In today's tough job market, you need to carefully present your work experience to avoid being seen as unstable. An unexplained gap on your CV is a red flag to a recruiting manager because employers don't like to see gaps in your employment history. If the gap is short - a couple of months - or occurred several years ago, recruiters won't notice and you probably don't need to bring it up unless they do. However, if you are dealing with recent periods of unemployment extending for months or even years, you will need to start strategizing because significant gaps can indicate bad things, such as a prison or jail stay. A gap is normally considered to be a period of time longer than six months.
If you have a noticeable gap in employment dates but don't explain it, many recruiters will just discard your CV and move on to the next one, so the wise thing to do is to recognize that the gap is potentially damaging for your chances, and deal with it in a meaningful way.
If you have a period of unemployment in your history, here are some ways of dealing with it:
Include an explanation in your cover letter: Reintroducing yourself to potential employers after an extended gap in your employment history is a lot easier with a strong, well-crafted cover letter, particularly if you have a legitimate reason. For example, if you have taken time off work to take care of children or an elderly relative, the cover letter gives you the opportunity to briefly explain the corresponding gaps in your CV. Be sure to make your cover letter sound confident and upbeat, indicating that you have been actively searching for a suitable new role and that you see this as a positive opportunity to identify a position in which you will thrive. Be sure your tone is not apologetic. That way, the employer will know that there's an explanation for you being out of the workforce. However, if you're returning after an extended absence, you'll need to show how you've kept up-to-date with changes in your industry.
Use a Functional CV: By using a functional or skill-based CV, you can tailor your CV to highlight skills and competencies sought by a potential employer and de-emphasize your dates of employment. For example, a software tester who has worked with several test tools could legitimately use a functional resume, dividing up the CV by technologies worked with instead of time periods. If you do use a functional CV, include a note above your list of experiences indicating the most recent employer's name, location and line of business.
Use "year to year" versus "month to month" dates: If you're currently in a position that spans multiple years, you can cover the gaps by leaving out the months when listing dates on your CV. For example, if you've had a nine month gap from 1/2003 to 10/2003, you could say 2003 - Present. The "year to year" format can be used to conceal significant employment gaps.
Month to Month Year to Year
Oct 2003 - Present, Customer Care Mgr, Gap, London 2003 - Present, Customer Care Mgr, Gap, London
Jan 2002 - Jan 2003, Manager, Oxford 2002 - 2003, Manager, Oxford
Mar 1999 - Jan 2002, Manager, London 1999 - 2002, Manager, London
As you can see, using the "month to month" format in the above example reveals the gap in employment between January 03 and Oct 03. However, without the months, there is no apparent gap as the "year to year" format takes care of this problem. This technique is widely used by experts in CV writing. Remember, the aim of your CV is to win as many interviews as possible and to use whatever legitimate marketing techniques that help you get them.
Other Experience: What did you do while you weren't employed? Volunteer activities, travel, community involvement, special projects, consulting engagements and continuing education all count and can be included on your CV. List them as you would list your other jobs - with job title, company name, job description, and dates of employment. If you took a class, you can list that in the Education section of your CV. If you did something really interesting, such as travel around the world, then it is appropriate to add that. A recruiting manager can use that information as an "ice breaker" in an interview.
What's most important is to tell the truth. If you lie on your CV, it will probably come back to haunt you because employers verify work history no matter how long it takes. Therefore, if you put incorrect information on your CV, they'll probably find out. It's OK to fine tune an individual CV for the specific company or job. But a lie is a lie and there are few excuses for that. It is much better to learn how to talk about that gap in your employment, rather than lie about it.
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