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I see there is a thread on this, but it's rather old, so I thought I would start a new one.
What is the consensus on employment gaps?
Are there acceptable reasons for having a gap? - Childbirth, illness, taking care of an ailing relative.
Does the gap length matter?
Can employers for the most part see on your resume when you are trying to cover up a gap?
I was talking to my parents, both in their 50s and work for a multi-national pharmaceutical company. Their views are a little distorted from reality so I take everything they say with a grain of salt. The conversation came up because my friend just had a baby. She's been in her job a LONG time and managed to get 6 months off between PTO, what the company gave her and FMLA. She doesn't want to go back to work since it's not a money issue for them, but is worried about the gap on her resume if she were not to go back. She had two options. One, ask to work part-time or go back for her Masters to fill the gap. Her boss said OK to part-time, so she is doing that. My parents both made the comment that having a baby is an acceptable reason for employment gap and she shouldn't be worried about it. Both my friend and I (we are in our early 30s) disagreed.
Our family is facing a similar situation. Our child is due in March. My partner just quit her job (due to other reasons) and is currently working in a restaurant and getting her freelance business off the ground. When the baby comes, she will stay home, work a few nights a week at the restaurant and then focus on her business when I am home. Hopefully the business will take off enough so that she can do a project or two a month - at her rate this would be enough for us for her to stay home with the child during the day long-term.
However, towards the end of this year, we will re-evaluate the situation an it might makes sense (for various reasons, personal and professional) for her to start looking for a regular job. This gap of 6-9 months of not working a regular job worries us. And my other concern is that when you put "freelance whatever" on your resume, employers will see through that and assume you just sat around the house and checked email all day.
Frankly hiring officials especially HR are not understanding at all. Once you get into one of their little death trap filters you will fight an up hill battle to get out of it. Gaps are high up there, followed by ever been fired, any bad references, currently unemployed...
Once you are a stay at home mom most places will consider you an overpriced uterus/flight risk (yes I know that is offensive that is the point).
Frankly hiring officials especially HR are not understanding at all. Once you get into one of their little death trap filters you will fight an up hill battle to get out of it. Gaps are high up there, followed by ever been fired, any bad references, currently unemployed...
Once you are a stay at home mom most places will consider you an overpriced uterus/flight risk (yes I know that is offensive that is the point).
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It depends on the kind of work you do. If it involves technology, a gap means losing touch with the latest developments and that can take you out of the running. If it's a very specialized kind of work that is not very common, you can have gaps and still come out ahead of others with less experience/skills. While some companies will automatically dismiss people with gaps because they have so many qualified applicants with current experience, they are still looking for the best qualified person to hire.
I see there is a thread on this, but it's rather old, so I thought I would start a new one.
What is the consensus on employment gaps?
Are there acceptable reasons for having a gap? - Childbirth, illness, taking care of an ailing relative.
Does the gap length matter?
Can employers for the most part see on your resume when you are trying to cover up a gap?
I was talking to my parents, both in their 50s and work for a multi-national pharmaceutical company. Their views are a little distorted from reality so I take everything they say with a grain of salt. The conversation came up because my friend just had a baby. She's been in her job a LONG time and managed to get 6 months off between PTO, what the company gave her and FMLA. She doesn't want to go back to work since it's not a money issue for them, but is worried about the gap on her resume if she were not to go back. She had two options. One, ask to work part-time or go back for her Masters to fill the gap. Her boss said OK to part-time, so she is doing that. My parents both made the comment that having a baby is an acceptable reason for employment gap and she shouldn't be worried about it. Both my friend and I (we are in our early 30s) disagreed.
Our family is facing a similar situation. Our child is due in March. My partner just quit her job (due to other reasons) and is currently working in a restaurant and getting her freelance business off the ground. When the baby comes, she will stay home, work a few nights a week at the restaurant and then focus on her business when I am home. Hopefully the business will take off enough so that she can do a project or two a month - at her rate this would be enough for us for her to stay home with the child during the day long-term.
However, towards the end of this year, we will re-evaluate the situation an it might makes sense (for various reasons, personal and professional) for her to start looking for a regular job. This gap of 6-9 months of not working a regular job worries us. And my other concern is that when you put "freelance whatever" on your resume, employers will see through that and assume you just sat around the house and checked email all day.
