How to deal with an employment gap on your resume

You only need to show about the last 10 years of work experience on your CV, so if there are gaps before that it won’t matter. However, you will of course need to explain any recent gaps.

A brief gap of a few weeks or even a couple of months could easily be explained by stating that you were looking for another job, which is the most common reason for a job gap. However, if the gap was longer, there are still great ways to explain this to a potential employer without putting it off.

Here are some important tips to help you understand how to fill a job gap on your CV:

be proactive

Ideally, any period between jobs should be proactive, and there are plenty of ways to stay busy between jobs. For example, you could:

• volunteer

• conduct research

• start a project, or even

• take additional training.

If your career is focused on a particular role or industry, then your employment gap should not only be filled by finding another role, but also use that time to continue research and training in that role/industry. Any of the above will look great on a CV and won’t just fill a gap. It will also reflect positively on you as a person, as you show initiative and hard work during your time of unemployment. Employers are fully aware of how competitive the job market is today, so they would be giving you a huge gap while you are looking for a job. But when you don’t actually have a gap as such, if you continue to be proactive, then even better!

Prepare to be asked

The worst thing you can do is ignore the breach in the hope that the employer will not detect it. We can promise you that this will not be the case, because if your CV is shortlisted for a possible interview, your employment history will be read and recognized in its entirety. It is extremely important for any employer to see how experienced you are before hiring you for an interview.

Even if experience isn’t important, it won’t be long before your employment gap is spotted. However, if you plug that gap as suggested above, then you shouldn’t have any problems. But they may still ask about your time away from work, so be prepared to talk about what you’ve been up to. Having a pre-planned response will instill confidence in the fact that you have been proactive during that time. Any kind of doubt in your answer will also make the interviewer doubt your sincerity.

Be honest about any gaps

“You need to be aware of interludes in your employment so that a potential employer doesn’t misinterpret a break in your professional record. If you approach it in a positive way, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Font:

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/cvs-and-cover-letters/cover-letters/how-to-explain-a-gap-in-your-cv

Above all, be transparent in all aspects of your CV, especially employment gaps. Think about the three options you have when it comes to addressing a gap in your employment history. The first option is to hope they don’t see it, which is highly unlikely to happen. The second is that you fabricate a story to cover the gap, for example, by lengthening the previous role. The third option is to be completely honest about the breach, which is especially easy if you were proactive during that time. We strongly recommend that you do not take the second option, as you will most likely get caught. If at any point during the interview you are found to be insincere about the employment gap, then the interview is pretty much over, and so are your chances of getting a job. It’s also possible that the hiring manager discovers the fabrication while reading his CV, so he may never know why you didn’t get called in for an interview in the first place. Ultimately, the employer has grounds to fire him if he got the job and later found out that he was lying on his CV, no matter how small it may seem to you. In the end, it’s just not worth it as he’s taking a huge risk when he could be honest with the employer from the start.

Don’t worry about taking a break

If the reason for your break in employment was due to a holiday or gap year, feel free to explain it in your CV. There is nothing wrong with taking a break for a long period of time and it is perfectly acceptable. No matter what the reason for your vacation is, be sure to detail the positive aspects in your CV. In other words, add value to your CV by explaining what you learned from your experiences. Always avoid claiming that it was just a vacation and nothing more. This might not go down very well with the employer.

Let’s say, for example, that you visited a few countries during your gap year and experienced other cultures – this would be something you could easily use to add value to your CV. For example, she discusses the different cultures and interactions that taught her the most about social behavior and communication. Perhaps you were quite shy before embarking on your adventures and are now much more outgoing and confident in your own abilities and are therefore ready to seek employment with a much stronger foundation of interpersonal skills.

Don’t be scared if you were sick

If you were away from work for personal health reasons, again you don’t have to worry about what an employer might think. You don’t have to go into details if you don’t want to, and simply saying you weren’t there for health reasons is perfectly fine. Always put a positive spin on your situation by saying that you are now ready and eager to get back to work. Not being able to work due to personal health problems or because you had to take care of a relative is part of life. Any reasonable hiring manager will understand this and has probably experienced something similar in his life as well. It shouldn’t hold you back or make you nervous when it comes to writing a CV and applying for a job.