formation of fetishes. Hence, having fetishes could be achieved via a learning process. The learning process could be as a result of duty or via a reward system in place. Constantly learning fetish could inculcate the trait into your system, making it a part of yourself. So, peradventure, you don’t seem to have any fetish; you could pick anyone that interests you and learn to live by it as time goes on. It becomes integrated into your belief system and becomes an integral part of who you are. There are quite many platforms where you can have foot fetish phone sex to try out your fetish.

• Cultural factors:

Generally, the outcome of one life is greatly influenced by society and what one’s exposed to. Society A believes sex is for pleasure and should be enjoyed by all. Contrary, society B thinks sex is only needed to procreate. So, sex-positive and negative societies have an impact play on having fetishes. The sex-positive society is likely to have more individuals with fetishes compared to the sex-negative community. So, it’s possible that a handful of individuals are more interested in having sex for fun and experimentation other than for procreation.

How do people with fetish please themselves?

Having a fetish is nothing to be ashamed of; it’s not meant to be a secret either. So, peradventure, you have a foot fetish, endeavor you let your partner know if you have a partner. And if you don’t, there are a thousand and one ways to please yourself.

Having foot fetish phone sex is one of the most effective ways to pleasure yourself. As important and interesting as it sounds, having the right platforms to explore is also as important. A foot fetish entails kissing, kissing, and penetrating the feet. Inserting the feet into genitals and toe kissing is an awesome experience, especially to those with this fetish. Exploring your kinky is interesting if you have like-minded individuals to explore.

To please yourself if you have a foot fetish, endeavor your partner is well inclined and informed of your fetish. Consent is a very vital aspect of ensuring a healthy relationship with fetishes. So, endeavor your partner is aware of your fetish and you never can tell, it could lead to the successful integration of fetish into the relationship. Your fetish could be transferred to your partner via constant practice, as explained as one of the behavioral factors that enhances fetish. A situation whereby you and your partner share the same sexual orientation and fetish will most likely lead to a more successful outcome.

Being in a relationship with a foot fetish involved could be tasking. But hey, one simple way to keep the fire burning is by engaging in foot fetish phone sex with your partner. It’s interesting when two people share similar sexual orientations. In a situation whereby you are sex-positive, and your partner shares similar beliefs, it becomes a solidifier of that relationship. Fetishes have their special feel in relationships, and it’s okay if it’s one-sided. Mutual understanding and consent are the key factors to be noted if it’s in a relationship, and if it’s not in a relationship, then phone sex is the best shot at exploring your fetish.

If you are an owner of a medical practice, you should know that medical billing reports, such as an aging report, can tell you a lot about the overall health of your medical practice. For instance, these reports can show you how your healthcare practice is performing on revenue cycle metrics and whether or not claims are getting paid on time.

There are many types of reports in the field of medical billing. For instance, you will be familiar with the term aging. It is used for medical claims that aren’t paid by healthcare insurance providers or claims whose balance is outstanding on the patient end.

As a manager of a medical practice, you know that cash flow is the engine of your practice. Also, note that it should be easy and straightforward for you to obtain timely reports on any aspect of your medical practice in a streamlined, simple, and efficient manner that does not require frequently contacting your billing department.

You must also know the significance of the medical billing report benchmark in your medical organization. You can do this by getting all the billing reports, such as the KPI report, from your medical billing and coding firm to get a thorough and comprehensive idea of your revenue management.

There is no doubt that regularly running certain billing reports, like aging reports, is essential to diagnose the health of your medical practice as well as track key performance indicators, such as revenue cycle numbers and whether claims are getting paid on time. This, in turn, will help your practice run more efficiently and effectively, saving valuable time and funds in the process.

Important Medical Billing Reports

Here are some key medical billing reports you should run frequently.

Aged Accounts Receivables Report

It is no secret that this is one of the most vital billing reports to determine the health and success of your billing. You should know that the accounts receivable aging report is an excellent way to gauge your practice’s overall health and profitability.

A professional with experience in billing can take a look at this report and tell you how well or poorly your practice’s billing department is performing.

Did you know that an aging report breaks down your unpaid claims at various intervals, such as 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, and 120 days? You should view this report monthly.

