In my last post I discussed what experience to include in your resumé, and stressed not to leave jobs out, as you don't want to leave gaps in your work history. What is the issue with gaps in a resumé, and what do you do if you have gaps in your work history?

The real issue is a potential employer has no way of knowing why there is a three and a half year gap in your experience (for example), and is left to their own assumptions which may not be positive. Perhaps you deleted a job where you did not perform well or left on bad terms. Did you skip over a job because it doesn’t meet your career objective? Or, they may assume that you didn’t work at all during this unaccounted time.

To avoid this, any gaps in your work history need to be explained in writing.

There are a few general rules about resumé gaps:

  • Any unaccounted time that is shorter than three months doesn’t need to be explained. Having 60-90 days in between jobs is not too unusual, and will hardly be noticed . Gaps extending beyond three months should be addressed in your cover letter or e-mail.
  • Always, always, always be honest! I cannot stress this enough. If you are honest with your potential employer, you will not have to worry about what they may find when checking your references, doing a background check, or surprising you with questions in an interview.
  • If you have held jobs that are not applicable to your career objective, include them anyway. Experience is experience, after all. Focus on transferable skills. Highlight accomplishments. Try to use it as an opportunity to demonstrate success in a field that is outside your current expertise, and thus exhibit your resourcefulness and flexibility.
  • Rather than create gaps in your resumé, explain why you held jobs outside of your field in your cover letter or in an email to your potential employer. Given the current state of the economy, employers are likely to be more understanding than in the past regarding gaps of employment. Again, just be honest.

There are often valid reasons for gaps in employment. Did you go back to school? Take time off to raise your children, or to care for a loved one? Whether you had personal or professional reasons for not working, the gaps in your employment history need to be explained as you don’t want to leave the employer to make their own assumptions.

Whatever the reasons for the gaps in your work history, it's important to keep the tone of your cover letter and resumé positive. You do not need to be apologetic – life happens and you don’t need to be sorry for taking time off of work. Be positive, and show your potential employer that you never lost focus on your career.