Resume Writing: How to handle big gaps between jobs

Your work history is usually the most important part of your resume – it shows prospective employers that you can apply your skills in a work environments and it demonstrates your reliability. But, for various reasons you might have gaps in your work history of months or even years.

What do gaps in your work history tell prospective employers?

If a prospective employer sees a large gap in your resume, especially if it is recent, she may worry that your skills are rusty. That won’t necessarily prevent her from hiring you, but it will be an area of concern. It is guaranteed to come up during an interview.

A few months aren’t a big deal, usually. Most employers will chalk that up to a lengthy job hunt. However, if you’re time away from the work force is a year or more, you will need to explain it in some way. If you simply ignore any large gaps, some prospective employers assume that the gap was caused by laziness or a problem like substance abuse or incarceration. Proactively addressing the issue before an employer can make such assumptions is the best way to protect yourself.

What can you do to lessen the effects of big gaps?

Brainstorm other activities to include in your work history for that time. Did you freelance during that time? Or volunteer? How about consulting? You can list any of these activities in your work history, just as if they were jobs.

Note what else you were doing. If you were going to school, or traveling, you should include that information – education and travel are both considered assets. This information should go in relevant sections (i.e. schooling should be listed together).

Explain the situation in your cover letter. If you left the work force for illness, to stay at home with a child or ailing relative, just mention it in your cover letter. Keep it short, though, and emphasize the fact that you are excited to start working again.

Use years rather than months when noting the dates you worked for a company. This can disguise gaps of a few months, but be wary of using it if you don’t need to. Employers know this trick too.

Avoid using negative words to describe gaps in your work history. If it was a real problem, such as rehabilitation or an illness that may reoccur, you may simply want to limit any explanation to ‘personal issues.’

Should you worry about interview questions?

Since you know that questions about your work history will probably come up, you can actually relax a little. Make sure you know ahead of time what you will say, but don’t stress about it. You usually can avoid going into detail, but if you learned something valuable during your time out of the work force, mention it – it could be from schooling, from volunteer work or from time abroad. However, make sure that you emphasize that you are ready to re-enter the work force, if you’ve been out of it recently