How to explain a gap in employment on a UK CV

Explain a gap in your CV with honest dates and one short, factual line: what you were doing or why you were away and, where it helps, what you kept up or learned. Do not stretch dates to hide a gap. Put the line on the CV beside the dates, keep it to a sentence, and prepare a calm answer of about half a minute for the interview.

This guide takes you through it step by step, with fictional examples. It applies to a normal UK CV of one to two pages.

Do you need to explain a gap at all?

A gap of a few weeks between jobs is normal and most readers will not mind. A longer gap raises a question in the reader's mind, so it is better to answer it on the CV than to leave them to guess. The National Careers Service also gives advice on explaining gaps in work history.

Step 1: Use honest dates

Give each job a start and end month and year, and keep them accurate. Stretching a date to hide a gap is risky: dates are often checked at reference stage, and a mismatch looks worse than the gap itself. If a gap is genuine, show it plainly.

Step 2: Add one short, factual line

Put a single line in the work history where the gap falls, with its dates. Say what the gap was in plain words and stop there. You decide how much to share about private matters; a brief, neutral phrase is enough. Some fictional examples:

• Mar 2022 to Nov 2022: Career break to care for a family member.
• Jan 2023 to Jun 2023: Redundancy, followed by a job search and a short online course.
• Sep 2021 to Aug 2022: Maternity leave and parental leave.
• Apr 2020 to Oct 2020: Travelling and part-time seasonal work.
• Feb 2024 to Sep 2024: A period of ill health, now fully recovered and ready to work.

Step 3: Show what you kept up, if it is true

If you did something useful during the gap, say so. That can be volunteering, a course, freelance or informal work, helping run a household budget, or caring responsibilities that needed organising. Only include what you really did, and keep it short.

Step 4: Put it where the reader will see it

Keep the gap line in the work history, in date order, rather than hiding it at the bottom. If the gap is long or recent, you can add a half sentence in your profile or cover letter, such as that you are returning to work after a career break. Our CV personal profile examples show how to word a short profile.

Step 5: Prepare a calm answer for the interview

Most interviewers will simply ask about it once. Prepare about half a minute: what happened, what you kept up, and why you are ready now. Say it plainly and move on to the job. If you want to practise telling it as a short story, our guide to the STAR method shows how to structure an answer.

What to leave out

• Invented work. Do not claim freelance work or a course you did not do.
• Stretched dates. Do not extend one job to cover the gap.
• Over-sharing. Keep private details brief and neutral.
• Apologising. State the facts. A gap is not a fault.

Check your CV before you send it

Run the free CV scan, which runs in your browser and uploads nothing, or try the free CV checker, which flags missing dates and unclear gaps. Both are automated checks, not a verdict from an employer. If a short role rather than a gap is the issue, see our guide on how to explain a short role.

FAQs

Should I put a gap in employment on my CV?

Show it honestly with real dates and one short line of explanation. A short gap of a few weeks rarely needs comment, but a longer one is better explained than left for the reader to guess.

How long a gap is too long?

There is no fixed limit. What matters is that the dates are honest, the explanation is short and factual, and you can show you are ready to work now.

How do I explain redundancy on a CV?

Treat it as a plain fact. Put the end date of the job and, if you wish, a short note such as that the role was made redundant. Then show what you did next, such as a job search, a course or temporary work.

Do I have to give the reason for a gap?

You decide how much to share. A brief, neutral phrase, such as a career break or a period of ill health now over, is usually enough. Do not give details you would rather keep private.

What can I say I did during a gap?

Only what is true: volunteering, courses, freelance or informal work, caring responsibilities, travel or a job search. Choose the parts that show skills the new job needs.

How do I explain a gap in an interview?

Keep it to about half a minute: what happened, what you kept up, and why you are ready now. Say it calmly and then return to the job. You do not need to apologise.

How Evident helps

Evident compares your CV with the job advert, asks up to five targeted questions to find the experience you may not have written down, and drafts wording only from your answers, which you approve line by line. If you worked on things during a gap that you never wrote down, those questions are how that evidence comes out.