Why you should offer interviews to applicants with resume gaps

by Isabell Prophet and Qayyah Moynihan

From a human perspective, a gap in your resume is obviously a good thing — you've spent that time having pizza for breakfast, entertaining clever thoughts, learning Spanish vocabulary, or devouring all seven Harry Potter books.

Gaps in your resume mean freedom and freedom takes courage. I'm in my mid-30s now, but from 1992 to 2008 when I was preparing for working life, I feared the resume gap. Career advisors taught us to see them as the death knell to our careers.

"People will ask about it," we were warned. "And what are you going to say?"

Having come from a non-academic family, I certainly wouldn't have dared to leave any gaps in my resume before my first job in a local newsroom.

The fear of plunging myself into "economic ruin" would've plagued me and I would've been afraid of how I'd justify myself in job interviews — and whether I'd even be able to respond to the dreaded question.

But now, my advice to anyone with a resume gap would be to answer boldly.

I dropped out of a university degree and spent my days playing computer games until I finally got a place on a different program. Although that might not seem like a good use of my time, it taught me a very important lesson — if something doesn't work for me, I have to change it.

At that point, it was my degree, and later on, it was a company I was working for. Both times, it's been worth it because I've been able to better evaluate my situation and think about my skills and what I really want. My life has improved as a result and I've become a better worker.

Read the entire article on Business Insider: https://www.businessinsider.com/hr-recruiter-interview-job-offer-time-off-career-jobseeker-unemployed-2021-4