4 Career Break Strategies for 2024 & Beyond: Return to the workforce before the new year.

Marketers say “if you can’t avoid it, feature it.” For example, a yogurt maker promotes “fruit on the bottom” because they cannot prevent fruit from sinking to the bottom of a cup.

You can apply a similar idea to a gap in employment, sometimes called a career break. It’s better to deal with it than ignore it. Your challenge will be to present your break to employers and industry contacts in a positive light. Chances are that you did not sit home watching TV or surfing the Web. You probably did something to advance your career.

Think about career break strategy even if you are working now. All of us feel we will land work right away if we are let go tomorrow, but what if we don’t?

We looked at career break strategies last year and, as a result of a conversation with another expert last week, we thought it was time for another update. Our strategies include:

1. Be honest,
2. Act now to fill your gap,
3. Show professional activity and growth instead of a break, and
4. Look at the future, not the past.

Although the federal government continues to report historically low unemployment rates (despite certain politicians’ claims to the contrary), we speak frequently with workers that are between jobs and have to deal with their gap in salaried work.

Be honest.

First, recruiters say jobseekers should be honest on LinkedIn profiles, their resumes, and at interviews. Employers will verify your dates of employment so you cannot shift dates to fill gaps in your work history does not match with data from past employers you will be terminated.

Think creatively instead of “making stuff up.” Give thought to career-related activities you have been working on, or those you can get involved in without a full-time job.

Act now to fill your gap.

Research shows that long-term unemployment may reduce your market value. Employment gaps are inevitable for many of us regardless of economic conditions or skill level. Studies have shown that employers are less interest in job candidates that have been out of work for six months or more, as discussed in a previous blog post. Even worse, LinkedIn and other automated systems may eliminate you from employers’ search results when your resume or profile does not include a current job. And in an economy where you may feel (perhaps incorrectly) that “everyone but me has a great job,” you could find it even harder to search for work during a long break.

Kate Wendleton, founder of a national outplacement organization, advocated volunteer work as a way to fill gaps back in the 1990s. She stated that, “salary is not a resume issue.” As discussed in another post, we have volunteered our way into new jobs twice. Other jobseekers we have spoken with or worked with have done this, too. And it will give you something to focus on in addition to your job search.

Of course, volunteer work is not the only way to minimize a gap in your work history. An engineer I worked with several years ago reviewed business plans and proposals for family members while she was home with her young children. A fashion designer used her sketchbook and computer to design a marketable sportswear line while she was between jobs

Another powerful career break story emerged when we discussed the time a client spent caring for a relative. She was also tutoring her relatives’ children in Language Arts, essay writing, and research skills. Her education included a master’s degree in English literature, and she did tutoring during graduate school, so it made sense to add a new tutoring entry onto her resume.

In other words, some activities you took on during a pandemic or other break can be thought of as a job even if you did not think of them that way at the time.

There are many benefits beyond creating resume and LinkedIn profile entries when you stay active professionally during a career break. Examples include enhanced self-esteem, opportunities to maintain, build, and update skills, and expanding your professional network.

Show employment—not a career break—on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn has tried to recognize the value of filling career breaks on your profile. The site offers a “career break” option for use in your experience section. We have learned, though, that hiring teams using LinkedIn’s Recruiter products will not see your career break, according to a YouTube video Melanie Woods, a recruiter in Houston, TX, posted last year. As a result, recruiters will not see any of the great relevant activities you have been doing, such as consulting, volunteer work, or job-related training. They will only see a gap in your work history—and may not see your profile at all—when they search for candidates with current job titles matching their job order. So, enter your activity as a job. Do not use the career break option.

Look at the future, not the past.

A jobseeker began discussing her career break with me by saying her gap resulted from “unjust termination” that she is now litigating. Networking meetings and job interviews are not the places to dwell on past wrongs. Instead, keep it simple. Say you were let go. Your wording may vary, but the idea is to keep your response succinct and move on. Interviewers and industry contacts will sympathize when you go into details. Then, they will not move you forward.

Your goal is to close off the potentially negative conversation about your recent past so you can move on to the future.

Concluding Comments

It is more important than ever to minimize the impact of employment gaps in a high-employment economy. Fill your career break with relevant activity whenever possible. While we cannot promise that the strategy you choose for filling your career gap will result in a highly successful career change, it will improve the chances that your resume and profile will not be overlooked. You may get a better job in less time.