In ideal cases, the aging report will show that a majority of your insurance claims are being paid within 30 days rather than being pushed in to the older age buckets.

Keep in mind that this report is crucial as it gives you a general look at where most payment issues may be coming from. And this report will give you a glimpse in dollar amounts as well as by percentage. If you would like to get more details or supplement this vital report, you may also run and study the insurance payment trend and insurance collection reports.

So, the bottom line is that this report gives you a comprehensive and bird’s eye view of your medical practice’s billing health, and the supplemental reports provide more details.

Adjustments/Write offs Report

Did you know that sometimes, even respectable-looking receivable aging reports don’t tell the whole story? And this can be problematic. To see whether you’re collecting maximum reimbursement, it is essential that your clinic or medical facility monitor write-offs on a monthly basis for any irregularities.

Note that if you see a decline in aged receivable balances but there is no corresponding revenue increase, it may mean that there are improper adjustments taking place. These adjustments enhance your AR report but not your bottom line.

It is worth noting that adjustments labeled “not collectable”, “timely filing”, or “other” can be potential indicators that you’re missing out on possible payments and you don’t want. If your billing agency or staff is not providing this report, you should have them include this report in either the monthly or quarterly totals.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Report

You may have heard of the key performance indicators report. It is arguably the most valuable and useful report. This is because it gives you a comprehensive idea of how your medical practice’s revenue cycle management (RCM) process is doing.

This report allows medical billers in your organization to spot or identify trends, see changes, and spot potential problem areas. And that is not all; the report helps you identify all the CPT codes as well as encounters that are most lucrative for your practice.

It is worth noting that the key performance indicators report of your practice tracks the total number of collections, charges, and procedures, in order to pinpoint your practice’s most profitable CPT codes and appointments, which is excellent. This report also identifies the total number of encounters, procedures, collections, charges, and outstanding accounts receivables, and related adjustments.

Did you know that this report offers medical billers a month-to-month comparison, which helps them locate trends? This allows practices to continue doing what is working well for them and change what is not. With this report, medical billers can also compile crucial data across months and easily identify trends.

Insurance Analysis or The Top Carrier Report

Did you know that this top-paying insurance analysis report is essential as it helps save money and time? The report gives your medical practice an overview of how it is doing. Note that the report achieves this by tracking various revenue cycle metrics for your practice. For example, keep in mind that this report shows the top ten payers and insurance firms, which contribute to a significant portion of the business of a medical practice.

The Top Carrier or Insurance Analysis Report can benefit your practice by tracking the charges, payments as well as collections of your medical practice’s top ten carriers. These are the payers and insurance firms that make up most of your practice’s business.

You will be happy to know that this report also tracks collections, payments, as well as CPT codes, and units. This is helpful as it allows your medical practice to easily drill down into the payments, charges, and collections for a particular CPT code, which is convenient.

And that is not all; this report provides you with important information that you can use in order to negotiate better prices with both payers and insurance companies.

Patient Payments

Keep in mind that another vital set of billing reports that your medical practice should run and consistently analyze are patient payments. You may know that getting your patients to pay all their medical bills can, at times, be challenging. This is especially true if the bill is high.

However, note that tracking patient payments is one of the necessary parts of ensuring that your healthcare practice is profitable. Did you know that medical bills are the main cause of bankruptcy in the US?

And these bills lead many people and families to fall into debt. This is why your patients may delay or try to skip a payment.

Why Outsource Medical Billing Report Services

Are the medical billing process and report generation and analysis too much for your medical practice to handle? If yes, you can hire a professional billing firm and outsource medical billing reports. The firm will handle the medical coding and billing process so that you don’t have to!

Medical billing reports from a reliable firm, such as UControlBilling, provide you with the key performance indicators (KPIs) around collections, accounts receivable, patient demographics, productivity, and cancellations.

You will also like the user interface as it is clean, simple, and intuitive. With quick report response time, simple access to your preferred or favorite reports, and the ability to easily download various reports to Excel, you can look forward to a new and fantastic experience with various medical billing reports for your practice.

As a result, by outsourcing this task, you can keep your focus on your medical practice and patients; let the billing company handle the reports.

You will be happy to know that outsourced medical billing companies, like UControlBilling, take control of all aspects of the billing and coding process and generate reliable and accurate reports.

