Free resource
CV gaps and job-hopping wording
By Nancy Osazee, Founder
Honest lines you can adapt for a gap or a short role. They do not invent a job you did not do. They give the fact, then the work you can do now.
Written by Nancy Osazee, Founder of CareerPilot. This is a practical note, not medical advice and not a diagnosis. The legal points are a short plain summary, not advice about your own situation.
On a CV
- 2023 to 2024: Career break. Caring for a family member. Available to start immediately.
- 2022 to 2023: Time out of paid work after redundancy. Used the year for a short bookkeeping course.
- Six months, 2024: Contract ended when the project did. Looking for a permanent analyst role.
In a cover letter
"I left the last role after eleven months because the work was shift-based and I need a pattern I can keep. The parts I want to bring with me are the customer escalations I closed and the handover notes the next person actually used."
"There is a gap in 2023. I was not in paid work. I am applying now because I can commit to this role, and the examples below are from the job before the gap."
In an interview
"I was there for nine months. The contract was for a product launch, and it ended when the launch did. What I would repeat is the weekly status note. What I would not repeat is taking a contract with no end date in writing."
"I had a year out. I do not need to go through the private detail. Since then I have done X, and that is the work I want to talk about."
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On CareerPilot
If you want help turning one of these lines into a full letter, the cover letter tool is there.
Questions
Should I hide a gap?
No. A date range with a plain reason is easier to defend than a CV that does not add up. You do not owe anyone a medical story.
How much detail belongs in the interview?
The fact, one sentence on what changed, and then an example of work you can still do. Stop before you recap a whole year.