Gaps in your resume don’t have to ruin your job search: Here’s what to say about them

Having a gap in your resume doesn’t have to derail your job search.

Alex Slitz/AP

• The economic slowdown in some sectors means it is taking longer for some workers to land new jobs.
• The pandemic has helped normalize periods of resume hiatus, with many workers experiencing employment disruptions.
• Career experts advise briefly explaining the gaps and then focusing on relevant skills and strengths.

When Vicki Salemi’s father fell ill, she cut back on her freelance writing work to spend time with him.

After his death in late 2012, she was devastated.

“He was my best friend,” Salemi told Business Insider.

As she tried to recover, she faced another problem: there was a gap in her resume that clearly showed she hadn’t worked for some time.

So Salemi, now a career expert at Monster, added a line to her resume to show that her months-long hiatus was for a reason. She didn’t want anyone to wonder what she’d done—or to question it and potentially derail her momentum during an interview she might otherwise have aced.

“I didn’t want to be asked that question because I was deeply grieving,” she said.

Salemi isn’t alone in having a resume where the end of one job doesn’t neatly match the beginning of the next. Between layoffs, freelance work, and the economic and social quagmire of the pandemic, many workers have gaps in their official career paths. But that doesn’t have to be an obstacle when it comes to finding another job.

The pandemic has dug holes in work

To fill in the gaps in a resume, you need to find an explanation, career experts told BI. Sometimes it’s best to state the reason on the resume itself, Salemi said. One positive thing for her after her father died was that she finally got the job.

“I remember when I had that phone call with my future boss, she said, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,’” Salemi said. “She just responded to the problem, acknowledged it, and moved on.”

Julia Toothacre, head of career strategy at ResumeTemplates.com, told BI that her advice on resume gaps is very different from what she would have said a decade ago. Gaps in work experience have become commonplace and don’t necessarily need to be hidden.

That’s because the pandemic has put so many people out of work and disrupted working life so much that it’s all become a bit chaotic. In his experience, most people who are hiring are now more sensitive to the vagaries of the job market, Toothacre said.

“Any recruiter or hiring manager worth their salt understands what’s going on in the workplace. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in,” she said.

It’s OK to say you got fired

Toothacre said that unlike in the past, it’s generally not as damaging to state clearly on a resume that you haven’t had a job. That doesn’t mean some hiring managers won’t criticize candidates for it. But she said it can be a useful red flag for job seekers in itself.

“If you find yourself in that situation, you don’t want to work for that person anyway,” Toothacre said.

She recommends mentioning on your resume that you were laid off. You can also add a section mentioning that you were away from work for personal reasons, such as to care for someone.

Depending on the reasons for the work stoppage, it may be wise to be cautious, she said. If you were off work due to an extended illness, it may be wise not to share too much. While employers should not discriminate against people who have, for example, young children who need attention, it can happen.

However, Toothacre said LinkedIn’s decision to allow users to add a career break to their profile helped normalise the idea that not all formal work comes without interruption.

Monster’s Salemi said that in her experience, job seekers have more downtime than other people. And many people tend to overthink how to fill it, she said. Her advice is to be prepared to talk about the downtime and use that explanation to move the conversation forward.

Even employees who have been laid off can say something like, “I was the last one in, the first one out,” Salemi said. Then comes the pivot. She gave an example: “But the last three months have really given me a clear idea of ​​what I’m looking for in this position, because my strengths are in sales,” she said.

Don’t dwell on the gap

Salemi said the key is to address the hiatus so the interviewer doesn’t get stuck on it. For those who could have done something like get additional training, develop their skills or work on the side, it may be acceptable, even beneficial, to talk about it, she said.

Job seekers can also minimize the moments in their career history. One way is to not list job start and end dates in months. Instead, Salemi advises, consider using only years.

Another technique is to put skills at the top of the list instead of starting by listing work history in reverse chronological order. This can help a busy recruiter focus on what’s most important, Lee Woodrow, owner and principal consultant at Bigger Fish Executive Branding, told BI.

Salemi said it’s no surprise that taking too many breaks can be a problem. But for most breaks, explain them and move on. If possible, do it in a single, two-part sentence. The first part explains why there’s a break and the second part explains why you’re the best person for the job, she said.

“Especially if you’re a top candidate, it’s not necessarily a handicap for you,” Salemi said.