Final Thoughts

There is no doubt that creating medical billing reports, such as an aging report, can help you analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your practice. Medical billing reports can also demonstrate how your health practice is doing on imperative revenue cycle metrics.

You will be happy to know that professional billing companies have a comprehensive approach to various medical billing reports. This not just lets you know and understand where you stand but also helps you identify significant trends that may impact how you run your medical practice. Work with a third-party provider to get the critical and valuable insights that you need in order to help your medical practice thrive in this competitive environment and find out how they can improve and streamline your revenue cycle and expedite your payment.

Gaps in employment have always been a red flag for hiring departments. While there are many, often very valid reasons for employment gaps, they still can still hurt your chances at getting a callback. Those that do get a callback are left with the choice of either explaining the gap and possibly revealing information that would otherwise be protected during the interview process, or not offering any detail and raising the flag even higher.

In a 2019, one of the best resume services conducted a resume study that found applicants have a 45% lower callback rate if they have gaps in employment on their resume. In this study, some 36,000 qualified applications were tracked with varying durations and reasons for employment gaps. 

The reality is, individuals leave the workforce for all sorts of reasons, including to return to school or raise a family. It is uncommon that the only reason for an employment gap is pure laziness, yet that is always how it is perceived by hiring managers. The stigma surrounding employment gaps is not new and has been relatively unchanged despite our society’s acknowledgement of health issues and the importance of raising kids.

Employment Gaps to Return to School

Out of all of the reasons provided, candidates who left the workforce to pursue additional education or training received the highest callback rates. While technically these individuals were not employed, they were still working to further their career so understandibly, this reason would be the most forgiving in the eyes of professionals. In fact, it can arguably be viewed as a positive.

Attending to Health Issues

Mental or physical health issues cause employees to take leave or resign positions every single day. Many of these individuals recover from their ailments and wish to return to the workforce. While this reason was the 2nd highest rate of call back, there may still be some reasons not to disclose this information to a potential employer.

Some hiring managers may fear that a sick (or formerly sick) employee will be a burden on the company’s health insurance or may be more likely to miss more work and cost the company money. Either of these reasons can deter a callback for a candidate who has recently suffered a major illness.

Caring for a Family Member

Elderly and incapacitated family members often require around the clock care. Many people take time off of work to care for ailing family members and then return to work once that person has been institutionalized or passed.

While caring for a family member is a very noble and kind reason to take an absence from the workforce, these candidates still see a lower callback rate when compared to candidates who have not been out of the workforce.

Raising a Family

While more and more companies are offering better benefits for parental leave, job applicants who have had gaps in employment to raise a family are still passed over almost half as often as other candidates.

The pressure to parent like you don’t work and work like you don’t parent is a huge burden on our society. Candidates who indicated that their employment gap was due to raising a family received fewer callbacks than those who had been attending school or recovering from an illness.

Does the Length of Employment Gap Matter?

In the study, employment gaps were set between 1-5 years. A control group with no employment gap was also tracked.

The results showed that a shorter gap of 1-2 years had a smaller impact, with gaps starting at 3 years seeing the most significant decreases in callback rates. Surprisingly enough, after that, it did not matter if the gap was 3, 4 or 5 years – all received similarly low callback rates. So really, the breaking point here is 3 years. After that magic number, interview chances significantly decrease.

Major Takeaway – Explain Your Work Gap

In the study, applicants who chose not to provide a reason for their employment gap received the lowest rate of callbacks. This is really the big bombshell and major takeaway of the research.

It’s usually recommended that you try to hide your work gap as much as possible – use tricks like hiding dates and formatting your resume functionally instead of chronologically. However, the findings of this study suggest we do the opposite – embrace our situation and be transparent about it. By offering up a legitimate reason for why you have a work gap to begin with, hiring managers, in turn, are going to be less critical of that particular hiccup in your work history.

So, if you’re a job seeker who’s had to take a few years off work for a reason covered by this study, it may be best to be transparent about it during your application. The two easiest ways of doing that is explaining the situation out either in your cover letter or at the top of your resume. By providing a solid reason, you patch away any doubt hiring managers may have, and set yourself up for success.