Given the turbulent economic times of the past few years, many people have found themselves out of work, some for short periods, others for longer periods. If you find that you have a gap to account for in your work experience, you are not alone. This page outlines ways you can address gaps in your work during a job interview, as well as ways in which you can use your time out of the workforce constructively and valuably.

Given the ups and downs of the current market, it is not unusual to find that an excellent professional suffered a job loss and has been out of work for months. In that situation, an interviewer will often still probe to make sure nothing is amiss. How can you assure that potential employer that your unemployment is not a big red flag? Here's an answer from a banker who has helped with recruiting efforts at a major bank:

One response that would impress me in a job interview, if I were to ask a candidate what he or she had done with their time away from the workforce, would include an explanation about how he or she had tried to establish their own business. That shows initiative; the candidate had not remained idle. Another positive action could be taking the time off to improve him- or herself in certain things by getting, for example, business training. That again shows initiative. Finally, another interest­ing choice could involve fulfilling a lifetime dream. This could take the form of traveling around the world. Such activities are beneficial because they help open one's eyes and broaden one's perspective. Candidates should use periods of unemployment creatively.

How to Deal with Periods of Unemployment  If you were out of work for only a couple of months, normally you do not need to explain this during an interview. The interviewer will often be content to hear that you took the time to assess where you hoped to go with your career, research companies and job opportunities, and prepare to begin interviewing. However, if you have been out of work for a longer period of time—more than four months, for instance—you are best off if you can state to your interviewer that you were doing more with that time than searching for a job.

An employer wants to see that you were not content to sit idle but took the initiative to use the time off as a tremendous opportunity. Ways to do this include expanding your professional qualifications through certifications, expanding your knowledge base, deepening your professional experiences or your ideas about your long-term goals, and broadening your worldview through travel. Here are various strategies for impressing your inter-viewer with the activities you engaged in during your time off.

What to Do if Unemployed: An Insider's View  Edward, a manager at IBM, advises that while being unemployed is no crime, selective companies do like to see initiative even during down times: The best practice can be summarized as "keep moving!" Every one of us has things 'we want to do but we could not do it because we were working and did not have time. Well, an unemployed person has the time to pursue such activities. It's unfortunate when a candidate just keeps standing still waiting for a job. Here are some suggestions (dealt with in more detail further down this page):

	Your own consulting company: Use the time to run your own business, even if on a pro bono (unpaid) basis, showing your desire to apply and stretch your skills.
	More credentials: Use the time to enhance your expertise and credentials through certifications or licenses.
	Deeper expertise: Use the time to refine your knowledge through online or extension courses.
	Long-term goals: Use the time to conduct research into your desired long-term goals.
	Travel: Use the time to travel and experience other cultures.
	Community service: Use the time in community service, to enhance the nonwork aspects of your resume.

To a future employer, taking this sort of initiative will likely be seen as demonstrating excellent personal characteristics.

Using Time out of Your Career to Enhance Your Candidacy: An Insider's View

In today's economy, many talented workers have lost their jobs and have expe­rienced long periods of unemployment. If you are interviewing for a job after months of unemployment, what will an interviewer want to see on your resume in terms of how you have used your time out of the workforce? What do employers view as constructive ways of using time off? Celeste Garcia, a professional with a bachelor's and a master's degree from Harvard Univer­sity, became a senior-level consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers and now serves as managing director of consulting services for the D.C.-based Ivy Planning Group consulting firm. Here, she shares the best practices she has learned through her successful career. She also provides insights into what impresses her as she interviews top MBAs for jobs today:

There are many ways to use time out of the workforce creatively and constructively. When I interviewed candidates both at Pricewater­houseCoopers and at Ivy Planning Group, my antennae would go up if there were unexplained gaps on a resume. If the candidate is currently unemployed, it raises questions: Why hasn't this person gotten a job? What happened at the last job? You do not want your interviewer to see a period of unemployment as a big red flag, so you need to take steps to mitigate the influence of a gap on your resume. Here are some good steps to take:

Participate in projects   Many professionals will fill their time during unemployment with ad hoc jobs. Put those down on your resume as projects, and explain clearly what skills you employed and which skills you further developed through work on those projects. That can impress an employer or make the gap less obvious.

Engage in meaningful volunteer work  Volunteer work is also a good way to use your time to contribute and also to possibly gain new skills. You can volunteer to help lead or organize a conference that is taking place in your career field. You can undertake pro bono work for a meaningful institution. You can take a course—but make sure that it is a thoughtful choice of a course, something that provides you with concrete skills or knowledge. You can participate in projects with the government. I know a candidate who took on a consulting project for the government of a developing country and was able to write about that excellently on his resume. I was impressed! Another candidate explained how she had used her organizational skills to run a confer­ence during a period of unemployment. Those activities can impress an interviewer.

Broaden Your Worldview   It is also acceptable to take the time during a period of unemployment to travel. Today's business world is globalizing and is characterized by diversity. Becoming more versed in the many cultures around the world can be seen as positive. Therefore, there is little reason to be bashful about taking a break between jobs to travel and expand your understanding of the world around you and of the many cultures around you.

I have worked with successful candidates who traveled throughout Asia, Latin America, Africa, or some other region of interest during a period of time off. They used those enriching experiences to impress a new employer. Others who chose to travel around the United States have been able to use those experiences to their advantage. They were able to convey to an interviewer how much history they learned about their own state or region of the coun­try, and how much they learned about the many cultures in various regions of the country.

Enhance Your Professional Qualifications   One of the ways in which you can impress a potential employer is to say that during your time off, you took the opportunity to enhance your skills and qualifications by attaining certifications and licenses. Obtain­ing these credentials can deepen your knowledge in your career area while also making you more attractive to the customers or clients of your prospective new employer.

For example, if you work in financial planning, you could study for and obtain another license, such as the Series 7 broker's license. If you are a corporate lawyer who is out of work, you might take the opportunity to secure a real estate license, which can deepen your knowledge about real estate transactions. If you are a computer specialist, you might want to get additional certifications in computing. For those in other fields, you should determine whether there are certifications in your field that can enhance your skills and knowledge.

Deepen Your Knowledge  For many people, it is difficult to find the money or the time to secure a new license or certification. Another alternative is to deepen your knowledge by taking courses online, at a junior college, or through an extension school of a university. You can likely locate a course for as little as $100 at a junior college. If you work as an administrative assistant, for instance, you might want to take a course in management processes at a local junior college. If you work as a store manager, you might want to take a course in marketing. Taking a course enables you to tell an interviewer that you turned a setback (being laid off) into an opportunity, gaining valuable knowledge through formal instruction.

Enhance Your Work Experiences  If you are affected by a prolonged period of unemployment, for as long as a year for instance, it is best to be able to indicate that you continued to put your skills to use in some socially useful fashion. I have met many consultants at large consulting firms who suffered from down-sizing in recent years, given the economic downturn. Rather than sit idle, they began to offer consulting services for low or no fees to non-profit organizations or small businesses. In doing so, they were able to apply their existing business and team management skills. In addition, they were able to develop key entrepreneurial skills as they marketed their services, set pricing, developed attractive services, etc.

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