As a recruiter, I have met innumerable candidates, gone through a sea of resumes. Some resumes which stand out like a sore thumb are the one with the “GAPS” bole to break in career. This essentially means the candidate has been “unemployed” in between jobs.
So why did you leave your previous job? You have so many gaps in your resume……
Ahh, the question interviewers can’t wait to ask, the answer to which the interviewee should supposedly have and that too a strong one to convince the interviewer. The reasons could be many. Some take a break to take care of their families, or they are battling with an illness or they have been retrenched by their previous organizations, to name a few top reasons that flit across my mind.
And there could also be reasons which are governed completely by an individual’s choice. Someone could decide to take a break to travel the world, pursue his/her own passion or to just chill and connect with oneself. The breaks are extremely personal to the individual.
Being on “that” side of the fence
I am now on a job hunting spree after moving on from my last assignment. And let me tell you, this is not the first time my resume has a “Gap”, having been off the job earlier also. And my resume is more often judged on the breaks which seem like blots in my otherwise seemingly interesting resume. Once I was being told by someone that a girl should only have breaks in her resume if there has been a “life-changing” event in her life. Curiously, I had asked, “What is the definition of a life-changing event?”. The person gingerly replied, “Lifechanging means either you are getting married or having a child”. Ahh, ok!!!! The conversation was getting interesting.
The maha curious that I am, I probed further (I was nibhaoing my recruiter dharma by asking probing questions!), “So what, if I take a break to travel or learn new skills or simply spend some good time with my family?”. The person quickly retorted, “ That you can do while working also naa”. I simply replied, “So you can manage your supposedly life-changing events”. This was for the girls. For boys, taking a break would be like a heinous crime after all they are Kamaane wala in the family. Poor boys! After all, why should girls have all the fun 😊
Quality vs. Quantity
I have always been a firm believer of quality over quantity. In fact, Aamir Khan personifies this. He does only one film a year but he leaves no stone unturned to ensure he delivers his best. His performance reflects directly on the business outcomes, in the movie parlance, the box office collections.
Similarly, when recruiters browse through a resume with breaks (I don’t like using the term gaps), they should match the relevance of the profile and focus on the kind of impact that the candidate’s work has created when he/she was employed along with the skills which he/she has learnt while being on the job. Moreover, in the fast-evolving world, there is no fun sticking on to the same role in the same company for years, just for the sake of “Stability”.
If a candidate has purposely taken a break in his/her career, the recruiter should not look at it like a daag or a red flag (in more corporate – ish term). Instead, the recruiter or the Hiring Manager should be curious to learn how the person has utilized the break. If the break is a forced one or unexpected, there should be a certain degree of empathy since there could be a lot of emotional, mental and financial turmoil which the candidate might have faced during his separation from his/her previous organization. In that case, it is important to be sensitive towards the candidate and only focus on what he/she can bring on to the table.
There are a few skills which are not learned sitting inside the tiny office cubical. These are called “Life skills” which are learned outside of work. Some acquire these skills through their travels, through their passion or through their experience. And these skills are the ones the recruiters should be looking at as these are a direct reflection on the attitude of the candidate. Afterall, it’s the HR team that advocates the elusive “Work – Life balance”, don’t they!
