As a recruiter, one of the most discouraging things I come across on resumes is a large gap in time that has been left unaddressed. Say for example the last job entry posted on a resume ended in 2009. Although there is a chance that the job seeker has actually been unemployed and viably searching for employment since then, 90 percent of the time this isn't the case. I only know this because it's the first thing I address when speaking with them on the phone. I will literally ask, "What have you been doing with yourself since you worked at such and such corporation?" I find this this takes a lot of job seekers off guard, but really, it's a viable question.
I need to know, did you just decide to sit around by the pool and eat bon bons for three years? Choose to become a reality TV connoisseur? Determine that you should dedicate all your time to expanding your salt and pepper shaker collection? Probably not. Chances are you've been doing something else that's actually important, you just didn't know how to talk about it on your resume.
Two of the most common reasons I hear for major unemployment gaps are: raising small children and taking care of elderly parents.
Stay at home moms or dads, and responsible adult children taking care of their baby boomer parents need to hear me on this- what you've been doing is worthy work. Recruiters do not look down upon you for having done this. As a matter of fact, when I hear this explanation I tell them that I find this admirable and it's not just a line. I think it's a testimony to the job seeker's integrity, which is something potential employers find attractive. Yes, we are aware that you might need to brush up on your Microsoft Office Suite or other specific computer skills. The likelihood is strong, however, that we'd rather invest ourselves as a company in training someone of this caliber vs. a lazy bon bon eater.
On that note, are you thinking of applying for a job that requires a lot of computer work. but are concerned about not being up to date with the latest programs? You have options. You can look up your local community college schedule and take a short class to brush up on techniques. Or, you can go to your local book store to purchase a book on the latest programs, then (depending on the software) download a free trial on your home computer and practice.
If either of these are not an option for you, ask an employed friend if you can get some lessons from them until you feel at ease with execution. While most companies will accommodate with training, it doesn't hurt to take a proactive approach and then mention this over the phone to the recruiter or HR rep.
If you have been in a care-taking role and are looking to reenter the workforce, please, do NOT be embarrassed about this. Most importantly, list it as an occupation entry on your resume as recruiters and HR reps don't like to have to guess what a job seeker's been up to. Make the entry simple, state the year range and title it either "Stay at home parent" or "Caregiver for elderly family member". Although not always necessary, you can choose the option of putting a description and listing some highlighted responsibilities as well. Contrary to what you might have previously thought, most employers will view this favorably. And if not? You probably don't want to work for a company like that anyway.
Happy job hunting!
how can an application help me to get job…..
Kim,
On my application I have named a company that I worked for, however, they no longer exist. How do you explain this on an application?? Help.
Hi Miriam! Great question. You can still add them as a previous employer. Do you have a way to contact your old supervisor for a recommendation? If not, just put n/a in the contact information section and explain that the company is no longer in business.
I have to say thank you for this article! I have been a stay-at-home Mom who started college last year, and do to the extra financial strain, I am now a job-seeker. Not once did I think to put “stay at home mother” on my resume! That is leaving an over two-year gap in my work history! I love bon bons, but I certainly haven’t just sat around eating them! lol (I get them very rarely in fact!) Anyway, thank you a lot! Wish me luck on getting a job so that I can continue my education!
I did stay home to take care of my daughter when she was born but didn’t like not earning a wage of some sort to have some of my own money so i started baby sitting. This was a wonderful income while it lasted, but all the kids in the neighborhood grew to be school age and babysitting was less and less needed. I went back to school but I had to keep working so I started cleaning houses. That’s what I have been doing with most of my time. These jobs are cash in hand so no real paycheck, no company name, no supervisor. It’s hard to completely fill in those blanks in an application when there isn’t the information to put in. I would like to know how I can have a more completely looking application for a job with childcare and house cleaning, cash in hand jobs as my work history for the past 13 years.
Why not try “a stay at home mother”. That is recommended by the article,
I have this issue and I am quite embarrassed about it, it’s not that I didn’t want to work I just didn’t know what I was good at or what I truly wanted without the help of someone trying to pressure me into doing something. I did try Avon but wasn’t very good at it. I wasn’t doing too good in school after that job ended so I really had to focus on school. What should I put as a reason I have a huge gap?
Hi Krystle! Just explain that you were in school and are now ready for a job.
