Since the pandemic, most employers have been more understanding and less discriminating regarding resume gaps — but you have to be ready to explain the gaps clearly, confidently, and without stumbling. Owning your career trajectory means connecting all the dots for the recruiter and hiring manager. Shaping the narrative around any gaps yourself will help make them a non-issue. The author discusses five common reasons for work-history gaps — and how to own the gap during the interview process.
At least once in every interview process you’ll be asked some version of, “Can you walk me through your resume?” In addition to your skills and experience, you need to be able to explain your transitions between jobs, including gaps. This is critical: When you ignore gaps between jobs when discussing your resume, you lose the opportunity to control the narrative about your job transitions or time away from the commercial workforce.
Based on my research of employment gaps for my book, Wanted → A New Career: The Definitive Playbook for Transitioning to a New Career or Finding Your Dream Job, here are five common reasons for work-history gaps — and how to own the gap during the interview process:
Stay-at-home parenting
If you took time off from the commercial workforce to raise children, explain how you used that time to gain skills, knowledge, or experience that’s relevant to the job. For example, did you volunteer at your kids’ school? Organize events or fundraising efforts? Were you the parent who arranged travel for sports team activities? All of those things can be translated to the job you’re applying for. For example, say you’re looking to continue your career in global fundraising. You could tell the interviewer, “I took time off to care for our children but I was able to keep my skills fresh while volunteering for the kids’ sports league, developing fundraising goals and helping the team successfully achieve fundraising quotas to provide financial assistance for those who needed it.”
Bereavement or caring for a sick family member
If you took time away to care for a parent or family member, own the choice you made to spend that important time with them. Take a look at that experience through the lens of the job. For example, if you’re trying to move back into a customer service role, you could focus on your role as a liaison with your family member’s health care providers:
I took time off to care for my father. During that time I was able to leverage my effective communication skills with multiple health care providers, as well as my organization skills in coordinating meetings with his financial planner, brokers, and legal representation, which gave him peace of mind. I would like to use those same problem-solving skills plus my ability to remain calm under pressure in this job.
If you’re applying for a finance job, you could focus on your role as executor:
I took time off to spend with my mother before she passed away. I was named executor because I am highly responsible, organized, and have financial acumen. I was able to leverage my finance skills in reconciling her estate as well as soft skills, such as using effective communication with multiple creditors, including utilities, credit card companies, medical facilities, and banking institutions. My skills enabled me to quickly and efficiently close out the estate, and now I’m looking to bring my skills to a new challenge.
Traveling the world
When moving back into a corporate work setting after taking time off to explore, focus on how you used that time to gain new perspectives. For example, if you’re interviewing with a multinational company, you could discuss the nuances of interacting with people from different cultures and how experiencing life in other countries gave you a perspective many people don’t have in the workplace. If you’re pursuing an operational role, you could focus on your efficiency in travel planning, budgeting as it relates to a P&L, and how you used critical thinking to determine where to travel to next. If you spent time learning a second, third, or fourth language, explain how your ability to be conversational or fluent will make you a higher-performing candidate than those who aren’t multilingual.
Going back to school
Perhaps you went back to school to obtain an MBA or doctorate. If you went to school full time, explain how specific projects you worked on are directly relevant to the job and how they, along with any past work experience, will allow you to bring unique value to the position. Perhaps you achieved an MBA and want to work in business operations. Did you work on projects for real companies? Include them on your resume to so you can discuss them during an interview.
If you developed your skills without going back to school for a traditional degree — for example, by taking a course or getting a certification — describe how those skills apply to the prospective job and set you apart from other candidates. If you read specific books to gain a new perspective on your field or enhance your leadership capabilities, talk about how you would apply the principles you learned at work.
Terminated employment
If you were impacted by a mass layoff that wasn’t performance related, explain to the interviewer that the business strategy changed and your department or team were let go in the latest wave of layoffs. You can even position the unfortunate situation positively: “But it has been a blessing because I was considering looking for a new challenge.”
If you were terminated for performance, clearly your employer didn’t think you were successful in your job, but perhaps you have a different perspective or didn’t feel the role was what you expected. In this case, you can explain that the job was different than you believed it to be and didn’t leverage your skills and capabilities in the most effective way. Always explain what you learned from the experience and how you’re actively working to make sure your next move is closer to your expectations. For example:
I knew soon after I started that the job wasn’t as described, but since I committed to the company, I wanted to give it my best effort. In the end, my skills of A, B, and C weren’t being utilized effectively to bring value to the business. So we amicably separated, which is allowing me to take the time to find the right job where I can bring the most value based on business need.
If you were in a toxic environment or decided to quit for any other reason, don’t bring that negativity into job interviews. Find a positive perspective on why you departed — for example, “I needed focused time to find a job that’s more in line with my values, and I couldn’t find the time to do it while working 60 hours a week.” Most importantly, don’t ever badmouth anyone, because that behavior makes you look like someone who blames others without taking accountability — and who could do the same at the new company. This is the time to take the high road.
. . .
Since the pandemic, most employers have been more understanding and less discriminating regarding resume gaps — but you have to be ready to explain the gaps clearly, confidently, and without stumbling. Owning your career trajectory means connecting all the dots for the recruiter and hiring manager. Shaping the narrative around any gaps yourself will help make them a non-issue.
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