Job Search: How to Frame Gaps in Employment

A gap in employment occurs when there’s a long stretch between jobs, usually starting around three months. These gaps can occur for any number of reasons, including choosing to stay home and parent your children, taking medical leave, caring for an ailing family member, going back to college or university, reassessing your career goals, or even being unable to find a role that suits your skill set.  

A job is just one part of your life, and you may experience times when your other responsibilities become a greater priority than working. While a stigma existed about applicants with an employment gap on their CVs, those attitudes have shifted, especially after the COVID pandemic led to temporary layoffs, furloughs, and other disruptions to people’s careers in early 2020. The seismic nature of the global pandemic also caused many people to reevaluate their work and seek different options, such as greater flexibility, more meaning, or a complete career change.  

Having a gap in your CV has become incredibly common. An estimated two-thirds of people have experienced some kind of employment gap, and one-third of women hope to take a break at some point in the future. Further, more than half of hiring managers surveyed by LinkedIn believe those with an employment gap are an “untapped talent pool” [1]. 

CVs: Short-term vs. long-term employment gaps

Gaps in employment can be short- or long-term. The type you’ve experienced will determine how you integrate that information into your job search materials. A short-term gap typically refers to a period of unemployment lasting three to six months, and long-term gaps occur when you remain out of work for six months or longer. 

No matter what type of employment gap, a CV objective can be a helpful area to discuss your career goals and what you want to accomplish in your next role. Developing a one- or two-sentence overview near the top of your CV can help you draw a recruiter’s attention to the future.  

For example, UX designer with vast experience developing websites and apps for highly visible clients. Now seeking to apply my knowledge to a fintech start-up.  

It’s also worth mentioning that if your employment gap is from a long time ago, you may not need to include it on your CV if you’ve held several positions since then. The following sections explore how far back your CV should go and the number of pages to include depending on the length of your career.

Short-term gaps 

When you’ve had a short-term gap in employment (less than six months), you can decide how to frame it. One option is a functional CV, which highlights your skills while placing less emphasis on dates of employment. However, applicant tracking systems (ATS) tend to have trouble scanning these types of CVs. 

Some people choose to avoid discussing gaps by formatting their chronological CV to showcase the years of their previous employment rather than the months and years. 

For example: Digital marketing specialist, Oxford, Mississippi (2022-2024) 

However, it may be worthwhile because many ATS scan CVs for specific information, including the month and year. In that case, your gap in employment will be clear on your CV, and you can use your cover letter to discuss it in more detail. 

Long-term gaps

When you’ve had a long-term gap in employment, a one-line explanation will suffice to call out your gap and signal to a recruiter the larger narrative of your career trajectory. You can add this line to the employment history section of your CV. For example: Took planned personal leave (2021-2022). 

If your gap is due to a more significant responsibility, such as being a stay-at-home parent or going back to college or university, detail that information across one line. For example: Stay-at-home parent, Swindon, Wiltshire (2020-present).

You can deepen your explanation by including bullet points about the responsibilities you handled during your employment gap, especially if they drew on valuable workplace skills, such as organisation, problem-solving, and communication.

Stay-at-home parent, Swindon, Wiltshire (2020-present) 

• Oversaw competing schedules for three children under 9, organising appointments, school, and activities.

• Developed a local online parenting group that currently includes over 45 families; planned meet-ups and collected resources and tools to feature each week.  

Enrolled in University (2019-2022) 

• Earned an MBA from X University 

• Completed an internship with ABC Company

Online networking sites and career gaps

Beyond your CV, building your online networking presence can be valuable while actively searching for a job. Recruiters may access your LinkedIn profile to learn more about your experience, skill set, and goals. Because of the growing ubiquity of career gaps, many online networking sites, like LinkedIn, now offer tools to add this information to your employment history. 

Integrating a gap into your cover letter

Employers value communication, so being direct can be helpful when framing an employment gap on your cover letter. Whatever the reason for your gap in employment, you get to decide how much you want to share. For instance, if you had to step away for seven months to help a family member, you don’t need to disclose the specifics. Instead, you can say that you needed to take personal leave. 

With that in mind, language goes a long way in providing context. For instance, rather than say, “I was laid off at my last job,” consider shifting to “I was let go after an economic downturn required a reduction in staff.” Or rather than “I went back to university,” you can emphasise the educational goals you wanted to pursue: "I chose to focus on advancing my education so I could continue growing in my career.” 

Instead of getting mired down by why you had to take a career break, it can be more beneficial to discuss what you did during one, especially if it involved ongoing development, such as meeting with a career coach, completing a Professional Certificate, or taking time to reevaluate your values so you can find work that better aligns with them. 

Let’s return to the example of a family member from earlier. If you keep your explanation short, you can highlight what you seek now. For example: 

I needed to take a career break to help a family member, but I used some time to think more specifically about my work values. I’ve come to realise how important it is to be a part of a company seeking to make a lasting difference in users’ lives, which is why I’m particularly excited about the open web developer role at Company A. 

Check out two additional examples:  

Following my department from Company X, I spent the past three months reflecting deeply on my values. At that time, I enrolled in a leadership course offered through X University, and I’m excited about bringing a wealth of new techniques to my next opportunity. 

I’m passionate about creating experiences that keep users engaged and build brand loyalty. After taking time to care for one of my family members, I’m excited about finding a more challenging front-end developer position with high impact and growth opportunities.

Discussing an employment gap in a job interview

During an interview, communicating your employment gap on a cover letter will also help you. Ideally, the interviewer has reviewed your cover letter, so they know your gap. In that case, they may ask questions about it, which you’re free to answer to the extent you feel comfortable. 

You can also proactively address a gap by bringing it up. But if interviewers don’t ask, you don’t have to mention it. Instead, focus on highlighting your skill set and previous experience. In discussing an employment gap, it may help to: 

• Keep it brief: You don’t have to go into too much detail. 

• Highlight skills development: If you’ve been working on your skills by taking an online course or enrolling in a certificate programme or certification, bring up this information because an employer may like to hear what you’ve been doing to continue growing. 

• Discuss career goals: If you talk about your gap in employment, connect it back to your career goals. Now that you’re actively interviewing, what are you looking for, and why would this new company be the place to help you achieve it?

A gap in employment is nothing to be ashamed of. In an interview, you get to own your story, so before you speak with a recruiter or meet with a hiring manager, take some time to think about what you want to share and how you want to discuss your employment history. 

Learn more with Coursera. 

You have several strategies available to address gaps in employment while highlighting your strengths. When discussing gaps, be direct and transparent, but focus on your skills, accomplishments, and aspirations. Your CV, cover letter, and interview responses should all align to provide a compelling narrative of your career journey, including any gaps.

Learn more about writing CVs and cover letters with the University of Maryland’s course Writing Winning Resumes and Cover Letters on Coursera. Enrol for free to gain essential tips for applying to your job search materials. 

You can also hone critical job skills by enrolling in a Professional Certificate from Google, Meta, IBM, Salesforce, and other leading companies on Coursera. Learn about in-demand areas like project management, UX design, data science, marketing analytics, and sales.