I have to respond to this article. Some of us are actually unemployed and actively looking for employment. I’m a recent graduate with a BSB in Human Resource Management degree and have been unemployed since 10/2011. I have been applying for jobs daily, I send out about 10-15 resumes every 2 days. I have not gotten lucky to find a job. Some gaps on a resume is just due to being unemployed!
how about if the gap has been since the last job was due to a lay-off and you took a temp job and then THAT job ended. Now it has been 5 months later with NO JOB. I spend 8 plus hours PER day LOOKING for a JOB. whether be internet, networking, applying at places, calling people etc.
This takes TIME, not to mention GAS to put in my car and to drive to these places and i will do
this also on Saturday AND Sunday if have too….You see i am a nurse and yes NURSES GET laid off too. especially with my specialty. I am a Quality Improvement Nurse. What it boils down to is…I check up on Doctors and review patients charts to make sure they are suppose to be
doing “THE RIGHT STUFF” I worked for a manged care company. Been on interviews, everyone tells me how GREAT i am…..but no job. .
I have worked over 25 years in administrative buisness/office/clerical. During the post mortgage years I volunteered with my husband as cook and sous chef running a kichen that was open 5 nights a week. I cannot figure out to integrate this with my other skills. Any ideas ?
I think you can definitely list that volunteer work as experience. It definitely is work-5 days (or nights) a week. It may not qualify as administrative business/office/clerical but it definitely is restaurant/hospitality. Every little bit helps, I suppose. I’m sure you know this by now but there are tons of books that can be checked out at the library –for free–about how to write resumes that are far more reliable than, for example. ,myself. Good luck!
I have a large gap in my resume which to be honest, the only way to put it is that I was in and out of rehabs and hospitals for months. I’ve been clean now for 3 years, but I still don’t know if telling the truth would be the best option for me. I had to fight to get my life and sobriety back.
Hi Matthew! You can just say you were having medical issues, but that it is no longer a problem and you are ready to get back to work. No need to get into specifics. Good luck!
Hi Kim, I lost my last job due to being tardy, I think that is part of what is hurting me when I apply for jobs. My problem was that I had to drop my son off at school in the mornings and there was no bus for him to catch, I no longer drop him off, as well as some of the tardies said I was 1 minute late, that I don’t remember. How should I word this termination when asked?
We had a new person in HR who gave many people problems, with no explanation, unfortunately its my word against his. I have never had an issue where I didn’t want a possible employer to call my old employer, but I am now thinking he may be causing me problems. Is it a bad thing to say no to calling this employer?
Hi Yolanda – Requesting they don’t call your employer does look suspicious and I don’t really recommend going in that direction. You can just explain that you were in a position that caused you to be late some days. But, that you have fixed that situation and it will not longer be a problem. Tell them you regret that you were late but have take the appropriate steps to make sure this is no longer an issue. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions!
Hello Matthew. Ive been clean for 3 years too in fact 11/22 it will be 4
congrats I know that is a hard hurdle to jump over. What I always say is that I was having some family issues but they are now resolved and Im ready to begin working again. Like Kim said you dont have to go into specifics. And most of all DONT GIVE UP!! Best of luck to you on you journey 
I found this article useful also. I have been out of the ‘traditional’ workforce since 1991!!
I had taken some cash in hand cleaning jobs, volunteered my time trying to save a hundred year old union from closing it’s doors here by organizing a Democratic booth at our local fair and handed out information about joining the union, I had two children and raised them,I have done a couple fund raisers for Muscular Dist. and our local Discovery museum, taken a class at our local college and am now certified as a Citizen Emergency Response Team member and Disaster Preparedness Response,…My problem is all the people I worked for are either passed away or no longer in business, employers want supervisors to ask how dependable and reliability you were. Personal references can’t give them that. I have addressed the gap with a cover letter, but I am not getting call backs due to no past employer contact. Any suggestions?
Hi,
My husband took a job ans we moved across the country, and I was unable to transfer with my company. I havebeenlooking since we moved almost a year ago.
How do I explain this on a resume?
Thanks,
Barb
Hi Barb! You can say that your husband accepted a job across the country and you’ve been in the process of settling in and are now in the position where you can start working again. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions!
I have been out of work since 2007 when the Company I had worked for had to close down due to the economy. I have been searching for employment since. The beginning of this year I did watch my Grandsons while their Mom worked. I have had prospective employers look down at me b/c I haven’t been employed since 2007. Most are seeking employees with more recent experience. How are the people like me supposed to get jobs if they will not hire someone who has been out of work for a long time? I have the experience just not recent work experience.
