Practical help to find job happiness

gaps in employment

How to explain gaps in employment on your CV

Explaining gaps in employment to a new employer can be tough.

It’s common for everyone to have at least one period of unemployment during their career – in other words, a gap in their CV. Hiring managers and recruiters will be looking at these when considering you for a job and will need to see clear reasons.

Many people think that a gap in employment is a negative, particularly if they were unwell or out of work – but it doesn’t have to mean that. Life happens when we least expect it and there can be a whole range of perfectly good reasons for being out of work.

Valid reasons can include:

  • Having a health condition
  • Being made redundant and trying to find a new job
  • Having a gap year to travel
  • Having a baby or raising a family
  • Caring for a family member

These are just a few reasons for having gaps in your employment, but applicants often aren’t sure how to explain these and believe it could stop them from getting the job.

Here are some tips to help you explain any gaps in employment to an employer:

Say what you learned during your gap in employment

Rather than just saying you were out of work, try to expand on what you did during this time. How did you spend your time? Did you take the time to learn something new? Maybe you learned a new skill in your spare time.

Even if you didn’t, try thinking about one or two skills you’ll need in the job you’re applying for and talk about how you spent time honing that skill, which will be more impressive than saying you spent time playing on your Xbox!

Exclude months for short gaps in employment

If you were out of work or seeking a new role, you can include the year and season, rather than the months. For example:

  • Unemployed and actively seeking work – winter, 2020
  • Offered new role and awaiting paperwork – spring, 2020

Work from a skills-based or functional CV

This type of CV focuses on the skills and strengths you have and how you have achieved them, rather than your working history. These CVs are good for people who are searching for a career change. A skills-based CV means that there will be less of a focus on dates and times when you have not been working.

Highlight the benefits

Taking a gap year to travel or take some time out from the working world can have great advantages

Explain to the employer your reasons for taking time out to travel or go volunteering. Say more than just taking time out from working. What made you want to visit a particular place? What were the benefits of travelling? Highlight advantages such as learning something new, understanding a different culture, being independent and learning new skills. You may not associate travelling with skills for work, but these can include all sorts of things, such as building confidence, working on your own initiative, problem-solving, organising and planning.

Explain health conditions briefly

Taking time out of work for reasons of health can make you want to leave it off your CV completely. This is because people worry that an employer will see time off as slacking or that they are less likely to get the job. If anything, an employer will simply want to know your valid reason and if they will need to support your well-being if they offer you the job. But, as long as you’re upfront and open with the employer, they will appreciate it. And they will want to know about health conditions where they can offer extra support if they offer you the job.

Here’s what you can say:

‘I developed a serious illness that meant I had to take some time out of work. I spent X weeks/months recovering and looking after myself, got better and was ready to return to work.’

‘A long-term condition meant that I needed support to manage and get the right treatment for.’

You don’t need to go into lots of detail. Explain what happened, the length of time it was for and steps you took to help you return to work.

Bonus: Here are some positive examples of language you can use to tell an employer in an interview or on your CV about the gap in employment:

‘I went on a gap year to (country X), which really helped me to broaden my experiences of X and learn about culture.’

‘While looking for work, I did a short course in X, which helped me to develop in (skill).’

‘I was looking for work after being made redundant, and taking the time to write job applications and network with people in my industry to find a new job.’

red flags job postings

4 red flags in job postings to watch out for in an ad

I remember starting a job with a company selling house maintenance products over the phone. I remember feeling really excited and ready to get stuck into one of my first jobs after college. The job asked for people with a ‘can-do’ attitude who were willing to be rewarded for hard work. I’d turned up, feeling that I was the person who could ‘hit the ground running’ and make some serious sales.

A couple of months in and the job was nothing like I thought. Rather than building relationships with new customers, we were pressured to follow a stiff script of phony phrases, had supervisors standing over us making inappropriate hand gestures and ridiculing staff in front of their colleagues if their targets weren’t met.

This was definitely one of the employers that had some serious red flags in its job posting that I didn’t realise at the time.

As well-intentional as recruiters mean to be, job vacancies often contain language or phrases that, reading between the lines, mean they could be a company you don’t want to work for.

A report by Revelio Labs reveals that there are certain phrases to be aware of that could be red flags in job postings.

Meaning you might not want to work for a certain employer.

These ‘red flaggers’ indicate that a job could either involve micro-managing, be very stressful or involve long hours – some of the aspects of a job many people wouldn’t welcome.

According to Revelio Lab’s report, most of the jobs advertising with these red flags are based in the marketing, sales and finance sectors.

Here are a handful of commonly-used phrases to be aware of and what they actually mean:

‘Fast-paced environment’

This is a common way of describing what an employer would be like to work for. This is a red flag in a job posting because it actually indicates that you’ll be under pressure.

A lot of pressure.

Maybe you’ll be set targets. While many people think this means there might be varied or interesting tasks, it could also mean people running around like blue-assed flies. It can indicate high expectations for staff to do a lot in a short time or be asked to do tasks quickly at the last minute.

‘Must be able to hit the ground running’

There’s nothing wrong with working on your own initiative and getting on with your work. These are good qualities to have. But, what this phrase in a job posting often means (from my experience and speaking with recruiters) is that you’ll be given lots to do, with minimal training. If any training at all! You’ll be expected to learn fast without having systems or processes explained to you. Or you’ll be shown a process once and expected to get it right away, without asking questions.

Ask yourself if you really want this type of pressure in your life.

‘Must meet deadlines without compromising on quality’

It goes without saying that deadlines are good in business and that, of course, a high quality of work is produced. Absolutely. But to state this in a job description can be a bit telling. Underlying this statement tells us that the employer may give unrealistic deadlines with no flexibility. This, coupled with high expectations, will be achieved only by people willing to quickly burn out.

‘Work hard and play hard’

This red flag phrase is more commonly seen in ads for roles in the marketing, recruitment and sales sectors. While it can sound appealing to some applicants for an employer to say they reward staff with team days out, dinners or nights out together, it can also mean this:

  • Staff is expected to work overtime when needed without extra pay.
  • Joining teams on days out, including on non-working days.

The new workforce of Gen Z is less interested in working long hours, working in the office or socialising with colleagues outside of work, according to a report.

Instead, they value other benefits, including staff well-being, free food and being paid a reasonable amount over the minimum wage and the ability to work autonomously.

The ‘work hard play hard’ concept was trendy at one point, but this is slowly starting to lose its shine and is almost always a red flag.

Bonus red flag – ‘competitive salary’

More often than not, when an employer mentions the salary is competitive – it isn’t! That’s the basic truth. It may be just over the minimum wage or based on commission, so look for clues around this. To the new generation coming into the workforce, as well as people looking to make a career change, pay is an important consideration. You need to know upfront what you’ll be paid – or at least given a guideline!

Have you come across any other red flags in job postings? Share them below.