How To

Explain
Employment
Gaps On A
Resume:
10 Answers +
Examples (2020)
How To Explain Employment Gaps On A Resume
Current Date: 9/12/2020 (More Than 1-Year Gap)

• Have you ever been out of

work for a while?

• Are you worried that having a

gap on your resume of
unemployment will work
against you?

• In this video, you’re going to

learn about how to fill in
employment gaps, and more
importantly, how to explain
employment gaps on a
resume.
How To Explain Employment Gaps On A Resume
Current Date: 9/12/2020 (10-month gap)

• Employment gaps can work

against you and normally
recruiters are curious about
why you were out of work for
some time.
• You will learn the most common
reasons why people have gaps
on their resumes, how to
explain lengthy employment
gaps, how to explain what you
did during this period, the most
asked questions, and specific
answers you can give.
 How To Explain An Employment Gap -
Plausible Reasons - 1

One common reason that comes up a lot are health issues.

Sometimes, due to bad health or just a drop in one’s health can put
you out of work for a while. At the time of creating this video, we’re in
full swing of the Coronavirus, so if you came down with it and or your
Health

family, it is a good reason for a gap on your resume. If you have had
health issues, make sure you can quickly explain that you are over it
now. In most cases, recruiters won’t dig too deep into this topic as
they don’t want to appear nosy or discriminatory if you are not
selected for the next round of interviews.
 How To Explain An Employment Gap -
Plausible Reasons - 2
Family Reasons

Sometimes there was someone in your family that was sick, and you
decided to take care of them full-time. This is a noble thing to do and
justifies having a gap on your resume. Maybe you’ve had a recent
addition to the family – a newborn. These are great and more than
justified reasons to have a gap on your cv.
 How To Explain An Employment Gap
How To Explain An Employment Gap - -
Plausible Reasons -
Plausible Reasons - 13
Furthering your education

Another great reason for an employment gap is taking time to

further your education. Many see education as a way to open your
mind and new doors of opportunity. If you have gone on to pursue a
bachelor’s, master’s, specialization, or another degree to advance
your career, these are great gap fillers and recruiters will
understand these gaps. Furthering your education also adds a lot of
value to a company as you will bring your newly acquired knowledge
to the new company. Most of all, the company didn’t have to pay for
it. They are getting you with this newly acquired knowledge.
 How To Explain An Employment Gap
How To Explain An Employment Gap - -
Plausible Reasons -
Plausible Reasons - 14
Nowadays and more than ever, entrepreneurship is on an all-time high.
Individuals of all ages are launching side projects, companies, and
businesses and trying to ride the wave of entrepreneurship. Launching
Failed Business

and creating a successful business is a lot harder than it may seem on the
Shark Tank, and the chances you will fail are HIGH. However, even with
this failure, the learning curve that you will have is off the charts and can
be very valuable to companies. Learning obtained from launching your
own business is similar to a hockey stick – it starts flat and then just
shoots up. It’s massive! Nowadays, many recruiters are interested in
speaking to former entrepreneurs to see if they are right for the job.
Recruiters should not look down on a candidate that has a gap in his
career because of trying to launch a business.
 How To Explain An Employment Gap
How To Explain An Employment Gap - -
Plausible Reasons -
Plausible Reasons - 15

In most cases, I have seen older, more senior-level execs might take
some time off from their job. This is known as a sabbatical. It can
range from a month up to a year. Normally, the individual is looking
Sabbatical

to get some time off of work to focus on other things. It could be

learning a new language, taking a new course, investing time in a
new hobby, or a series of other things. Whatever it may be,
sabbaticals are quite common and can be a nice refresher for the
individual. It’s a great way to recharge one’s batteries.
Contract or Temp Work: If you are out of work but Volunteering: I can’t stress this one enough.
still want or need to make some money, contract or Volunteering is a great way to get off the couch,
temp work can be a great option. There are plenty of gain some valuable experience, and is a good
companies out there that offer these short-term way to support an important cause. Even more
positions. You can either apply online or in-person. importantly, many organizations need
Some of the jobs offered as temp work can be temp- volunteers to help them; and this can be in
to-hire. In other words, if you perform well and are a multiple capacities. Lastly, you never know, you
good fit within the company, you may be brought on might like it so much and there might even be
board as a full-time employee. It’s a great way to get an official paying job for you in the long run.
some additional work experience, get your foot in the This has happened to many people.
door at a new company, and continue to make a living.

