Mike Chibundu Kanu 🇳🇬 🐭

How to explain an employment Gap without sabotaging yourself! 📌 If your resume reveals an employment gap, expect hiring managers to ask about it. The goal is to provide just the right amount of details, explanation of your decision and how it worked to your advantage. 1. Don’t overshare: They don’t need to hear every detail of what happened. Just prepare to highlight the positive outcomes of your decision and explain why you’re ready to strike up your career again. 2. Explain, don’t Justify: Avoid sounding defensive or seeking approval. A calm explanation signals maturity and self-awareness. State the reason clearly, show what you gained from the period, and move on. When you treat your decision as valid and intentional, hiring managers are more likely to do the same. 3. Coin the story to your advantage: Don’t downplay what you’ve been up to. Highlight new skills, volunteer work, certifications, conferences attended, personal projects etc. and give concrete examples of how those experiences improved how you work today. 4. Emphasize why Now’s the Time: Have a good response for why you are choosing to re-enter the workforce now and why the role fits. Give assurance that the time and your motivation make sense. 5. Be confident: If you show uncertainty in your decision, the hiring manager might feel a little unsure about hiring you too. 6. Move on: Prepare your response, but keep it brief, one or two minutes max. Chances are, your employment gap is likely shorter than the value of your total experience so there's no need to let that brief moment of time define you or what you're capable of bringing to a company. At every point, steer the conversation back to your strengths and results, go ahead and move onto your previous experience and all those awesome accomplishments you've already acquired.