Your CV looks tidy until the reader reaches that one stretch: six months, a year, sometimes longer, with no employer listed. Maybe you were ill, cared for a parent or child, went travelling, were made redundant and took a while to find the next role, or went back to study. Many people worry about a gap far more than they need to. A break in itself is not a problem. What matters is how you handle it: honestly, briefly and with the focus on what you bring today.
In this article you'll learn whether to mention a gap, how to show it on your CV and LinkedIn, how to talk about it in an interview and what you can simply keep to yourself. With example wording you can adapt to your own situation.
Should you mention a gap in your CV?
A few weeks or months between two jobs barely registers and usually needs no separate explanation. For a longer period, it's wise to say something. A recruiter who sees an unexplained blank will fill it in themselves, and their version is rarely kinder than the truth. By naming the gap briefly yourself, you stay in control of the story.
Mentioning it doesn't mean telling everything. You decide how much detail to give. In most cases one line on your CV and two or three sentences in the interview are enough.
What you should never do is stretch dates or let a job run on longer than it did. It tends to surface sooner or later, for example in a reference check or a question about your last working day, and then the conversation is no longer about your skills but about whether you can be trusted.
Common reasons and how to word them
Each situation calls for a slightly different tone. Below is a short CV line for each reason. Treat these as examples and adjust them so they match your own story.
- Illness or recovery — "2024 – 2025: Career break for health reasons, now fully available for work." Nothing more is needed. Which condition or treatment it was is your information.
- Caring for someone — "2023 – 2024: Career break to care for a family member." Or after having children: "Career break to look after my young children." This is a familiar and entirely legitimate reason.
- Travel or sabbatical — "2024: Eight-month sabbatical travelling through South America." If you did something relevant along the way, such as volunteering or learning a language, mention it briefly.
- Unemployment — "2025: Job search following end of contract; completed a project management course during this time." Show that you haven't been idle, without making it bigger than it was.
- Redundancy — "Role made redundant following restructure." That's a fact, not a judgement on you. There's no need to dress it up.
- Study or retraining — Put this under education or as its own line in your experience: "2023 – 2024: Full-time UX design course." Then it's no longer a gap but a step.
How to show the gap on your CV
There are a few ways to fit a break neatly into your CV. Choose what suits your situation.
A separate line in your work history
The most open approach: give the period its own line with years and a one-line description, just like a job. The reader sees straight away that nothing is being hidden, and your timeline stays consistent.
Years instead of months
Many people list only years in their work history. That's common and perfectly fine, as long as you do it consistently and not to disguise something. If you're asked for exact dates in the interview, simply give them.
Highlight relevant activities
Did you take a course, volunteer, do freelance work or run the paperwork for a family member during that time? Mention what's relevant to the role. But don't overdo it: a gap doesn't have to be filled with impressive projects. "Recovered and ready for my next step" is a complete story too.
Also make sure your CV stays easy to read for recruitment software. A break shown as its own line with a clear heading is just as easy for an ATS to read as a normal job. Read more in our guide to making an ATS-friendly CV.
The gap on LinkedIn
The same principle applies on LinkedIn: brief and honest. At the time of writing, you can add a career break to your experience section, with a type (such as caregiving, health or travel) and a short description. The exact options may change, so check what LinkedIn offers when you update your profile. If you'd rather not use it, you can also leave the period as it is and let your headline and About section do the talking.
More important than the gap itself is what sits at the top of your profile: a headline and summary that show where you're heading now. A recruiter viewing your profile should mainly see what you can do and what you're looking for. Our article on optimising your LinkedIn profile explains how.
Talking about it in the interview
"I notice a gap in your CV, can you tell me about it?" is one of the most common interview questions. Most interviewers aren't trying to dig into your private life; they want to understand whether you're ready for the role now. A strong answer has three steps:
- State it plainly. One sentence about what happened, without a long explanation or an apology.
- Say what you took from it or what you did. An insight, a skill, a deliberate choice.
- Bring it back to now. Why you're ready for this role and why it appeals to you.
A few examples of how that sounds:
- Illness: "I took time out for health reasons. That's behind me now and I'm fully available. That period taught me to be more deliberate about where I put my energy, which is also why I've applied for this role so consciously."
- Caring: "I spent a year caring for my father when he was ill. It took a lot of organising and dealing with care providers and agencies. Now that things are stable, I want to pick up my career again, and this role fits well with what I did before."
- Redundancy: "My role was made redundant in a restructure. I used the time to think carefully about what I want and completed a data analysis course. That combination of finance experience and data skills is exactly why this vacancy appeals to me."
Keep the answer short. The longer you explain, the bigger the topic seems. After your third sentence, the conversation can move back to the role. If you want to prepare answers like these in a structured way, the STAR method helps you get the action and result clear.
What you can keep private
Health information is personal. You can simply say "health reasons" or "personal circumstances" without naming a diagnosis, treatment or other details. The same goes for the health of family members, relationship difficulties or other private matters. A good interviewer won't press for more; if someone does, you can say politely but clearly that you'll leave it there, for example: "I'd rather keep the details private, but the important thing is that it's resolved and I'm fully available."
What an employer may and may not ask, and what you're expected to disclose, is regulated by law in many countries, and those rules differ from country to country. This article is not legal advice. If you're unsure about your situation, for instance because you need adjustments at work, look for information from a reliable source such as official government guidance, a trade union or an independent advice service.
Practise your answer out loud
Often the hardest part isn't the content, it's the nerves when the question comes. Once you've said your answer out loud a few times, you'll sound calmer. In the MARA Interview Simulator you can practise interview questions, including the one about your CV, and get feedback on your answer. With MARA's CV analysis and CV tailoring you can check whether your CV, break included, comes across clearly and consistently for the vacancy you're applying for.
Conclusion
A gap in your CV isn't a blemish, it's part of your career. Name it briefly and honestly, don't stretch dates, keep private what's private and bring the conversation back quickly to what you offer now. Then that one empty line stops being a stumbling block and becomes part of a story that adds up.