Freelancing or Consulting: These are Get more training: Another great way
two great options for people that to fill in that employment gap is by
already have a strong skill set in a getting more training. If you are from a
field. You might be an avid digital field like digital marketing or in a tech
marketer and want to work as a area, things are changing at breakneck
freelance while off from work or speed. This requires you to stay on top
maybe you are good at voice-overs VO. of the new changes and trends in the
There are all sorts of sites out there game. Getting more training will allow
that offer freelancing opportunities you to do this. Luckily, nowadays it is
like Fivver, Upwork, among others. easier than ever especially with the vast
number of online courses out there.
 What Is Considered A Long
Employment Gap?

Employment gaps can range in time As mentioned above, sometimes there are
depending on the current economic economic factors at play and can inhibit you
scenario, the place you live, your level of from getting placed in the market again. For
experience, and the jobs available in your example, we had a crisis in 2008-2009, and
region. Typically, an employment gap is this led to a lot of people being out of work
when you are out of work for more than 6 for a long time. Let’s also consider our current
months. Obviously, there is no golden rule market and the coronavirus pandemic that is
here. Some recruiters and HR specialists shaking things up. Job-hunters may be out of
might consider a gap to be a year or more work for much longer during this period, so
out of work. It’s subjective. To play it safe, sometimes a long employment gap in times
consider it to be when you’re 6 months out like these is more justifiable.
of the game.
 Additional Tips

Give a concise Stay Active Gap Advice

explanation
There is no need to dive Continue your education Don’t worry about old gaps:
into detail about why you online with free courses, If it’s 2020, and you had a
have an employment gap. volunteering, or other gap back in 2015, this is not
Just make sure you give a activities to show that you that important. More than
good quick and concise have been active. Don’t be likely, you’re already
reason/explanation along afraid to show off some of employed and looking for a
with what you have been the new skills you have job, or recently left a job and
doing during this period. gained. Convey your new are searching. The only gap
skills to the recruiter. to worry about are current
ones where you have been
out of the market for a year
or 2 and you are looking for
a job now.
 Employment Gap Questions and Answers
Context: it is March 22, 2020, and a candidate has been out of work since
April 1, 2019. The candidate used to work at company ABCD.

“Why did you leave your job at ABCD?”

 Employment Gap Questions and Answers
Context: it is March 22, 2020, and a candidate has been out of work since
April 1, 2019. The candidate used to work at company ABCD.

“Why did you leave your job at ABCD?”

“I noticed you have been out of work for a while, “Why

have you been out of work so long?”

“I noticed a gap on your resume. “What are you doing to

keep your skills current?”

“It seems like you have been out of work for roughly 8
months. “What happened and what have you been doing
to keep up your skills?”
Employment Gap Questions and Answers

“Why did you leave your job at ABCD?”

“I was hired to work on a temporary project, a total

of 1 year in length. After the team and I successfully
finished and handed over the project, our job was
done, and we were let go. So, this was to be
expected.”
More Employment Gap Answers

Possible answers could be:

• I took a year off to have a baby.
• I decided to leave ABCD so I could take care of (parent,
child, etc.) full time.
• I was laid off during the Coronavirus period due to
extreme budget cuts to keep the company afloat. I am
currently applying to jobs and taking additional
courses on Linkedin Learning to Level up.
• Because of the pandemic, our company furloughed
40% of the workforce. Eventually, with internal
restructuring to keep the business alive, these same
employees that were temporarily laid off were made
redundant.
 Employment Gap Questions

Now suppose that you have a much bigger gap, say 2 years plus. Let’s say
that instead of the recruiter probing, he or she comes out and directly asks
about it.

Recruiter: “Can you walk me through your resume?”

then “Could you tell me about why you left your last
job?” “What have you been doing during this period?”
Long Employment Gap: 2 Possible Answers

“Great question. I decided to go back to school to further

my education and gain new skills to make myself more
attractive in the market. I know that furthering my
education will create newer and better possibilities to grow.”

“That’s a great question. I was always keen on launching my

own business. I had been studying and flirting with a few
ideas for quite some time when I decided to make the
move. I ended up launching a (business, service, product,
etc.) in (area). Although ultimately things didn’t work out,
the lessons learned that I have gained from this have been
two-fold. If you’re interested, I can tell you a little bit more
about the experience and how it relates to the current
position. “