When we have gaps in our employment history, we stress about how to explain them away to our potential new employer. This is exactly why I encourage people to not quit their current job until they have secured a new opportunity. But what if you didn’t have a choice in the matter? As you can imagine, there are certainly different trains of thought when it comes to explaining to a potential employer why a gap exists in our employment history. Two of the most stressful employment gap scenarios are arguably long period employment gaps and gaps as a result of being terminated, especially from your most recent position.
Regardless of the reason for the gap in employment, for anyone who follows me online knows that my policy is, “honesty is the best policy.” It takes a fine balancing act for those who have to explain what led to the break in their work history because they worry that they may be seen as a less desirable candidate than someone who does not have a break in employment. My thought process is that a candidate potentially risks far more damage to their reputation and credibility if they fail to respond to this inquiry with grace and truth and their employer later becomes aware of their dishonesty.
Here are five recommendations on how you, as a candidate with a gap in your employment history, can respond to questions about that gap and maintain your dignity:
- Be honest.
- Own your part and embrace a different perspective.
- Limit minute details.
- Share a lesson you have learned from the experience.
- Share at least one change you have implemented to avoid a similar situation in the future.
Being honest is the number one piece of advice that I offer you. It truly is the best policy. Yes, depending on the circumstances, it can be uncomfortable, but being so on the front end will save you possible embarrassment and your livelihood in the future. It will also save you the stress of having to constantly wonder if your employer will ever find out that you were not honest during your interview. Remember, the Internet and social media have made the world smaller, so you never know when someone from your current employer might come in contact with someone from your former employer, start a conversation, and the beans get spilled about the details of your departure. Whether you have been in your position for two days or two years, know that no matter when your employer learns the truth, they can likely legally discipline you, up to and including terminating your employment and you might not have any recourse. And guess what, to my knowledge, there is no statute of limitations…whenever your employer finds out the truth, they can take action. Furthermore, even if your employer decides to let you keep your job, you will likely have lost credibility with them and reduced your chances for career advancement. The remaining points in this post provide suggested steps you can take to respond honorably to the interviewer’s inquiry while framing your response for positive impact.
Own your part in the process and embrace a different perspective. One of the worst things you could do, second to being dishonest, is to fail to accept accountability for your actions or decisions. Whether you forgot to call someone back; failed to complete a step in a process; or broke a policy, unintentionally, you must be courageous and own your part. Why? Because doing so enables you to see the situation from a different perspective. You may still not agree with the employer’s actions if your employment gap is the result of an involuntary separation; however, you may be able to start to see some sliver of a silver lining in the craziness…new possibilities, such as this new position that you are interviewing for. You don’t want to be all in your feelings during your interview. Accepting accountability will help you to let it go, become future-focused, and to think logically. So, guess what, the quicker you transition your mindset, the better. Besides core interview preparation, it is likely one of your best interview prep tactics.
Your employment gap may be the result of a conscious decision to pursue your entrepreneurial fantasy. Great! The problem now is that your entrepreneurial adventure was not the success that you anticipated. At least now, you don’t have to look back wondering, “What if?” By the way…you were still working, and possibly harder than when you worked for someone else. Learn how to capitalize on that experience and weave your personal and professional growth from that adventure into your response to the interviewer.
Your employment gap may be the result of your decision to be a stay at home parent. What an investment you have made into another human being, so it was not in vain. Again, you might not have been formally employed on an organization’s payroll; but you wore many hats and ran a business called “Home” which some execs would not be able to do successfully. Explain how you managed a budget, facilities, operations, supply management, and coordinated schedules. Your employment gap may be the result of a family member’s or your own long-term illness. If you made the conscious decision to take care of your loved one, you were blessed with the opportunity to spend quality time with them, possibly before they slipped away.
If you made the conscious decision to put your own health, instead of career first, now you are healthy and strong again and can claim victory over an illness that tried to take you out. Now, you’re an even better version of you. Although you should not discuss your health status with potential employers, you can just share that you took a leave of absence from work and are ready to return to work.
Limit minute details to avoid being perceived as having a victim mentality and being bitter and unable to move on. You should provide a high-level explanation with broad details of fact. For example, maybe your employment was terminated because you failed to follow workplace procedure, but you know that your former employer did not enforce that procedure consistently. Your response could be, “I was involuntarily separated because I did not adhere to XYZ procedure.” The interviewer may ask probing follow-up questions such as, what is the reason for the procedure; how should you as an employee have known about it; what contributed to your failure to adhere to the requirement. Respond to these follow-up questions with statements of fact, keeping emotion out of it, i.e., “The procedure is meant to increase safety.” “Employees are told about the procedure during orientation.” “Since the procedure is not a requirement, I thought that it was ok for me to skip that step as long as I was extra careful.” Then move on as soon as the interviewer allows you to.
Share a lesson you have learned from the experience. We should learn valuable lessons from any situation. So, there are few better ways to show our personal and professional maturity to an interviewer than by sharing our lessons learned with them. This is particularly true if the gap in our employment history is due to an involuntary separation. Share the high-level details surrounding the gap on your resume then conveniently let the interviewer know you’ve learned that your work is still successful, even when you enlist others’ help. Or, maybe you’ve learned that you shouldn’t overthink projects but take the first step to get it started. Or, maybe you’ve learned, like me, that it pays to break projects into stages to make them more manageable and to create built-in milestones. You’ve just shown the interviewer that you are constantly looking for ways to work smarter not harder and you are open to change. That’s just the type of characteristic potential employers are looking for in their new team members.
Share at least one change you have implemented to avoid a similar situation in the future. Now its time to let the interviewer know that you have put those lessons learned into action. So, using the examples of lessons learned above, you now tackle projects as a team, with colleagues’ help, instead of being the lone warrior. Now you aim for quality, but not perfection because no such thing exists. You also now celebrate project milestones at each phase to keep the momentum going, provide a sense of accomplishment, and to avoid overwhelm.
A personal/career change that you may have made regarding your current job search is to focus first on employer fit instead of salary first. You can explain that during this career search you consciously decided to not apply to positions with employers whose mission, vision, and values are not in line with your personal values. This will show the potential employer that your personal values are important to you and that you realize that a failure to let them guide you during your career transition could set you up for another unhappy employment ending. It doesn’t mean that you don’t care about earning a good salary. It means that you know how to put things into proper perspective and that when you work in an environment that you enjoy, the money will come because with fulfillment comes increased contributions and undeniable dedication that will be noticed by decision-makers within the organization. This a sign of maturity that is attractive to many employers.
Hopefully, these recommendations will reduce your stress levels if you face the challenge of explaining a gap in your employment history. Realize that an employment gap is not automatic career suicide. Ironically, it could prove to be a valuable transition point in your career that positively impacts your life in ways that you could only have imagined. An uninterrupted career does not the best employee make. It is all about how you perceive it and how you use the experience to your advantage to grow personally and professionally. Remember that you bring value, no matter the situation…and it’s your job to exude confidence in yourself and to be fully aware of the invaluable asset you can be to your next employer.
Success to you.
Go get your new job!
