A career cap never looks good on a resume. It is the number one reason why people are not hired or even interviewed for the job. In most situations, when an employer or recruiter sees that there is a significant career gap on your resume they decide that you’re not a good candidate for the job.
Is this good way to think? Well, not if you consider specific cases. But the point of this article isn’t’ to argue the merit of that line of thinking. The point of this article is to explain why employers and business owners steer clear of people with career gaps.
There is too much to risk when hiring a new employee and while some people might have a valid reason (maternity leave or raising children) many do not. And employers who are sifting through dozens of resumes don’t have the time to investigate each and every one personally.
Remember, the following reasons are not necessarily true. They are just things that employers tend to think if they see a career gap. And having a career gap might be one of the reasons your resume is not getting a call back.
It Signals That You’re Not A Valuable Worker
The fact is that most employers know that it’s hard to find good help. If someone has a career gap, it means that they were not working at a company where the owner and manager thought they were a valuable worker. If they were, they would still be working there.
A good and valuable employee is not going to be let go, unless there is serious trouble with the business. The most common excuse that people use is: downsizing or restructuring.
However, most employers know that with the exception of 2020-2021 where companies were forced to shut down and people lost their jobs, the excuse of “downsizing” is just the common excuse for people who were let go. In fact, many places in the country are having a hard time finding workers at every level.
Because it can be so difficult to find good employees, companies are hesitant to let them go for any reason. This is why most hiring managers think that people who have career gaps are simply not good workers. If they were good workers then a company would be very reluctant to let them go.
Employers Think You Don’t Want To Work
If you are not working, many employers think that you simply don’t want to work. This is obviously an insulting stance to take with people who are desperately seeking work, but the point here is to understand what an employer thinks.
For employers, it’s a simple way to think. They have a job posting online and they are spending money to get resumes. They do not want to waste their time with someone who has large career gaps because that means that the person can’t hold down a job.
If you’re not working, then you don’t want to work. There are ample jobs available, even if they are not desirable. A career gap in corporate America or medical work is more acceptable than in blue color work.
Someone who is a Project Manager might have a 3 month career gap between projects, and a director of marketing might spend several months between landing roles, but a warehouse worker or administrative assistant should not have a long gap.
Retail work at places like Amazon warehouse and large Airports and other institutions hire often on the spot. So, if you’re not an in an executive level role, it’s a major red flag if you’re not working for long periods of time.
Employers don’t want to hear excuses about being ill. While some people genuinely get into accidents, it’s become a cliché in the job market to hear that as an excuse. So most employers don’t take the time to “find out” who you are as a person. That’s why resumes are so important and why some people do consider using a professional resume writing service.
How Did You Support Yourself? Employers Want People Who Need To Work
One of the main things employers are seeking are people who need to work. It’s not really important to them if you are someone who is an artist or singer and has large career dreams. What they want is someone who will show up, get the work done, and be on time.
If you don’t need to work, if you don’t need to make money to pay bills, then most employers won’t touch you with a ten foot pole.
What does that mean? Who doesn’t need to work? Well, most employers have experience with people who are out of work for months (not to mention years sometimes) and who still manage to live.
In most large metropolitan areas the social service network is vast and includes public assistance in the form of housing vouchers, publicly funded apartments, EBT and various programs for food, WIC and SNAP, and even cash assistance for people.
There are full time jobs for people (case managers) whose full time job is to secure housing and food and essentials including medical care for people who are unwilling to work.
Most people who are out of work are reliant either on family or the government to support them. If they have a permanent address and are not working, then employers will ask themselves how they are paying for the rent or mortgage. If someone else is paying these things, then the person is not as motivated to work as a full time employee.
Employers who see people who work multiple kobs over the years and notice a pattern of short term work once a year are going to suspect that these people are only working to make money to vacation, buy expensive items not covered by entitlement programs, or simply don’t need to work and quit as soon as they are disrupted at work.
So, if you’re resume showcases these sorts of career gaps it is important that you spend time fixing it. Revies the dates if possible—but rest assured that employers use employment verification services to prove employment. This is why it's not a good idea to lie on your resume, you will be found out.
It’s also a good idea to keep this in mind when considering quitting a job. If you have another job lined up, then that is fine. But if you are looking to leave just because you don’t like the job, remember that any long term career gap can be seriously problematic.
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