
How to Write a Good CV for a UK Job: Tips & Examples
You don’t need to be a Booker Prize laureate to make your own curriculum vitae. Learn how to write a CV highlighting your qualifications using this guide in a matter of minutes.
CV gaps are embarrassing and they can keep you from getting hired. How can you show you’re not a slacker? See this sample CV with gaps in employment and get hired fast.
You’re about to see a great sample CV with gaps in employment.
But first—
CV gaps can hurt your hiring chances and make employers wonder.
“Is she an alcoholic? Flighty? Depressed? A convict?”
Let’s dispel that.
You can prove you’re worthy—even with employment gaps on a CV.
You just need to show there’s no gap in your skills.
In this guide:
Save hours of work and get a CV like this. Pick a template, fill it in. Quick and easy. Choose from 21 CV templates and download your CV now.
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Jamie Kubat
IT Project Manager
Personal Info
Phone: 619-850-1396
E-mail: jamiezkubat@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/jamiezkubat
twitter.com/jamiezkubat
Summary
Resourceful IT project manager with 4+ years of experience and 10 years of business experience. Seeking to increase IT project efficiency at Aegisdyne. At Ermschwender Aerospace, managed 200+ projects with Oracle Primavera P6. Slashed meeting times by 10 hrs/wk for each of 10+ engineers, saving £300,000 per year. Trained 3 IT staff.
Experience
Sabbatical, 2017–present
IT Project Manager
Ermschwender Aerospace
2013–2017
Data Administrator
Ermschwender Aerospace
2009–2013
Education
BS Computer Science, Soka University of America
2005–2009
Additional Activities
Conferences
Hard Skills: Project management, requirements management, Oracle Primavera P6, process development, user acceptance testing
Soft Skills: Leadership, interpersonal skills, communication, collaboration
That sample CV with employment gaps does one thing:
It shows the gap fast, with proof you used key skills (check out our list of CV skills examples).
Does the employment gap on your CV come from a career change? See this guide: CV for a Career Change
Are you writing a CV for a specific career? See our step-by-step CV samples and guides for dozens of professions.
Now here’s how to fill employment gaps in your CV:
Just want the quick and dirty facts?
Here are the topline info for CV employment gaps on a CV:
Next—
Let’s see some good reasons for gaps in employment.
Then I’ll give some employment gaps on CV examples.
Expert Hint: Don’t talk about the employment gap on your CV in a career summary or career objective. Save the top part of your CV for your brightest selling points.
Now the good news.
Hiring teams will care what you went through.
They won’t think less of you. But—
Give a good reason for employment gaps on your CV. Here are five:
The key?
Don’t just give your reason.
Show the employment gap on your CV bore fruit to help with your next job.
And—
Assure them it’s a one-time thing.
Expert Hint: Put extra skills proof in your education CV section. An honours society or big project helps a lot in a CV with employment gaps.
Where should you put CV gaps?
The right place to show an employment gap on a CV is in your work history.
List it as a sabbatical, and show three things:
In other words?
You need to show you weren’t just eating bon-bons.
These employment gaps on CV examples show how:
Imagine the job ad wants skills in leadership, system development, Oracle Primavera P6, training, and working with cross-functional teams.
Experience
Sabbatical, 2017–present
IT Project Manager
Ermschwender Aerospace
2013–2017
Experience
IT Project Manager
Ermschwender Aerospace
2013–2017 (2 years ago)
See that?
You were up-front about your gap.
You also showed the leadership skill they want—in the employment gap on your CV!
You proved other skills in your work history. You customised your CV.
Think they’ll hold that gap against you? Nope.
Expert Hint: Put “other” sections in your CV with skills the job wants. Certifications or conferences you spoke at can help outweigh employment gaps on CVs.
The ResumeLab builder is more than looks. Get specific content to boost your chances of getting the job. Add job descriptions, bullet points, and skills. Easy. Improve your CV in our CV builder now.
Nail it all with a splash of colour, choose a clean font, highlight your skills in just a few clicks. You’re the perfect candidate and we’ll prove it. Use the ResumeLab builder now.
Need more?
See the employment gaps on CV examples below.
Each one touts a skill shown in the job ad.
Each also says the employment gap on your CV is in the past.
Car accident gaps in employment on CV:
Experience
Sabbatical, 2017–present
Cancer gap in employment on your CV:
Experience
Sabbatical, 2017–present
Soul searching CV employment gap:
Experience
Sabbatical, 2017–present
Tried different career employment gap on CV:
Experience
Software Engineer, 2017–present
See that?
Each of those employment gaps on CV examples does two things:
It says the gap is history.
Awkward.
You filled the employment gap on your CV. But—
You used the wrong CV format.
Don’t make that mistake.
Use the reverse-chronological layout to put everything above board.
Expert Hint: You can also try a functional CV or combination CV to spotlight your skills and not your history. Beware—some recruiters don’t like functional CVs.
The best advice?
Don’t have another employment gap on your CV.
“But my CV gap was unavoidable.”
Not really.
The minute you’re out of work—
Expert Hint: You don’t need a full-time job to fill in a CV job gap. Even four or five hours a week of volunteering can help save face for your career.
Double your impact with a matching CV and cover letter combo. Use our cover letter builder and make your application documents pop out.
Want to try a different look? There’s 18 more. A single click will give your document a total makeover. Pick a cover letter template here.
Here’s how to fill in employment gaps on CVs:
Got questions on how to fill employment gaps on a CV? Need more employment gaps on CV examples? We’ll be happy to reply!
You don’t need to be a Booker Prize laureate to make your own curriculum vitae. Learn how to write a CV highlighting your qualifications using this guide in a matter of minutes.
We've selected over 50 best CV templates for Word you can download for free. Choose the best Word CV template for you and start working on your CV right away.
When writing a CV, it’s easy to forget about some important details or include something you’re not supposed to. But that won’t happen to you ever again—if you read this study.