Job Hunting? You Don’t Need to Shy Away from an Employment Gap

It has always been a sad perception that job-seeking favors the currently employed. Whatever the reason for this bias, events of the past few years have made resume gaps more common and, therefore, less of a roadblock to employment. The sheer number of people who lost their jobs during the pandemic means recruiters will be accustomed to seeing gaps and should be more understanding of them.

When getting back into the workforce, you can demonstrate several times during the hiring process that you have been active in retaining and developing the skills that make you right for the job. 

Cover Letter

While dreaded by many, the cover letter is your first chance to address a gap in your resume. We’ve grown up hearing the phrase “honesty is the best policy.” It’s especially true here. If you try and hide a recent gap under clever wordplay, recruiters and potential employers can quickly become distrustful of you upon learning the truth. 

Be upfront. Let them know you have been active during your unemployment. You can use this honesty to lay the groundwork for why a break for you can benefit them. Some examples can be:

• During this break in employment, I have been busy with [sample activities] that have continued to develop many of the skills you seek for this position.
• I took the opportunity of this time off to take classes in [relevant area] to remain current with the latest industry trends.
• The time I spent traveling allowed me to vastly improve my conversational skills in [language] and better learn the culture, which can be of great benefit to your international clients.
• Running a household is not much different than managing a business. In some ways, it’s harder. 

The key is to give enough detail to pique their curiosity as to why you feel a break in employment, combined with previous experience, makes you the best choice for the job. Look on the job posting for the skills they are most interested in. Then find ways to frame what you did during your break as relevant to those desired qualifications. 

Resume

Resumes should always include your most recent relevant employment activity. As such, gaps that are several years old may not need to be included. This isn’t being dishonest, it just may not be relevant if you have been consistently employed since then. 

For more recent gaps, one resume and career expert recommends a brief explanation of the gap. For example, if you have a gap from August 2017 to December 2018, you could list this time as follows:

8/2017 - 12/2018
From August 2017 - December 2018, I went back to school full-time to complete my MBA in International Business. After beginning the process part-time, I wanted to devote my full attention to my studies to get the most out of my education.

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The resume is also another chance to highlight non-paid and volunteer work you may have done and the job-relevant skills utilized and honed. Some of these activities may include:

• Board of Directors for a non-profit - include committee assignments if any
• Volunteer hours - local schools, nursing homes, food pantries, civic organizations, etc.
• Sports leagues - teamwork and leadership are always relevant skills
• Local theater, choirs, etc. - either on the stage or behind the scenes

Things you do when you aren’t getting a paycheck can be just as valuable as paid work when it comes to landing a job. Include the years you were active in these activities as this can help fill in employment gaps and show you weren’t just sitting poolside. 

The Interview

This is your chance to bring everything from your cover letter and resume together into the complete story of you. Chances are, you’ll be asked to talk about your employment history and explain the gaps you’ve previously mentioned. 

Use this time to not only highlight your paid work but lean into how you utilized your time while unemployed. Be specific about how these experiences can be of benefit to an employer and the job you are applying for. 

• Applying for a marketing job? The time you spent volunteering for a ballot initiative introduced you to new and effective ways to reach consumers.
• Looking for work as an accountant? As the treasurer for your local press club, you improved the processes for both collection and disbursement of funds. You also modernized their bookkeeping methods for greater accountability. 
• Want to be in management? Coaching a child’s soccer team made you very effective at communicating with different types of people: the kids, the parents, the referees, the league organizers, etc.

Note: We’ve intentionally left out mention of gaps due to medical issues, either self or caring for a family member. This is a big topic that warrants its own article as this can go into protected class and discrimination territory. You’ll need to be very careful about how you frame these kinds of gaps, even though they do show a lot about your character. 

In Summary

Everything is an opportunity. Even employment gaps. While it’s natural to want to brush over them, or even be bitter they happened, if you can make a potential employer see the benefits you gained during that time, you will be able to stand out from the crowd. And standing out is what gets people jobs.