How to explain a gap in your CV

Updated November 11, 2026

A gap in your CV worries you far more than it worries the person reading it. What a hiring manager wants is a short, calm explanation and a sign that you are ready now. What unsettles them is a candidate who looks unsettled.

Three sentences, no more

A good explanation fits in three sentences and ends on the present.

What happened, plainly: a layoff, a child, an illness, a move, a project of your own.
What you did or learned in that time, if there is something true to say.
Why you are ready now, and why this role.

Say only what you want to say

You do not owe details about your health or your family. 'I took a year for family reasons; that's settled now' is a complete answer.

Do not apologise and do not over-explain. The longer the justification, the bigger the gap looks.

After a layoff

Say it simply: 'My position was cut in a restructuring that affected forty people.' Without bitterness towards the former employer: it is the tone that is being listened to.

An answer, before and after

I see a gap of a year and a half on your CV. What happened?

You said

Yes, well, it was a complicated period. I had some personal things going on, and then the job market was difficult, I applied to a lot of places but it's not easy, and time went by…

Try

I stopped for eighteen months to look after a parent. During that time I completed an accounting software certification to keep my skills current. That situation is settled, I've been job hunting full-time since September, and your role matches what I did best in my last job.

The fact, what you did with the time, and why you are ready now.

Then say it out loud

Tell the app that the gaps in your history are what worry you: your Interviewer asks about them as a hiring manager would, and the Report tells you how your explanation came across.

Download on the App Store