Optimize your resume: 7 tips to confidently explain career gaps

Is your resume showing some gaps? Are there holes in your background due to periods of inactivity? Fear not. Sometimes, a break in your professional life is a good thing. For example: if you took a sabbatical year to travel, chances are you learned a lot more exploring the world than you would have in an office. It’s all in how you justify these gaps. If you have gaps to justify, here are 7 tips:

Be honest

Nowadays, few people don’t have gaps in their resume. The best thing you can do if questioned about the gaps in your resume is to be honest.

Prepare yourself

If you are honest, you must also be prepared. Before your interview, be ready to answer questions about gaps in your professional career. Prepare your answers so you can articulate them easily when asked.

Format your resume

Don’t use a chronological format for your resume. Put your skills first and move your history and work experience lower down.

Include a list of your achievements or strong skills at the top of your resume. Make it easy for a potential employer to see the highlights of your career. Don’t worry about chronological order, list the content by importance.

Sort by year, not by month

When you get to your professional background, list each job by year rather than by month. This will eliminate small gaps while still being completely honest.

List unrelated jobs separately

Is one of the gaps in your resume actually a job that’s unrelated to your field? You can still list it in a separate section of your resume, and less highlighted.

The past is the past

You will be hired based on what you can do for your employer in the future. After being honest about the gaps in your resume, focus on what you can bring to the employer and what will benefit the company in the future.

Highlight the positive

You certainly did something positive while you weren’t working. Highlight what you’ve learned. Did you travel? Did you volunteer? Did you take courses? Find ways to link the skills you’ve learned to the job you are applying for.