How to talk about gaps on your resume

By Vicki Salemi, career expert at Monster.com

Whether you’re a current student or a recent grad, you may be stressed out thinking about how to talk to employers about gaps on your resume. Maybe you had summer internships consecutively the past few years, but last summer you didn’t intern anywhere. Or maybe you graduated a couple of years ago and there’s currently a six-month gap on your resume while you’re in between jobs. 

Whatever your situation is for an existing gap, employers are accustomed to seeing them. As a former corporate recruiter, I can attest that it’s more of an anomaly to not see a gap than it is to see one. That said, you still need to prepare for how to address talking about this lapse.

At Monster, a leading job search and online recruiting platform, we know there are several types of employment gaps, all of which are valid in their own right. A key to successfully talking about your own gap involves honesty, strategy, and positivity.

Mind the gap

You can decide one of two things: point out the gap on your resume (and/or cover letter) or not mention it, wait until the employer asks. You have to assume the employer will ask (more on this in a minute), but it depends on the situation and your comfort level if you want to mention it up front.

For instance, several years ago, I had a gap in my resume because my father’s health was ailing and I took valuable time off to spend time with him before he passed away. I added a line to my resume for the gap mainly because I didn’t want employers to ask about it. I knew it would trigger me getting upset during an interview that was only a few weeks after he passed away, something I absolutely wanted to avoid. They were respectful and kind, briefly mentioned it when they saw it, practically glancing over it. The gap was not a big deal. (And yes, I got that job offer.)

On the other side of the table, when I worked in recruiting, similarly if someone indicated why there was a gap, I didn’t need to ask anything or probe further. A succinct sentence is usually all that you really need. 

If, however, the situation is that you were laid off from a new job or you wanted to take the summer off to travel instead of work at an internship, you may not want to include it. There’s no steadfast cookie cutter template answer here—it all depends on your comfort level in whether or not you want to reveal it up front or wait for a conversation. In either scenario, you don’t have to go into deep details or get too personal. Less is more.

What the company wants to know

Anticipate that employers will ask you about the gap, but don’t expect it to be a red flag. They’re inquiring just to find out more about your candidacy (it’s part of your candidacy, it doesn’t define who you are), the same way they ask why you’re interested in pursuing their job opportunity. 

Typically, when I asked candidates about their gap, I just wanted to hear that they leveraged that time to do something worthwhile whether it was to look for a new job, gain a new skill or certification, learn a foreign language, travel, spend valuable time pursuing a bucket list item, or something similar. Employers don’t want to hear that you’re not doing anything during this time. Productivity, even a health journey to rest, is usually a great answer 

This part of the interview is usually nothing more than a quick exchange, a few sentences here or there. It’s usually not a big deal. If you were laid off from a new job due to budget cuts or your internship cut back its headcount before you even started, you can say that: “I was laid off” or “my internship cut its slots the week before it started, I was really looking forward to it though!”

That said, be judicious. If you were laid off for poor performance and not for sweeping budget cuts, keep it short: “I was laid off.”

The art of the pivot

It’s not so much as what you say, but how you say it and how you position the gap. For instance, if you worked in a dead-end job in a toxic environment and left (even if you revenged quit) because it was wreaking havoc on your nervous system and six months later, you haven’t found a new job yet, you can say something like, “There was nowhere else left to grow in the role, so I wanted to leave to rest, refuel, and have energy to focus entirely on my job search and lean into my organizational skills! That’s why I am so interested in this role that relies on organization…” 

There’s no need to badmouth your former employer. You don’t need to go into a deep dive of the toxicity. Just stay on a surface level so they get the idea. The purpose of saying this sentence is to shine a spotlight on the latter part—the pivot.

This two-part sentence serves as a way to address the situation and leverage it as a bridge into what’s next…this new role that you’re excited about! Practice what you’ll say ahead of time. Yes, you should rehearse it; no, it shouldn’t sound like a robot. Speak authentically from the heart. Let yourself sound excited for the role!

If there are multiple gaps or if you feel like it’s an extended period of time that you’d rather not stand out on your resume, then you may want to consider writing a functional resume focusing on your previous roles and experiences instead of a chronological one that’s focused on dates.

Again, as you plan about how to briefly talk about the gap, you need to mind it and be mindful, but be aware that it usually is not a landmine to your candidacy.