GAP IN APPLICANT’S EMPLOYMENT – SHOULD YOU FOCUS ON IT NEGATIVELY?

My answer is a big “NO”. Why? Because something good might have happened during the gap period. He/She may have experience a milestone in her life where she has to stop working for a while and give time to a certain happening. Probably, she got married and needed to take care of her husband’s needs. A time to deserve her married life. Or it might be that she needed to take care of her old mother. A time to pay back and express her love and care of her old parents. A time of joy and a time of sorrow – yet both entails LOVE. If you will dig on it deeper, both experiences will make him/her a mature and better individual. Both will make her strong and nurturing. Both will make him/her a good leader – happy and humane.

Some applicants do have a long gap period of employment. But have you asked her what did she do during this break? Having the gap period in employment does not always mean incompetence. In fact, some people use it in upgrading their knowledge. With the advent of new technologies, being out of work is not anymore a reason to stop learning and remain extinct. Online magazines and newspapers have left printed ones out of fashion.

Being at work the whole period does not always mean that an individual is learning or in trend with the current practices in ones field of work. There is even a higher chance for the unemployed person to continue learning and upgrading his/her craft.

With the rise of blogs and google, unemployed person has a better chance of getting updated information as long as he/she uses internet at home. A better alternative in order to add value in ones career.

So should you say “NO” to an applicant with a big gap in employment?