I always go with "I was caring for a sick relative, some things are more important than work or money" its a good way to suss out the companies priorities too, regarding the employees
My biggest resume gap was a 6 month gap. I was laid off (technically "my position was eliminated") and immediately started looking, but opportunities were slim.
I knew the gap may not look good, even if I was searching the whole time, so I enrolled in a few classes at the local community college when the new semester began.
As it happened, a few weeks after my layoff, my grandfather fell ill as well and it turned out to be a relief for the whole family that I was able to pull the overnight shifts caring for him at my grandparents' home in the last month and a half of his life.
Though my stretch of unemployment lasted long after he passed, the few times I've been asked about this gap in an interview, my response has usually been "I was caring for my dying grandfather" with no elaboration.
At that point, the majority of interviews who asked either let it go and move on or express sympathy and continue. The one interview I've been in where that wasn't enough and they tried to get into specifics, I wrote off that position mentally in that moment and it was just going through the motions until I could get out of there. I figured any place that would pry for details in that situation to see if they felt it was justified was the type of place that would feel justified prying into my private life if I were employed there.
Good answer, because whoever interviewed you probably won’t ask that question to someone else now.
Give an answer that casts just a little bit of tension into the room, just enough to make the interviewer question what the hell they hoped to learn from asking it.
It still comes down to if your company is made of people or lizards.
Recruiters can take your answer as "this person has sick elderly relatives, who are surely not going to get any better during his employment".
If they are people, they will respect you.
If they are lizards, then you are better off not working there in the first place.
Getting rejected by lizards is a win.
This assumes the relatives are still alive. Also this question seems to only be asked in a country that has also not a functional health care system. Probably because you don't have any really employee protection laws either.
"I was fired from my previous job due to acts of drunken sloth and a little theft. Then I spent time on my couch, doing nothing but watching Starsky and Hutch reruns in my underwear, eating cold spaghetti-os from the can and drinking warm beer. Then when the welfare checks ran dry, I blackmailed a manager at the next job. He hired me, I did nothing, but he was replaced by someone who didn't have anything I could dig up in his past quick enough. I can't work with Tom Swift Jr. there, so I am applying here. Here is a list of my demands upon hire, and some background checks I ran on you. When do I start?"
-- what these people think about a gap in your employment, possibly.
You joke, but there are people that will actually admit crazy shit like this.
I kid you not, I once asked a candidate what their greatest weakness is on the job. They then obliged with a vivid story about how they were pretty much the worst employee ever at their previous job. It was a clear "I don't know what I expected" moment, to be sure.
Not too far from the truth, honestly.
Brilliant work, I just don't believe I'll be able to remember it all in the interview...
LMAO this is great!
Got this question in an interview once. I just said I had taken time off for my health, and we moved on immediately.
Most people aren't dicks. They'll respect your privacy, because it's unprofessional to pry. Even as an employee if you have a health issue, they aren't obligated to know the specifics of it. You tell someone siloed off what the issue is, and they'll communicate to everyone else that you had a serious injury and that's it.
it's unprofessional to ask in the first place, in my opinion. you can assume any gap is for a good reason and ask me about my experience instead.
Yeah. I imagine at some point in my career I'm going to be asked to interview candidates as a kind of "hey you've been an engineer here for a while, what do you think of their technical background", and I don't plan to ask about any gaps. That really doesn't factor into their abilities or prowess.
In fact, this might be a good tactic to weed out bad employers - assuming one has the luxury of multiple interviews, of course.
employers when their human employees face human problems: 😲
God forbid you're looking for a job because you don't have one.
I mean, I get both sides of it. Most people don't quit without a job lined up, so odds are you were either fired or got into it bad with someone at your workplace and just quit outright. Ive had several gaps before but had no issues with answering - quit to hike the AT once, and quit to take care of my first child for 3 months (they only provided 1 week, I told them I was taking a month, and if they didn't like it, they could go pound sand. Turns out they really didn't like it and tried to contractually prevent me from leaving their company with insane non-compete and other such BS - so I just quit outright and told them it's their loss).
