Questions about resume gaps are expected. Here’s how job seekers can address them
NEW YORK (AP) — When Monique Di Liberto started looking for paying work after hiring him career on pause she felt paralyzed by self-doubt as she parented full-time.
“Who do you think tried this after 17 years?” Di Liberto remembered asking himself this question. “You have no business doing this.”
The fear and uncertainty he feels is familiar to many people looking for work after being away from the job market. Whether they lost a position during mass layoffs or had to leave someone to care for a sick loved one, job applicants can expect questions about their employment history to surface. during screenings And interviews.
“You have to address this issue honestly and directly,” said Andy Decker, CEO of candidate recruiting and placement firm Goodwin Recruiting. “Make sure to include everything you did during this time. Have you been certified? Have you volunteered?”
Extended periods Decker said job transitioning has become much more common and less stigmatized than before, as many people are working from home or taking time off to care for children or relatives during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said some people record these periods on their resumes as “career break” or “family responsibility”.
Here are strategies suggested by recruiters and employees who have been there to address the career gap.
Emphasize transferable life skills
Employers focus on skills or results rather than a perfect career path and volunteer your services Decker said working at a nonprofit is a good way to keep those skills fresh.
Di Liberto, 57, was a classically trained opera singer before marrying and becoming a mother. She put aside her music career goals while her husband started a chiropractic practice. raise your children.
Di Liberto had no choice when he decided to rejoin the workforce. 9 to 5 job experience to include on your resume. Instead, he sifted through activities beyond family life for skills that could translate into the workplace.
For example, serving as PTA president at their child’s school required managing budgets and presenting project plans to the school board. She also helped budget, roll out software, and hire for her husband’s business.
Yet when she applied for administrative support positions, she kept hearing that she wasn’t qualified. But one person who interviewed Di Liberto was intrigued and said: “This CV was so different from anything I had ever seen. I needed to see the person who created it.”
Determined not to return empty-handed, Di Liberto offered a month-long trial job as an administrative assistant. His pitch was: “You’re probably getting resumes from people who are much more qualified than I am, but I’d argue they’re not as driven and driven as I am. If you give me 30 days, I’ll prove to you that I can learn and do this job.”
The company hired him. Over the next decade, she was promoted and hired by other employers, working her way up to customer service manager at an artificial intelligence company. Di Liberto said he was asked about his unemployment every time he interviewed for a new position.
“I was lucky enough to stay home for 17 years and raise great people,” she tells potential employers. “And I worked from scratch to get to where I am today.”
Laura Sandvik leaving marketing job take care of his mother and later her children highlighted the social skills she gained from the experience on her LinkedIn profile.
“I have no regrets about these choices. They strengthened my patience, perspective, and sense of responsibility. I did so knowingly as I returned to official roles,” he wrote.
Try to tell a dismissal story
If you lost your job due to restructuring or layoffsYou don’t need to volunteer this information on your resume, but if the interviewer asks why you’re leaving, be honest, Decker said.
“I would simply say, ‘I was one of 270 people who participated in this reduction,’ or if you manage to get through a few rounds of layoffs, ‘We’ve had five rounds of reductions over two years, I made it through four, I made it through the fifth round,'” Decker suggested.
Rehearse your answer before the interview and avoid negative comments such as blaming the employer. “Own it, accept it and move on,” Decker said.
Baura Zia, 35, was laid off shortly after returning from maternity leave in 2022. She was initially upset, but says losing her job “was truly a blessing in disguise” because she spent the next three years raising her two children full-time.
In his CV, Zia describes those years as a “parenting gap” and states that he also moved across the country at that time. When she decided to find a part-time job after her son’s first birthday, she revealed during interviews that the institution she previously worked for would not allow her to review performance issues, and she lost the contract she was working on.
“Being kind to yourself is really important,” Zia said. “Having a career gap is not a flaw. In fact, you have improved a lot because of it.”
During his job search, Zia would sometimes send messages to people he found on the internet to ask about their work experience at the company he was applying for. Many did not answer, but some did. Also reached contacts from one person network group For women in public relations, which she participated in years ago.
“When I was ready to go back to the workplace, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be because I had a network to connect with,” Zia said.
Own your successes
Eliminating resume gaps caused by major employment barriers like incarceration can be particularly difficult.
Ryan Cuellar, 29, who was charged with possession of stolen property when he was 18 and sent to prison a month before he expected to graduate from high school, is proud of his perseverance and track record of overcoming obstacles.
“Don’t dwell on your mistake, be proud of what you learned from it and what you did about it,” Cuellar advised.
After several months in prison, Cuellar returned to high school to repeat his senior year. He later worked a series of odd jobs that didn’t require a background check, including acting and working as a machine operator while taking college classes.
After becoming certified as a paralegal, Cuellar said she used that training to petition to have her criminal record sealed. This meant he didn’t have to reveal his legal background in job applications or worry about being asked about it after background checks.
Cuellar chose to mention this to potential employers, even though it often harmed his chances of being hired. He also helped people who were held there voluntarily in prison gain skills that would help them succeed after their release. She recently started her first full-time job, working as a salesperson for a company that provides online tutoring services.
“This is part of my story,” Cuellar said of his incarceration. “At the end of the day, I think you need to know that about me as a person to understand my side, where I’m coming from and my perspective.”
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This story has been updated to correct the spelling of a person’s last name as Di Liberto, not De Liberto’s given name.
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