Over the course of our employment the reality is that we are all going to have some gaps here and there in our resumes for a myriad of reasons. It could be due to travel, family, study, redundancy, a career break, ill-health, time off between employers and so on. In fact, it would be somewhat unreasonable not to expect there to be gaps in resumes, particularly of workers who have been in the workforce for a number of years.
A common question that comes up from job seekers is “What is the best approach to account for these gaps in their work history?” The other question is “If I chose to disclose the nature of these gaps, at what point in the recruitment process is it most advisable to do so?”
In response to the first question, there is no rule that says you have to account for every month of every year since you joined the workforce in your resume. As mentioned, for all sorts of reasons we are going to have gaps in our resumes, so whether on not you choose to fill these gaps in your resume or disclose the reasons for these gaps at the interview is a personal decision. That said, should you have a lot of unexplained gaps peppered throughout your resume it is feasible to expect that this may raise doubts for the reader of your resume and work against you. Certainly include the bulk of your work experience in your resume; however, when it comes to those short-term contracts, temp assignments or roles were you were employed less than 3 months (particularly those that are not relevant to the roles you are targeting) it may be best to leave them off the resume. Do bear in mind that if during this time you did further study, training, developed new skills and generally made yourself more valuable then certainly promote this in your resume.
Using the covering letter or email with your application is another way you can address some of those gaps in your work history, often in a brief fashion that puts all your experience in context and does not allow any gaps to distract from the merit of your application.
Should you decide to exclude explanations of gaps from your resume, be they in chronological order in a paragraph or sentence at the back of your resume, there is no reason why you cannot explain at the interview stage (should it arise) the nature of these gaps. I find it is often easier to explain such matters face to face, particularly once you have had a chance to build rapport and hopefully trust with the interviewer. Remember that chances are those who are interviewing you have their own resume gaps, and so often don’t mind about yours so long as you can feasibly explain them.
In this great blog post ‘So, about This Gap in Your Resume …’ Rick rightly advises that you go into the interview always prepared to answer questions about gaps that appear in your work history. As Rick states “A potential employer’s chief concern is that hiring you won’t turn out to be a mistake. Help them along by showing that you were productive during your downtime, learned new skills, and are now 100% ready to go.”
I would welcome others thoughts and views on the topic – to disclose or not to disclose?
2 Comments
I beleive it is best to disclose large recent gaps on someones cv if there is a legitiment reason, I run Allstar Recruitment Group, one of the Recruitment Agencies in Perth and when candidates are looking for employment in Perth I often am asked to explain gaps in candidates cv’s to prospective Employers. We have some cv writing tips at http://www.allstarrecruitmentgroup.com.au , good luck in your job hunting.
I think in this day and age most employers understand gaps in a resume.
As you say, things happen.
My two cents worth is that if you have a legitimate gap in your resume be up front about it.
An employer who doesn’t value your honesty is possibly an employer you wouldn’t want to work for anyway.