Discussing Gaps in Employment
The truth is that many of us will eventually face a gap in our employment. Despite our best attempts to prevent one, there are countless reasons why employment may lapse, with most being perfectly valid. Nevertheless, there is a certain negative cultural attitude towards employment gaps, and we must face it during job interviews. Therefore, we must explain both the reasoning for our unemployment, and also, just the same as anything else, how it helped us grow into a better applicant.
Thus, if you are facing a potentially lengthy employment gap and are able, augment this period with career-enhancing work. Academic endeavors, volunteering, freelance work, all of these things will help prove your commitment to self-improvement. We must keep in mind that interviewers make unconscious determinations all throughout the interview. If you can demonstrate that, even during an employment gap, you sought to remain productive, an employer will base their impressions based off of that: You would push the company forward just as you pushed yourself.
These kinds of reactions and judgements, unconscious biases, are an ubiquitous part of the interviewing process. But the actual information presented is just as important as how the information is presented. The language we use has a dramatic effect on an interviewer’s opinions.
Which is why the first rule of discussing an employment gap is to remain honest and positive. It’s not enough to just explain the “why” of your gap, you must also be painting that explanation in a positive light. Focus on your accomplishments at your last position. Discuss the admirable aspects of your personality which you were able to work on during your time away. Whatever the reason for your employment gap, find a way to discuss it that shows you in the best possible light. Maybe your last employer was forced to downsize. Don’t talk about your layoff with bitterness; discuss instead your gratefulness for the opportunity, and everything you were able to achieve therein. Never abandon your positivity.
Because interviewers are observant. They are masters of gleaning what conversational cues indicate the less-desirable aspects of your personality. Employers will overlook candidates who place the blame for their unemployment on others. Do not, under any circumstance, make anyone else (former employer, peers, or a negative job market) responsible for a lack of employment. The “truth” of the matter is irrelevant. When you turn towards negativity, you inadvertently paint yourself in a negative light.
This balance can be difficult to strike, especially if you have no practical experience answering an interviewer’s questions. An interview coach at www.idealinterviewco.com will spend time with you on mock interviews, preparing you for what questions might be asked and diagnosing any issues with your responses. You’ll always be in a better position to succeed when the right tone and tactics have been practiced into second-nature.
A coach can be helpful even if your employment gap was due to personal reasons (i.e. family care, sickness, etc.). Regardless of the circumstances, you have to indicate that the situation has been thoroughly resolved, and emphasize your commitment to returning to the workforce. Employers seek stability from a new hire, and whether right or wrong, it is your responsibility alone to assuage any fear they may feel of you leaving suddenly once again.