We use cookies to tailor the experience of creating resumes and cover letters. For these reasons, we may share your usage data with third parties. You can find more information about how we use cookies on our Cookies Policy. If you would like to set your cookies preferences, click the Settings button below. To accept all cookies, click Accept.
Settings Accept
Cookie settings
Click on the types of cookies below to learn more about them and customize your experience on our Site. You may freely give, refuse or withdraw your consent. Keep in mind that disabling cookies may affect your experience on the Site. For more information, please visit our Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy.
Choose type of cookies to accept
Analytics
These cookies allow us to analyze our performance to offer you a better experience of creating resumes and cover letters. Analytics related cookies used on our Site are not used by Us for the purpose of identifying who you are or to send you targeted advertising. For example, we may use cookies/tracking technologies for analytics related purposes to determine the number of visitors to our Site, identify how visitors move around the Site and, in particular, which pages they visit. This allows us to improve our Site and our services.
Performance and Personalization
These cookies give you access to a customized experience of our products. Personalization cookies are also used to deliver content, including ads, relevant to your interests on our Site and third-party sites based on how you interact with our advertisements or content as well as track the content you access (including video viewing). We may also collect password information from you when you log in, as well as computer and/or connection information. During some visits, we may use software tools to measure and collect session information, including page response times, download errors, time spent on certain pages and page interaction information.
Advertising
These cookies are placed by third-party companies to deliver targeted content based on relevant topics that are of interest to you. And allow you to better interact with social media platforms such as Facebook.
Necessary
These cookies are essential for the Site’s performance and for you to be able to use its features. For example, essential cookies include: cookies dropped to provide the service, maintain your account, provide builder access, payment pages, create IDs for your documents and store your consents.
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.
I had an interview yesterday and the first thing they said on the phone was: “Wow! I love your CV.” Patrick
I love the variety of templates. Good job guys, keep up the good work! Dylan
My previous CV was really weak and I used to spend hours adjusting it in Word. Now, I can introduce any changes within minutes. Absolutely wonderful! George
Sample CV with Gaps in Employment You Can Copy and Use
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
Took time off to be with family after loss of child.
Founded Southern California Chapter of Butterfly Legacy Foundation.
Handled all accounting and budgeting. Raised donations 50% in 1 yr.
IT Project Manager
Ermschwender Aerospace
2013–2017
Developed system to raise efficiency of requirements management. Slashed 10 meeting hours a week for 10+ engineers.
Managed 200+ projects with Oracle Primavera P6.
Onboarded and trained 3 new IT hires.
Worked with 10+ cross-functional teams to cut costs 20%.
Facilitated integration of customer software into our workflow. Contributed to 25% increase in repeat business.
Data Administrator
Ermschwender Aerospace
2009–2013
Raised documentation efficiency 43% through automation.
Administered two AS9100 certified databases with zero downtime.
Education
BS Computer Science, Soka University of America
2005–2009
Upsilon Pi Epsilon Honour Society.
Excelled in process development classes.
Additional Activities
Dedicated mother of two.
Mentor 15+ IT professionals.
Teach yoga 2x per week.
Conferences
2019 — Pink 19 — Led presentation on creating custom software.
2017 — IBM Think
2016 — tabGeeks
Hard Skills: Project management, requirements management, Oracle Primavera P6, process development, user acceptance testing
Worry about gaps shorter than 9 months. That’s not an employment gap. It just means you’re out of work!
Cover gaps with dates. Leaving the months off your work history looks like you’re hiding something.
Lie about the employment gap on your CV by saying you were saving kittens or working on a cure for cancer. Hiring teams can smell lies through a brick wall.
Ignore a gap in employment longer than 9 months, especially in a CV for unskilled jobs.
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.
2. Have Good Reasons for Gaps in Employment
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:
Good Reasons for Gaps in Employment
Illness. Were you or a loved one sick or injured? That’s a legit reason for a gap in employment on a CV.
Death. Never be ashamed of an employment gap on your CV after a loved one dies.
Tragedy. Miscarriage or other misfortune are legitimate reasons for employment gaps on CVs.
Soul searching. Finding your path in life is noble and worthwhile. Many employers respect it.
Tried a different career. Did you test the waters, then come back to your roots? That’s human. Hiring teams are human too.
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.
3. Show the Employment Gap on Your CV in Your Experience Section
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:
List the start and end dates of the employment gap on your CV.
Give the reason for your CV employment gap.
Show you did something positive for your skill set in that time.
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.
Employment Gap on a CV—Experience Section
Good Example
Experience
Sabbatical, 2017–present
Took time off to be with family after loss of child.
Founded Southern California Chapter of Butterfly Legacy Foundation.
Handled all accounting and budgeting. Raised donations 50% in 1 yr.
IT Project Manager
Ermschwender Aerospace
2013–2017
Developed system to raise efficiency of requirements management. Slashed 10 meeting hours a week for 10+ engineers.
Managed 200+ projects with Oracle Primavera P6.
Onboarded and trained 3 new IT hires.
Worked with 10+ cross-functional teams to cut costs 20%.
Facilitated integration of customer software into our workflow. Contributed to 25% increase in repeat business.
Bad Example
Experience
IT Project Manager
Ermschwender Aerospace
2013–2017 (2 years ago)
Responsible for creating system to raise efficiency of requirements management.
Managed IT projects.
Worked with teams to cut costs.
Facilitated integration of customer software into our workflow.
See that?
You were up-front about your gap.
You also showed the leadership skill they want—in the employment gap on your CV!
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.
4. More Employment Gaps on CV Examples
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
Time off to recover from car accident.
Was able to return to trail running 2x per week.
Took Lynda class in bookkeeping.
Cancer gap in employment on your CV:
Experience
Sabbatical, 2017–present
Time off to fight cancer diagnosis.
Declared cancer free.
Worked towards CompTIA A+ certification.
Soul searching CV employment gap:
Experience
Sabbatical, 2017–present
Time off to find career path.
Worked as video kayaker on Class V rivers in West Virginia.
Used teamwork and problem-solving skills to sell 25% more videos than company average.
Settled on remote accounting work as ideal career.
Tried different career employment gap on CV:
Experience
Software Engineer, 2017–present
Developed 20+ client apps and websites.
Collaborated with team of 10 to raise UX scores 18%.
Gained insights about back-end work to fuel my marketing career.
See that?
Each of those employment gaps on CV examples does two things:
It shows your gap helped build key skills.
It says the gap is history.
5. Choose the Right CV Format for Employment Gaps on CVs
Save PDF copies. PDF CVs travel well to different employers.
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.
6. Stop Your Next Gap in Employment Before it Starts
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—
Do some consulting. Use your skills to do a few hours of week of work.
Volunteer. You’ll build transferable skills like teamwork or leadership.
Freelance. Take on a small project here or there.
Enrol in an online class. Lynda classes make great filler for employment gaps on a CV.
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.
Tom Gerencer is a career advice writer and a resume expert at ResumeLab. Tom has been featured on BBC News, NBC, The Economist, Business Insider, Fast Company, and dozens of other outlets. His insights, commentary, and articles reach over a million readers every month. With inside knowledge of key industry players and in-depth research, Tom helps job seekers with advice across all professions and career stages. Tom holds a degree in English from Colby College.
A CV job description is a CV section where you list your professional experience, usually in reverse-chronological order. It means you start with your most recent position and proceed backwards. Each entry should contain 3-6 bullet points. It is recommended to include 10-15 years of work history on your CV.