Bridging the Gap
If you’ve taken an extended leave of absence for a
non-work-related purpose, you may wonder how you should present
your time off on your resume and in interviews. With respect
to your resume, changing from a chronological to a functional
format may be the only adjustment necessary. But if you’re
put on the spot in an interview, you need a concise, thoughtful--and
honest--answer that will address prospective employers’
concerns.
The best approach is to do some quality thinking about why
you took time off, and what you gained from the experience
that will make you a more attractive employee. Here are several
situations and some suggestions for explaining your absence
from the work world:
Personal Reasons
School
Fun
Personal Reasons
Maybe you went through a divorce, had health problems, or
were taking care of an ill relative. While it may be tempting
to play upon your interviewer’s sympathies and share
your tale of woe, think again. Instead, provide a straightforward
explanation of your time off and steer the conversation back
to your objectives and experience. For instance, “I was
needed out of state for a family emergency, but now that everything’s
settled, I’m ready to get back to work. I’ve been
keeping abreast of the e-commerce industry during my time
off, and I think my experience is especially relevant given
the recent string of mergers among pure-play and brick-and-mortar
companies.”
This approach is best because it focuses on your qualifications
and skills while downplaying--without avoiding--the issue
of your time off. And if you can filter in the current industry
lingo--showing you haven’t missed a beat--all the better.
School
If you took time off to finish a degree or get certified
in a particular field, you don’t need a fancy way of
explaining yourself. Be upfront; virtually everyone respects
the decision to return to school, especially when it makes
you a more valuable worker. A good answer: “I decided
the time was right to finish my degree. I think the combination
of my experience and education in business management will
allow me to contribute a great deal in a position such as
this.”
Fun
If your break was for no other reason than to hit the ski
slopes, play out your fantasy of being a rock band groupie,
or travel the globe, you’ve got a challenge. You need
to come up with a compelling reason why your summer (or year)
of fun will make you a stellar employee.
If you took just a few weeks or a couple of months off between
jobs, don’t sweat it. Few prospective employers will
care that you chose to relax a bit--in fact, don’t even
mention it unless they do, and then say nothing more than,
“I used the opportunity to regroup and get ready for
a full-scale job hunt.”
If you were out of work for more than 6 months, figure out
what exactly you learned from your experience--and it better
be good. As a ski instructor, did you polish your teaching
skills? Learn to work with a multicultural crowd? During your
time as a groupie, did you learn another language? Figure
out how to live on a tight budget?
Whatever you come up with, practice selling it with a straight
face until even your own mother would believe that your reason
for moving to Hawaii and working as a cocktail waitress was
to study the customer service needs of the food industry.
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