- Taking care of one's family
- Taking a vacation
- Going on a trip
- Illness-related leave of absence
- Taking care of a relative
- Being let go
- Looking for work
How to Explain a Job Gap on Your Resume:
- Close the Employment Gap (If It Exists): Here's some good news: if your work gap is over a year old, you can safely leave it off your resume. Assume your employment gap dates back ten years. Chances are, if you're a seasoned professional, you won't even include employment from ten years ago on your CV. After all, you want your resume to be as relevant as possible (while remaining within the 1-page resume length recommendation). As a result, it's perfectly OK to leave out work gaps that predate your most recent employment history (or that are relatively brief, such as 6-month-old employment gaps when you were between jobs).
- Be Honest: Because your CV is the first thing recruiters look at, you must be truthful! After all, you don't want to leave out a two-year work gap on your CV just to have it disclosed during your interview. As a result, you must be upfront about your job experience - or lack thereof - on your CV. What's vital to remember here is that potential employers will learn about your employment hiatus, especially if it is long or recent. As a result, attempting to conceal it will just harm your application and offer recruiters more cause to suspect you have anything to hide. And, if you're worried about it, remember that employers are people, too, and will probably be sympathetic if you're honest about your work gap - and what caused it!
- Use a resume style or structure that conceals the gap: Next, you can try to hide work gaps by employing a resume style or structure like the functional resume format. A functional resume structure emphasizes your talents and accomplishments rather than your experience. To assist in making the positive experiences you have the major emphasis of your resume, include sections such as a career summary statement and important accomplishments on your resume. Then, towards the bottom of your CV, insert your employment section. To reduce the impact of minor employment gaps, combine the functional resume approach with step three.
- In your overview or aim, describe your most recent professional break: Include a resume summary or objective at the start of your application in which you explain why you took a career sabbatical and how it prepared you for success in your future employment. This works best for persons who are looking for jobs right after taking a professional sabbatical. If you've had consistent employment since your career hiatus, you may want to just mention it in your employer's experience area.
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- Maintain a Positive Attitude: A resume gap isn't necessarily a bad thing, but understanding how to deal with it might help ease any stress. Your perspective may have a big impact on how you feel and your prospects of getting a new job. Remember that maintaining a positive, forward-thinking attitude toward your job search will help you make consistent progress toward finding and securing your next position. Regardless of the reason for your career break, consider your accomplishments and career highlights and leverage them in each of your applications, said Toni Frana, a FlexJobs career advisor. Remember that tone is important in interviews. Prospective employers will be considerably more confident in your abilities to thrive in the tasks of the new work if you look optimistic about your career trajectory and positively explain gaps between employment.
Career gaps can be deliberate or involuntary, and they can last months or years. Some of the most prevalent causes of career gaps.