How to Justify Gaps in Your Employment History

Keep in mind that you will need to be able to explain any employment gaps on your resume to a potential employer at some point during the interview process.  Although you may have good reasons for them, employers will still need to know that you are a responsible candidate for the job opportunities that they are seeking to fill.
So you should be prepared to give account for the periods that you were unemployed.  Face it, gaps in your employment history can be deemed questionable by a hiring manager.  Read further for some possible reasons for employment gaps and how you can justify them.

FULL-TIME STUDENT
1. If you took time off from your career to return to school this is certainly justifiable.  In fact, this is a good thing, especially if you received a degree in a certain discipline.  Your degree will be proof that you were in school.  Be sure that you display the dates that you were in school on your resume.

FULL-TIME PARENT
2. If you took time off from your career to become a full-time parent you can explain this to the hiring manager.  Companies nowadays are more understanding and tolerant of parents (male or female) who need to take time off from work to spend with their children.   Keep in mind that FMLA allows 12 weeks for family and medical leave.

CAREER TRANSITION
3. If you took time off from work to change your career, not to worry.  Perhaps you stayed with your parents, spouse, relatives, etc. while you went back to school or studied on-line to complete your schooling in another field.  So now you have your degree or certificate for the job in which you are applying for.  Good for you!  Explain this to the hiring manager.

CARING FOR SICK LOVED ONE(S)
4. And certainly there is no shame in taking time off from your career to care for a sick loved one. You will just need to explain this to the hiring manager without getting to personal.

WORKING TEMPORARY OR VOLUNTEERED
5. If you worked temporary off and on...or if you volunteered for any length of time, you will need to verify the dates with the hiring manager.  Perhaps your lifestyle prevented you from working on a consistent basis and temping worked best for you; just explain this to the hiring manager. Or, maybe you volunteered for a period of time after you graduated from college because you wanted to gain experience…that’s fine, you would need to explain this as well.

CAREER SABBATICAL
6. Well, maybe you have not experienced any of the above reasons for gap(s) in your employment history, but you did take some time off from your career due to personal issues.  You don’t have to go into detail about what your issues were, but you can briefly acknowledge that you did take time off (give dates) but have moved forward since then.

ACTIVELY LOOKING FOR WORK
7. And finally, perhaps you have been actively looking for work but have not been successful in landing a job yet.  Keep in mind that nowadays it’s not uncommon for job seekers to be unemployed for an extend period of time due to the enormous competition in the job market.  You will need to explain to potential employers of your diligence and consistency in looking for work.

Concluding, so you can justify gaps in your employment for when you were in school, volunteered, and worked temporary by clearly listing the starting dates and ending dates for when you were unemployed on your resume followed by…what you were doing. You can list this on your resume but be prepared to explain it to potential employers as well.  Or you may want to use a functional resume style instead of a chronological style…but you may still need to explain reasons for gaps in your job history.

Tips:
*If possible, bring any documentation supporting your reasons for employment gaps with you to your interview(s).

Warnings:
*If you have a criminal record or have been convicted of other misdemeanor crime it’s imperative that you let the hiring manager know beforehand.  Be honest…keep in mind that this information will surface when they do a background check on you.