Ideally you want no gaps. The current reckoning is that once one becomes unemployed for more than six months, for whatever reasons, there is a "scarring" process and that the unemployment itself is an impediment to employment. Whether having the baby is an "acceptable" reason or not is a moot point - the only thing that matters is how an employer views it. In a better labor market, it wouldn't be such an issue, but today anything, everything, or nothing can be used against you.
My question to you is why did she quit her job with a baby on the way. That seems to be a very poor decision going from what I assume is a professional job, to a restaurant/freelancing, to only freelancing. This is going to create a massive gap that's going to be very harmful.
Ideally you want no gaps. The current reckoning is that once one becomes unemployed for more than six months, for whatever reasons, there is a "scarring" process and that the unemployment itself is an impediment to employment. Whether having the baby is an "acceptable" reason or not is a moot point - the only thing that matters is how an employer views it. In a better labor market, it wouldn't be such an issue, but today anything, everything, or nothing can be used against you.
My question to you is why did she quit her job with a baby on the way. That seems to be a very poor decision going from what I assume is a professional job, to a restaurant/freelancing, to only freelancing. This is going to create a massive gap that's going to be very harmful.
She quit because it was a toxic work environment. Her last straw was when the boss verbally abused her. He wanted her to be both a back end programmer and a front end designer. She is a designer and even though she stayed up nights learning programming and did all that he asked of her, he was still unhappy. It was to the point where she was crying on the drive home from work. She also started having health issues due to the stress. She went back to the restaurant full time and lo and behold the health issues have cleared up and she's so much happier. The guy was paying her peanuts, no benefits and it was a 90 mile round trip from the house, even though she only went in 2-3 days/week. Just didn't make sense to stay there any longer, maybe not from a professional stand point but definitely from a mental health one. She makes as much at the restaurant as she did working there, especially when you figure she was working 8am-11pm lots of days for this guy.
It's just so frustrating. Six months isn't the end of the world, but I do understand how if employers have the pick of the crop, they will eliminate you. The working world has become so depressing. You can't take any time off for the risk of having the dreaded gap, they work you to the bone, give you 2 weeks vacation and pay you peanuts. We as a family are much happier she quit and that she will be staying home with the baby. However, I consider myself a relatively intelligent person that plans for the future, so obviously this gap is a concern. I'm telling her to keep looking right now because something good might come along, while at the same time in the back of my mind thinking how great it would be for our family for her to stay home. Damned if you do damned if you don't.
Hopefully she can get some clients and work up a nice portfolio so that when it comes time to look again, the portfolio will speak for itself and the gap won't be as much of an issue.
It depends on the kind of work you do. If it involves technology, a gap means losing touch with the latest developments and that can take you out of the running. If it's a very specialized kind of work that is not very common, you can have gaps and still come out ahead of others with less experience/skills. While some companies will automatically dismiss people with gaps because they have so many qualified applicants with current experience, they are still looking for the best qualified person to hire.
That was my experience. I once took five years off of work to travel around and do whatever I wanted to do. When I wanted to go back to work, they hired me because I was the best qualified and they needed my skills. They didn't really care about what I did doing those five years, that wasn't their problem.
OP, it looks like you're in Orlando. Is it possible for you all to get to a healthier labor market?
I just started my job in June and would like to stay here for a few years if they approve to pay for the 8 Accounting classes that I need to qualify to sit for the CPA. The job market for me here is not bad and central Florida as a whole is seeing an uptick. We are better of here then where we originally came from - the NY/NJ/CT metro. She has applied and got some call backs. There are jobs for her in the field it's just that they pay peanuts. She needs at least $20/hr to make it worth it for her to go to work vs. us paying for day care. Most jobs that she qualifies for are in the $12-15 range. I understand that it's better to be working than not working, but it also does get frustrating when the low ball you constantly and ask for a set of skills that should be paying $30/hr. The cost of living is cheap here, for now anyway. We are definitely considering a move out in the next 4 years, just don't know where we would go where things are better.
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I've seen some crazy stuff myself.
