Whether you took time off to care for a child or aging parent, or you were laid off and are having a hard time finding another job, gaps in a resume happen. Sharing them with a potential employer, however, can feel awkward. How do you put a positive spin on a one-, four-, or even 12-month period of time when you weren’t working?
人力资源软件提供商人力资源副总裁凯瑟琳·帕（Kathleen Pai）说，对自己为什么经历失业的原因透明终极软件。“我们都是人类，我们都不是完美的。她说：“这并不总是与您的成功有关。”“在我们最大的挑战期间，我们通常最终会学习更多，或者当时可能是我们最大的失望。由于您过去的经验，您现在可能会带来新的观点和更强的技能。”
提前
“Gaps in resumes are not as uncommon as one might think; there are a number of plausible reasons for a job loss that have nothing to do with performance,” says Shawn Tolan, managing director ofThe Tolan Group，一家执行搜索公司。
Perhaps your company is acquired and there is redundancy in the organization, or maybe you work in a startup where the funding doesn’t come in and the company goes out of business.
托兰建议，要解决您将公司留在简历中的原因。他说：“这是一个非常简短的解释，通常不超过五到10个字。”“这通常足以减轻招聘经理的担忧。如果您不这样做，那么您就有被过去的风险。”
您能做的最糟糕的事情是在雇主或招聘经理的心中提出怀疑，汤姆·克莱纳（Thom Kleiner）Westchester-Putnam劳动力开发委员会。
他说：“如果您逐渐照顾一个生病的家庭成员，抚养孩子，另一个令人信服的原因，最好直接在您的简历上说。”
Don’t leave it out
In a survey by临时人员配备服务提供商官员, 26% of professionals said they know someone who misrepresented work dates on their resume.
Pai说，候选人可能犯的最大错误之一是在面试或简历上不真实。“必须提前和诚实。请记住，这可能是与一家新公司建立长期，充实的关系的开始 - 标记您有意义的职业中的下一个伟大篇章。不诚实会阻碍您的进步，甚至损失您的工作机会。”
Ariel Schur说，您在简历或遗漏的信息上进行了调整的任何内容都可能会在某个地方找到。ABS人员配备解决方案。
“It’s better that this information come from you versus your prospective employer, feeling like you’ve lied on the spot,” she says. “Your employer will be able to search for you and your past company on the internet, so I think it’s important to be up front and honest about any big, lingering stories that your new prospective employer might find.”
How to address being fired
If you were let go due to your performance, it can be trickier to handle, says Michele Mavi, director of internal recruiting, training, and content forAtrium, a staffing and employment agency. “[Use] simple and concrete terms that don’t involve hostility, defensiveness, or negative feelings,” she says. “You must be prepared to talk about it. If an interviewer senses reluctance or avoidance in answering questions about gaps, it creates distrust and distance, which will work against you. That doesn’t mean you need to go into every detail, either.”
Try including your response between two positive statements about what you’ve learned and what you plan to accomplish because of it, says Pai. “Prepare what you want to say, and practice it before the interview,” she says.
斯蒂芬妮·纳兹尼茨基（Stephanie Naznitsky）说OfficeTeam。她说：“即使您在先前的职位上面临挑战，也不要脱颖而出过去的雇主或老板。”
What’s important is that you show that it was a learning experience, adds Mavi. “You can say it wasn’t the right fit or that it wasn’t the right position for you for various reasons,” she says. “Perhaps you took a role that was too advanced for your skill set at the time. Or perhaps you were in a role you weren’t suited for and have since acquired new skills or transitioned into a role that’s more fitting. Whatever it is, being able to show that you took a negative situation and have learned from it and have been able to move on will be critical to the success of your interview.”
Accentuate the positive
If you used any of the time during the employment gap to volunteer, attend trainings, learn new skills, or conduct career research, talk about that, says Kleiner.
“Convert those activities to selling points on your resume,” he says. “For example, a stay-at-home caregiver might add ‘scheduled medical appointments, coordinated hospice care, managed budgets, executed care decisions under pressure, coordinated legal and insurance documentation.'”
“Mention professional development courses or volunteer activities that show additional efforts to keep your skills current,” adds Naznitsky.
But don’t stress over it too much
“Let’s face it, not every job works out, and that’s okay,” says Tommy Chenoweth, head of people strategy at the digital marketing agency一月数字。“What I’m looking to hear from candidates is why the job didn’t work, and what they learned from the experience. If someone can learn from a negative experience, that speaks volumes for their character.”
Character is important to employers, Chenoweth continues. “Fundamentals can be taught, but character can’t,” he says. “Plus, what made someone ill-suited for one job may be exactly the skill we are looking to hire.”