How To Explain A Gap Year On Your CV

It isn't easy to have your life mapped out right after high school. You need time to discover your interests and, more importantly, to enjoy yourself! Instead of the pressure of making a job decision, your youth should be filled with wonderful moments you've shared with friends and family. Some students simply need a break before they dive headfirst into college. If you identify with this, you might consider taking a gap year. This can become a problem in finding a job, but you can reduce this gap in CV and showcase the skills you gained during this time. In this article, we will show you how to mention a gap year in your resume. Stay tuned!

What Is A Gap Year?

A gap year is an off year you take from studying; usually, students take a gap year in the transition to high school and University. This has been a popular practice among students in the UK since the 1700s. During this break, students make use of this time to travel, learn new skills, or even work somewhere.

How Can It Affect Your CV?

Taking a gap year can affect your CV in many ways, for example. If not presented properly, it might give the impression that you have wasted your time. The gap year in CV serves as an important period for employers to understand whether the candidate has invested the time in building skills or simply wasted it. Hence, presenting your gap year CV is crucial as many factors depend upon it.

What Is The Employment Gap In A CV?

When we consider an employment gap in CV, it is majorly considered as a period when a person was not employed or not doing any formal work. An employment gap year in CV can occur due to various factors such as a job switch, personal circumstances, or taking a gap year. An employment gap in a CV ranges from a period of months to years and occurs voluntarily or involuntarily. But remember, when you talk about the employment gap year in CV, you also need to be concerned about how to explain the gap year in CV or what experience you have gained during that period.

Different Ways To Explain A Gap In CV

The gap in CV is looked upon as a crucial time for employers to understand whether the candidate is worth the organisation or not. One gets the idea about the time a candidate invested and did something fruitful out of it. Hence, justifying this gap in CV becomes an important task. If you are looking for ways to show a gap year on your CV, here are some ways you can explain a gap year in CV.

1. Own The Gap Year

When you mention your gap year on your resume, you need to own it and present it positively and proudly. Present an honest and realistic explanation of how you used your time fixating on transferable skills and experience that you have received. For more information, refer to our blog- what is a gap year and why you should take one to rethink career choices.

2. Present Your Achievements

Upscale your gap year CV by adding your accomplishments and achievements to present a strong portfolio. We understand that achievements are difficult to pull when trying to give yourself a break, but present the constructive results you have delivered. This will surely reduce the gap in CV and upscale you. Follow our guidelines to prepare the perfect resume for your first job.

3. Emphasize Your Skills

Gap years are one of the best ways to work on your skills; your gap year CV is just waiting for that. When you begin your journey of a gap year, maintain a notebook where you mention every little skill you learn or even develop. If you maintain a record, you will not forget anything, and even the smallest skills can make a big impact, strengthening your gap year resume.

4. Don't Go Into Excessive Details

When you mention a gap year on your resume, the material you give must be concentrated and pertinent to the position you're vying for. Save the anecdotes and information for the interview when you have more time to expound and present them from a personal viewpoint instead of mentioning this as a gap year in CV.

5. Display Your Commitment To The Long-term

Above all, your gap year resume and cover letter should highlight that despite taking a year off and travelling widely, you are eager to start a steady, long-term profession. You want to eliminate the worry that the candidate will go on other adventures as soon as they have received training.

6. Make the Gap Year Relevant to the Role

It will be a primal factor if one highlights the fact that the gap year in CV was spent learning or experiencing something that is vital to the desired or anticipated job. With this, the recruiter may consider the application worthy since the job description is relevant to the person applying. 

Examples Of A Few Common Reasons For A Gap In CV

You don't take a gap year lightly, so make sure your motivation and enthusiasm shine through on your resume. This is the kind of attitude that a company can benefit from! Below are some examples that will come in handy for you. 

1. Taking a career break to pursue higher education or certifications.

2. For health reasons, rejoin the workforce with full recovery.

3. Taking travel or sabbatical to gain valuable experience.

4. If it is laid off or company closure, explain the situation briefly, emphasising the opportunity it provided for self-assessment and skill improvement.

5. A family-related issue that required your presence for a longer period.

6. Took some time off to redefine your life path and career choices, worked on them, and built some relevant skills. 

How To Be Convincing Irrespective Of A Gap Year On Your Resume?

Being a fine candidate for a job irrespective of the gap year in CV can be a difficult task altogether. However, it is just like a game of chess; you strategically take the right moves, and you might as well get the position. Explore our blog, which stresses the skills employers look for while hiring, as your handbook for achieving an offer letter. Below are a few pointers to becoming a master convincer, irrespective of the gap in CV.

1. Negotiation

How to mention the gap year in resume: we've got you covered. You might demonstrate how working on your own business or interacting with local markets to buy goods improved your negotiating skills. This will be a good addition to your gap year CV and will make a positive impact on the employer as well. 

2. Budgeting and Planning

Describe in your gap year CV how you maintained a strict budget while travelling during your gap year. Any time off of work without a consistent source of income is sure to improve your ability to plan and budget. 

3. Teamwork

Another important thing that will get you a plus point to show a gap year in CV is teamwork. Let the employer know that you are a team player, and you might get a job. Emphasise that if you're volunteering abroad, you've probably collaborated with volunteers from other backgrounds. Adding this to your gap year resume will emphasise that you are good at teamwork.

4. Adaptability

Things can go wrong, and plans might quickly change when travelling. Describe how you were forced to adjust to new circumstances and develop quick fixes for the initial issue. This will be a good add-on to showcase a gap in your CV and will make a huge difference in your candidature. This will reveal a part of your personality that you can adapt to new circumstances and find solutions to it as well. 

5. Communication

One of the best ways to show a gap in CV is by developing communication skills. Effective interpersonal communication is a crucial skill to develop throughout any career sabbatical and can increase your employability in customer-facing employment. 

6. Leadership

If you engaged in activities like teaching overseas, you probably developed important leadership abilities that you may apply in any workplace. Leadership is one such skill that employers highly appreciate and look forward to in a candidate. Hence, it is advisable to showcase your skills to reduce the gap in CV. 

7. Critical Thinking

How to explain gap year! Critical thinking is yet another skill that can make a huge change in showcasing a gap year on CV. This is an excellent talent that can be developed during a gap year on CV and applied in any role, evaluating problems and coming up with quick solutions. 

8. Creativity

Creativity isn't just about having artistic talent; it's also about how you approach problems. Your creativity has likely improved if your gap year has helped you think creatively and develop original solutions to issues. You can fill in the gap in your CV by writing about the projects you worked on for creativity.

We hope our guide on preparing a powerful and impactful gap year CV helped you present yourself in front of the interviewer so that your gap year looks positive and that you gained something from it. And in the end, don't forget that taking a gap year isn't bad as you can learn so much, build many skills, and have fun!