I have an odd one. Durring my Gap I was living off money saved from my previous job and trying to ride out a legal battle between the state of Michigan and the Michigan Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Michigan. Since there was a money possibility there I wanted to stick it out as long as I could and then my money ran dry and i had to seek employment through other means. During this Time i focused on being a MMMA Caregiver and Learned to grow Marijuana Plant and Bring them through to harvest for my patient. A lot of research and time was put into being as good as i could be at this, but I feel that This is not a desirable skill or even one that might be looked down on or judged by employees since i now live in Chicago where it is not a legal possibility. Should i explain that?
I have been out of work since 2007. I was the victim of a chemical leak at work. Started a WC case, but do to governmental facility, no attorney would take it. For over one year, I had an open case, but through deception, they had it closed. It took me years to overcome the effects of the chemicals, now that I am ready to go back to work, my “gap” looks bad. I have volunteered helping people as an advocate, maintenance repair, and file management person, but this still does not seem good enough for recruiters.
I got layed off from a retail commissioned based job in nov.2011 due to tardiness. My car broke down two months into the new job, which was 58 miles from my house. During the next 18 months I was late 3 times that resulted in terrmination. About a week later my eldery dad had a massive stroke, and decided to stop looking for work to take care of him. How can I explain the lay of, now that my car is fixed. thank you
Hello. I am running out of ideas in which I can do in searching for a job. I have bachelor’s degrees in psychology and liberal studies and a certification in human resource management. Further, I have seven years in healthcare. I’ve applied to hundreds of jobs in HR, even as an assistant, office assistant, healthcare positions and never receive a phone call. I have an extensive educational background, however direct experience in HR or psychology. I just don’t know what to do anymore. Should I dumb down my resume. As this point I just what a job but also one I can enjoy and make a life-time career im. Can you please help me.
I do have a gap in my employment which is 16 months. Do you think it will be logical to put stay at home mom when my son is 14 years old?
Hi Lisa – It’s perfectly fine to put that! Good luck
I don’t feel that this article really addressed the original question posted on facebook about explaining time off for mental/emotional illness. When I explain this to some future employers they question what type of medical issue I was dealing with. I decline to answer that and it usually blows the whole interview. On another note I received this email today:
My response follows the email since it came from an email you can not reply to.
Hi Lenia,
My name is Kim and I’m your job search coach at Snagajob. I wanted to let you know that Delintz is hiring for Vent cleaning Tech in Brighton. This job just went live on the site, so you can be one of the first to apply. Since you already have a Snagajob profile, applying is simple, and you can even do it from your phone now!
Click here to apply.
Thanks, and I’ve got my fingers crossed for you!
Kim
P.S. If you have any questions about applying or your job search in general, you can find me on Facebook!
If you’re not interested in receiving emails from me ever again, you may let me know here.
(C) 2013 SnagAJob.com, Inc., 4851 Lake Brook Drive, Glen Allen, VA 23060. All rights reserved.
Kim,
I appreciate the email but as a 44 year old woman with most of my background in education and customer service I will have to pass.
Thank you,
Lenia
Hi,
I tried to update my profile in order to bridge my gap but the app will not let put stay at home mom or domestic engineer…what could I do???
There are local employment offices that help with Resume`s, job searches, putting in applications and a lot of services to offer people if you just take the time to look into it. So you can get the information from this website plus a great deal more if you will go to your local employment services office in your county. I am in Kentucky and the advice given on this site is good but there are so many services offered in the community. Check out the resources in your community.
Hi Beth! Employers will want to know what you’ve been up to while you’ve been searching for a job. Being able to say you have been taking a class, volunteering or learning a new skill will help them realize how ambitious you are. Good luck!
Beth and Lily -
I just wanted to say I am where you guys are and it is not a good place to be.
That being sad…. I put Temp and Contract jobs, without listing specifics.(and some are as simple as organizing a friends closet – some are more professional but most fall under odd jobs). Best of luck!!!
Hi Linda! Running a kitchen required a lot of organizational and leadership skills. This will be important with almost every job you apply for.
How do I get your Job? I am quite a fiction writer myself, however I do find it difficult to blatantly pump up people for a fall.
Well said.