You’re updating your resume and recall a period of time you were not working between graduation and your first job. You decided to travel. How will you identify this period of time on your resume? Will employers understand? This is called an employment gap — and most professionals have them. Follow this guide to better understand how to explain this normal occurrence in employment history.
By Helen Harris
Have you ever had a job perfectly lined up after your time at another job ended? Or, have you, much like LinkedIn’s estimated two-thirds of the working population, had some kind of employment gap occur on your resume?
The first thing to know about employment gaps is that they are common. What isn’t always as clear is how you should address these several months (or years) and how a gap will be perceived by a potential employer.
“Oftentimes, a resume gap happens when someone needs to prioritize something else over work temporarily, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” Brian Donovan, CEO of Timeshatter, told Forbes. “It demonstrates that they have self-awareness and time management skills.” He added that professionals returning from a gap are often “prepared to hit the professional world by storm and will be even more dedicated to the job.”
What Is an Employment Gap?
You may be wondering what exactly qualifies as a career gap and if that two months after graduation or few weeks before starting a new job qualify as a gap.
Kamara Toffolo, LinkedIn Top Voice, executive resume writer and job search strategist, specifies that a gap in employment is when you're not working at all, and she generally considers anything over three months to be an employment gap.
“We're looking for those large gaps, especially in industries such as technology,” said Brittney Swan, executive recruiter and resume writer. “For instance, if someone is a subject matter expert in Tableau, but Tableau has had four updates in the two years they haven’t worked, that person is going to need training.”
If you have identified that you have an employment gap or are currently on a sabbatical, you may be wondering how to address this in your interview and job-search process.
How To Talk About Your Employment Gap
While you may feel the need to explain in detail why you have a gap on your resume, Swan advises you keep your explanation as brief as possible.
For example, if you were laid off in 2018 and are just now getting back into the job market (a four-year gap), your response to a hiring manager could be something as simple as, “I was caught up in COVID-19 restructuring, but I’m more inspired than ever to pursue my next career move.”
“I wouldn't offer up an explanation unless you're asked,” said Toffolo. “And if you are asked about a career gap — whether you took time off because of health issues or to raise a family —make sure that you are staying true to yourself and honoring your confidentiality.”
Toffolo continues to stress the importance of maintaining your privacy in order to avoid any bias.
Like Swan, she recommends that you keep your responses short and parallel to what’s written on your resume — and then redirect the conversation to the strengths you are bringing to a new position.
Swan additionally notes that it's wise to mitigate your employment gap by including any educational, volunteer or career-growth opportunities you pursued.
“Ask yourself what you have been doing during your gap,” said Swan. Did you take classes or join any memberships? Did you pursue extra schooling or do any volunteer work? These are aspects that can be included on the resume and discussed during the interview.”
How To Indicate an Employment Gap on Your Resume
The resume is what will land you an interview, so it’s of top importance that you identify and explain your entire professional career history on this document and let this be the guide for your conversation.
“As a resume writer, I do like to call out a gap,” said Toffolo, “That way, when the reader is looking at the reverse chronology of someone's career on their resume, they're not seeing any interruption.”
Toffolo specifies this process further by indicating that each gap ideally should get a date range and a single-line explanation.
“The key with identifying or calling a career gap on our resume is including the gap as a one-line explanation because we don't want to disrupt reverse chronology when someone reads the resume,” said Toffolo. “But at the same time, we want to dabble in our explanation of that gap with a sentence that honors our own confidentiality and privacy and doesn't expose us to extra bias.”
For example, if you have a gap due to travel, for a mental health break or for maternity leave/raising children, Toffolo indicates you can write something as simple as, “took a temporary, planned, personal leave.”
Toffolo says explaining your gap in this manner shows that it was personal (i.e., a hint to employers not to ask too much about it), that it was intentionally planned and above all — temporary. This was a time in your career story to regroup, gain a new perspective and come back stronger.
Another example Toffolo provides is a gap due to a layoff.
“A lot of people are facing layoffs right now,” said Toffolo. “You can be a little more specific here because it’s career related, and it's not your fault.”
Toffolo indicates that assuming you are currently looking for a position and have recently been laid off, you should use a single line for the month and year you were laid off to present. Then, include a single line explanation indicating that you are ready for your next role in your specialty following company reorganization.
If you’ve been using your gap period to brush up on new skills and gain education to transition into a new career or role, Toffolo states that you can elaborate on this time with a set of bullet points.
For example:
Planned Career Break (2017 to current)
Why People May Have Employment Gaps
Now more than ever employers should understand gaps in employment.
As explained by The New York Times, the importance of resume gaps is fading because of labor shortages and more employers realizing that long absences from work don’t necessarily equal lack of skill or qualification. This is positive news, as unemployment and layoffs continue to creep up in number (both creating gaps on professionals’ resumes).
To support this theory, consider the data presented in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ May 2022 report:
Job gaps will become the new normal. If not for personal, health, education or other life reasons, layoffs, being let go and economic issues are currently playing a huge role in creating gaps on resumes.
Aside from layoffs, Forbes gives some common reasons you may have an extended break in employment on your resume:
As you can see from this list of reasons, having a gap in your employment isn’t a bad thing. All of these areas are worthy causes but take dedicated time and focus.
Colleen DelVecchio, executive coach and keynote speaker, explained that employers should take the time to get to know their prospective employees and understand their stories because their gaps could bring to the table valuable assets and interesting traits otherwise not presented with formal interview questions.
Toffolo adds that there’s many reasons for someone to take time out of their career and that this time out of the workforce does not detract from their skills.
“Just because you leave the workforce for a year or two does not mean that you suddenly become unskilled,” said Toffolo. “In an interview, instead of focusing on that gap, make an effort to bring the conversation back toward all the great things that you've done and elaborate on how you are qualified for the job.”
The Implications of an Employment Gap
The idea of explaining your employment gap may seem intimidating, but Swan assures job seekers that recruiters and hiring managers are only trying to verify three things when looking at your resume:
“I feel like there's a shift in how gaps are being perceived,” said Toffolo. “Sometimes people don't care at all. It's probably relatable to them. Then there's some that do care. The fact of the matter is, if we're being taken out of the running because we have a gap due to personal reasons, that's probably not a company that we want to work for. So you're kind of doing yourself a favor by making sure that you're identifying those gap years.”
Top Takeaways
How To Explain a Gap in Your Employment History
