How To Explain Employment Gaps During Interviews (With Examples)

When recruiters take a look at your resume, one of the things they look at is the job positions that you have occupied in the past. These positions may indicate that you have some professional experience that is related to their job description.

Also, your academic qualifications, strengths, and skills matter. They will help the hiring managers to determine how competent you are for the job that you applied for.

But what you may not realize is that employment gaps in your resume also determine your chances of success during the hiring process. You must be well prepared for job interview questions that need you to explain those gaps. And you must know how to answer this during the interview.

To demonstrate that your employment gaps do not affect your ability to work, rehearse what to say. Your goal is to sell yourself as the best candidate even if you don’t have as much professional experience as you should have.

Tips on Explaining the Employment Gaps in Your Resume

Explaining the gaps in employment can be a stressful affair. But you must provide a good answer nonetheless. There are several strategies that you can use when answering the interviewers that are asking questions.

Below are tips on how you can go about dealing with all the awkward questions.

• Mentally brace yourself to address the issue. Just because you have an employment gap doesn’t mean that your potential employer will hold that against you. Your interviewers may want to see how you communicate under pressure.

  If you’ve done a mock interview and practiced what to say beforehand, you will find it easier to express yourself. You could provide explanations that positively portray your absence from the job market. And you could make a good first impression that gets you that dream job.

• Avoid lying about your situation. Under no circumstance should you lie about why you were unemployed for a while. Be honest. Even if you lost your previous jobs because you made some mistakes, don’t lie about it.

  Your potential employers may decide to do a background check on you. And the reason you were fired may be exposed. That would make you come across as a dishonest job candidate. You are unlikely to get a job that way.

  If you have private reasons for not wanting to share your employment gaps, explain that tactfully without going into great detail. Job-seekers are not obligated to share every aspect of their personal lives when interviewing for a job.

• Talk about what you have been up to if it relates to your job. Chances are that you did something useful during your unemployment.

  You may have raised your child, taken care of a loved one that was sick, or done some freelance work. You could also have attended classes and furthered your education or volunteered for charitable endeavors.

  When interviewers ask you about the gaps in your resume, you can choose to share what you have been up to. And it would be smart of you to also talk about how you have learned and acquired skills from those skills. Then try to show how these life lessons make you qualified for your dream job.

• Don’t say too much or too little. You need to know how much you should say concerning your employment. You must provide an answer. But at the same time, you should not feel to say something about what you were doing if you feel uncomfortable doing so.

  Once you provide a short explanation for your employment gaps, try to steer the conversation on your abilities, skills, and work experience.

Examples of Ways to Explain Employment Gaps In Professional Interviews

When being interviewed, you need to express yourself professionally. There are several ways you can explain yourself concerning employment gaps in your resume. Below are several examples you can use and adapt to your situation.

If you had quit your job but don’t want to explain much about a personal situation, here is what you can say:

You have a right to stop the interview at any time if you feel those asking you questions are too intrusive.

In such a case, you could state that you are uncomfortable with the direction of the questions. And you could cut the interview short if you change your mind and no longer want to continue.

And if you want to stop the interview afterward because the questions are too intrusive, you could add:

If you were laid off, you need to explain the situation without making your previous employer look bad even if you are still angry about the situation.

If you made mistakes in your previous place of employment, you need to own them. It would not be wise to lie about why you lost your job. But you also need to be careful about how much you share concerning what you did.

You should think about getting ahead of the story by confessing your part of the mess. In any case, a background check or gossip traveling along the professional grapevine in your industry could unearth the issues.

So, when you confess, you end up controlling the narrative and will come across as accountable and honest.

If you were fired but don’t feel that you made mistakes that you should take responsibility for, you can also explain that.

If you took the time off to work on your interests, feel free to share that too.

Or you could talk about your travels and how they have improved your qualities and skills.

So many Americans quit the workforce to take care of their loved ones that need them. This need may result from issues such as a special needs child, a parent suffering from dementia, or a spouse dealing with a long-term injury or permanent disability among other things.

Don’t feel ashamed of leaving the workforce to become a caretaker. If this is the situation for you, then share a little bit more about that. It actually reflects well on you.

Always think of ways to include the activities you have engaged in while unemployed in your conversation. By showing how those activities relate to your current job, you raise your chances of getting hired.

If you volunteered you could say:

If you spent the time off work studying, you could add:

Final Thoughts

Always engage in a job-search expecting to be asked questions about your employment gap during the interview process. While you don’t have to overshare, you cannot afford to stay silent either.

So, do your homework and prepare to tell the interviewers something about how you ended up with such gaps in your resumes. How well you explain yourself will not only show the caliber of your communication skills but also determine your success as a job candidate.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.