Just know how to answer that question, because I guarantee that it will come in every interview.
Or, you know, you got laid off due to company “right sizing”…. So yeah, plenty of people are out of work without a job lined up.
Yeah, I was working contract, contract ended abruptly and now I’ve been out of a job since September. Despite the amount of layoffs happening in tech, it seems a lot of other industries are holding on to people.
I think I read the stat that in 2022 LinkedIn had 1 job posted for 1 person searching, in 2023 they had 1 job posted for every 2 people searching according to their research team. Companies can be more selective with an over abundance of applicants, miss qualified ones with floods of resumes, or just straight fly “just in case” postings.
This has been the roughest few months of my life, and I’ve done a combat tour in Iraq.
Just know how to answer that question, because I guarantee that it will come in every interview.
Really?
Maybe it varies by field, but the further out I've gotten from my longest gap, the less often I'm asked about it. In fact in my last two jobs, they never even brought it up in the interviews.
"Unfortunately I am still under the obligation of an NDA and cannot discuss it."
This is an actual strategy that people use (especially in tech, engineering, and trades), and yes it does work
I'm sorry I can't say, I signed an NDA.
Just say you took a sabbatical
I prefer "no, I signed an NDA"
"You don't have the clearance for that"
Time dilatation.
Interviewer: Are you suggesting that you left your previous employer at a substantial percentage of the speed of light to only slow down and arrive here at this very moment?
Candidate: I remember it like it was yesterday.
Interviewer: ::hasty note-taking noises::
Yes.
Can you explain why it's any of your goddamn business?
I once again prostate myself before the orphan crushing machine in hopes of achieving food that I too can not only see and smell but taste. I know not what I did to bring it's ire but I will do anything you wish to stop it's gaze HR Lord, is it yet MORE compliance? the MOST correct way?
I'm sorry, I signed a non-disclosure agreement.
In only put years on my resume.
That way you can have an 11 month gap, while the dates still line up.
We are in a point where even a toxic gf or bf wont ask. The entitlement to interfere in workers life is amazing.
I have a 3.5 year gap on mine and used to dread this question. It came up during a second or third interview with a previous employer and the dread left as I answered honestly:
I was married to someone that was fortunate enough to have a lot of wealth and I didn't need to work. During this time we traveled a good bit and I went back to school for a stint to study music theory. I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything in the world but, alas, the marriage didn't work out and I had to go back to work. When reviewing my options I found a renewed sense of purpose in my career that transcends a simple means to pay my bills. I am very blessed to have had these opportunities and wish everyone was as fortunate.
Just tell them you were doing handyman/freelance stuff in-between 'official' employment.
'fixing/making XYZ things for friends/neighbors while looking for permanent employment'
You look good for not sitting on your ass during that time and get somewhat of a hand waive pad over that time. If they ask for records, tell them that because it was unofficial, under-the-table work, there's no good records. They're just trying to fill a position, they won't follow up on insignificant data or goose-chases.
"Oh that? That was when I was renting a derelict building adjacent to s bank so I could tunnel into its vault and rob it at night."
The more I don't get hired because of that gap, the more the gap grows. I can't get a job because I don't have experience because I can't get a job because I don't have experience because i can't get a job because I don't have experience...
Felt like doing fuck all. Did fuck all. Need money again.
I was taking a breather, goddamn.
I got asked this about the time period from 2020-mid2021. And for some reason they needed to hear whether or not I was seeking work while out of work due to a global pandemic.
Even Arizona wasn't requiring you to seek work to claim unemployment during that time... Yes, I milked the state for all I could, got to spend time with my kids, wouldn't change a thing.
honestly don't think employers or anyone else ask that question anymore. But if they did, just tell them you got a windfall and went on vacation for awhile.
I was hiding from the police.
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