How to Discuss an Employment Gap During an Interview: Part 2 [VIDEO]

Discussing employment gaps during an interview can be stressful. In the second part of this video series, we provide tips on how to address questions about an employment gap resulting from caretaking responsibilities. 

Transcript 

In the first part of this series, we discussed how to tackle an employment gap resulting from a layoff. In this second part, we’ll be discussing how to deal with an employment gap due to caretaking responsibilities.

Caretaking, for children, elderly relatives, or other individuals, helps build several soft skills. Parents might gain or improve leadership skills by being role models for their children. They also expand their empathy through caring for small children with big emotions. 

Taking care of a parent can also help develop organizational skills through preparing medications and scheduling appointments. Whatever the soft skills you’ve improved, it’s important to highlight them in an interview. Here’s what a good answer would look like: 

Recruiter: “I see your last employment was two years ago. Can you expand on this two year gap in your resume?”

Candidate: “Two years ago I chose to leave the workforce to take care of a newborn and a toddler full time as their primary caretaker. While my job looked vastly different from my previous corporate role, I still put in a lot of hours and expanded my skillset in a different way. I refined my ability to balance competing priorities that both insisted they be addressed first. I’m a better problem solver than I used to be, and I’m better at pivoting when something unexpected comes along, because children bring something new to the table every single day. Managing my children’s emotions expanded my empathy and taught me how to address a wide range of emotions while staying calm, which will allow me to do the same when dealing with both internal and external customers and as a manager. Similarly,  I’ve learned how to de-escalate emotionally charged situations, a skill I can apply in my next workplace if conflict arises. I may have left the corporate world for a moment, but I’ve never stopped learning how to be a better and more well-rounded person.”

Caretaking is an important job, and this response highlights the ways your work helped develop soft skills that are easily transferable to a professional role. Employment gaps don’t define us, and sometimes they even make us better. 

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