How to explain gaps in a CV

Dealing with gaps in your CV and discussing reasons for leaving a job 

This article will explain how to deal with gaps in your CV including significant absences from work including returning to work after a sabbatical or maternity leave / having children. It will also cover how to explain why you left a particular role. 

I am regularly asked for advice on how to deal with gaps on CVs and it is a genuine challenge for job seekers. There is no silver bullet or magic wand but there are some tips and tricks that you can use to make lengths to overcome this issue. 

Employment gap in between jobs 

Let’s start with gaps in between jobs.

Let’s say Peter left a job in April 2012 and started a new job in November 2012 – a recruiter or hiring manager is going to have two main questions:

1. Why did Peter leave his job when he didn’t have alternative employment lined up?

2. What was Peter doing in those 7 months before he secured a new job?

These two questions simply need to be answered and presented in the most positive way.

Remember that you are guilty until proven innocent (in the world of recruitment).

So the recruiter’s starting point will be that Peter was dismissed from his job in April 2012 and because he is a weak candidate, it took him 7 months to secure a new role. 

This may seem harsh but it is exactly how a recruiter will view your situation. The trick is to remove these negative preconceptions by explaining what really happened. The first tactic is to add a ‘reason for leaving’ to the job that ended in April.  

How should you explain employment gaps if you were made redundant?

If you were made redundant then indicate that this was the case but go on to describe the situation around the redundancy; redundancy can sometimes be an alternative word for being sacked so if your entire department was offshored to Timbuktoo then make this clear.

The trick is to take away any doubts that you might have been ‘culled’ as part of a deadwood clear-out exercise within your company.  

How should you explain gaps in employment if you left for personal reasons?

If you left for personal reasons, explain what this personal situation was and put a positive spin on it. Try to avoid mention of deaths in the family or anything too morbid but be honest and keep it brief.

Perhaps go on to say that you have taken the opportunity to do some personal development or professional development.

How should you explain a career break if you went on a sabbatical? 

If you left because you decided to have a short sabbatical then once again simply say this but make sure you are positive and explain what you got out of the time off.

This could include self-development or additional study but maybe you project managed the renovation of your home or did a trek across the Andes to raise £5000 for charity.  

How should you go about explaining CV gaps if you lost your love for your job?

If you left because you were fed up with your job or hated your boss then this is slightly more tricky. It is better to be benign and skirt over this subject to an extent. Perhaps something along these lines: 

Reason for leaving: discovered that the role and organisation were misaligned with career goals so decided to be proactive and resign to put energies into rapidly securing alternative employment. 

You could be even more benign and put something like this: 

Reason for leaving: Career progression – the role offered limited opportunities for development. 

So our imaginary job seeker (Peter) has described why he left his company in April; his next task is to explain what he did in the seven month period before securing a new role. The temptation would be to simply put ‘job seeking’ but the hard truth is that the longer it takes to find a new job, the weaker the recruitment market will see you as a candidate.

This may be very unfair but it is still the reality of the situation! I would suggest covering larger gaps with a combination of reasons which you would construct as below: 

November 2012 to present: Operations Manager: XYZ Plc 

[GAP] 

May 2012 to November 2012: Short career sabbatical and studying Lean 6 Sigma. 

 [GAP]

February 2003 to April 2012: Office Manager: 123 Ltd 

[GAP]

Notice how I used May instead of April 2012 to shorten the gap, how I put a positive spin on the period of unemployment using multiple elements and how I didn’t mention job seeking. 

Do you still have existing gaps in your CV?

Explaining CV gaps to hiring managers between jobs is somewhat easier because, by definition, you have secured a new role which supersedes the gap and is more important to a recruiter / hiring manager.

Conversely, when the career gap still exists, the challenge is somewhat harder to overcome.

The same tips and tricks apply. But I would suggest one addition which is to mention that you are now refreshed and fully committed to resuming your career.

This psychologically takes away any concerns that you may have a propensity for wanting to bail out of the rat race (as we all want to do from time to time).  

This may look something like this:

Current Situation: 

April 2012 to present: Short career sabbatical after 10 years of continuous employment to study Lean 6 Sigma and renovate property. Now ready for a new challenge with a view to developing career and progressing to Operations Manager within 3 years. 

Career History: 

February 2003 to April 2012: Office Manager: 123 Ltd 

[GAP]

Reason for leaving: redundancy due to previous employer outsourcing all back-office functions to xxx. 

Explaining employment gaps: returning from maternity leave

If you have had a lengthy gap due to maternity / having children then a more robust tactic needs to be applied.

Unfortunately, discrimination against mothers returning to work is far too common and in my opinion unfair (we all have/had a mum right!).  

One thing to make clear, if you worked for XYZ company and took 9 months off and then returned back to XYZ company, there is no gap; you were still employed by XYZ and there is no need to make mention of that gap on your CV

Disclaimer: please check your local laws and make sure this applies in the country where you are seeking work, this advice stands true for many countries but we cannot be held liable for application of this advice globally. 

Conversely, if you left to go on maternity leave and never returned, then an explanation needs to be provided on the CV. 

Example of how to explain gaps in your cv after maternity leave

Let’s take a real life example (this is someone I know personally).

Nicola left her employers and had 4 years off work to bring up little Oscar; this 4 years was largely changing nappies and making beans on toast (exactly what Nicola wanted it to be).

After 4 years, Nicola decided it was time for Oscar to go to nursery and for her to go back to work but the 4 year gap was a problem with many recruiters and potential employers

I advised Nicola to go out and secure a couple of months of consultancy work (she worked in HR) – even if this was doing a small HR project and invoicing the company £1.00/ $1.00.

The point is that she would now have some recent work experience and could demonstrate that she has transitioned back into work mode.

This would also give her the ability to construct her CV as follows: 

Current Situation: 

April 2009 to present: HR Consultancy work for SMEs in London area, completing CIPD qualification and maternity leave / having children.  

Career History: 

February 2003 to April 2009: HR Manager: ABC Plc 

[GAP]

What we haven’t done here is indicate what percentage of the 4 years was HR Consultancy opposed to studying and child related activities. We are not trying to pull the wool over the eyes of a potential employer but we are leaving those conversations for the interview stage when Nicola has the opportunity to sell herself.

Getting through the CV shortlisting phase is a tremendous challenge when you have had 4 years off work so a more robust tactic is needed to overcome what I call ‘mum-discrimination’.  

As already mentioned, please check your local laws and make sure this applies in the country where you are seeking work, this advice stands true for many countries but we cannot be held liable for application of this advice globally. 

That's a wrap on explaining your employment history gaps

Hopefully that helps you explain any gaps in your CV and employment history as you embark on your job search. If you need some help writing your CV, our team of accredited, professional CV writers can help. Head over to our package deals.

Not ready to buy a package yet? You might these helpful:

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