How to explain an employment gap on your CV
Give the gap its own dated line with a plain reason, such as 'Career break: caring for a parent', and keep the detail for the interview. A gap is not a problem in itself, but expect a question about it.1
Written 13 October 2026. CitedCV. How we write our guides
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First, find the gap the way a reader will
Before you decide how to word anything, lay your history out as a reader sees it: a column of start and end dates. A gap you have half forgotten is still obvious to someone scanning dates, and the worst outcome is being surprised by it in an interview.
- Write every role, course and break with a start and end month and year, newest first.
- Mark each stretch of months with no entry against it.
- Next to each, note what actually happened: study, job search, illness, caring, travel, freelance work, a move, or a mix.
- Decide for each one: a line on the CV, a sentence in the cover letter, or an answer ready for the interview. The table further down helps.
No careers service we read sets a minimum length that needs explaining. A practical test is whether the gap is visible from the dates alone. If it is, the reader will notice it, so it is better that your own words reach them first.
Which part of the application carries what
The CV, the cover letter and the interview each have room for a different amount of explanation. Splitting it this way keeps the CV short and leaves the personal detail to a conversation.
| Where | What goes there | Source |
|---|---|---|
| CV | A dated line with the reason in a few words; any course, volunteering or freelance work done in that time | National Careers Service: state why you took a career break in your CV, form or letter |
| Cover letter | Two or three sentences: what you did and what it taught you, then why you are ready now | Prospects: mention the gap in the third or fourth paragraph |
| Interview | A short, rehearsed answer to the follow-up question; more detail only if you choose | National Careers Service: the employer can ask for more in the interview |
| Interview, not the application | A dismissal: the circumstances, what you learned and how you have improved | National Careers Service |
Keep the same date format everywhere
If your jobs show month and year, the gap line should too. A break written only in years among lines with months looks like something being blurred, which is the opposite of what an honest line is for. The National Careers Service asks for the dates you worked at each employer.
One honest line for each kind of gap
Example wording. Change the dates and details to your own; write nothing you could not expand on calmly if asked.
| Reason | Line on the CV | Leave off the CV | If asked at interview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illness or mental health | Career break: health, fully recovered (Mar 2024 to Jan 2025) | Diagnosis, treatment, hospital names. 'Fully recovered' only if true; otherwise 'Career break (Mar 2024 to Jan 2025)' | Only share what you are comfortable sharing, the National Careers Service says |
| Caring for a relative | Career break: full-time carer for a family member (Jun 2023 to Aug 2024) | The relative's condition | What you organised or managed, and that the caring has ended or is covered |
| Raising children | Career break: parenting (2021 to 2024) | Children's names and ages | Any course, volunteering or part-time work in that time |
| Redundancy and job search | Made redundant when the site closed (Jul 2025); job search and Excel course since | Bitterness about the employer | The business decision, not your performance: the National Careers Service's own example is a role merged to cut costs |
| Study or retraining | Full-time study: Level 3 Certificate in Bookkeeping, AAT (Sep 2024 to Jun 2025) | Nothing; this goes under Education too | Why you chose it and how it fits the job |
| Travel or a gap year | Gap year: travelled and worked in Australia (2023 to 2024) | A day-by-day itinerary | What you handled on your own; Prospects uses a year of work and travel as its example |
| Relocation or waiting for a visa | Relocated from Istanbul to Manchester; awaiting right to work (Jan to Jun 2025) | Immigration history beyond what the form asks | The date your right to work started |
| Freelance or casual work | Freelance social media for three small businesses (2024 to 2025) | Clients who did not agree to be named | A result for one client |
| A conviction | Usually nothing on the CV | The conviction itself, unless asked | In the UK, GOV.UK says you only need to disclose an unspent conviction if asked; spent ones only in narrower cases |
Example: two gaps in one experience section
An invented example, to show where the lines sit among real jobs:
- Customer Service Adviser, Northgate Energy, Leeds, Feb 2025 to present
- Career break: full-time carer for a family member, Jun 2023 to Jan 2025. Completed Customer Service Level 2 online (2024).
- Sales Assistant, Brightwell Home Stores, Leeds, Sep 2019 to May 2023
- Gap year: worked on farms and in hostels in New Zealand, Sep 2018 to Aug 2019
Volunteering and courses belong in the gap
The National Careers Service suggests mentioning volunteering or a short or online course done during a gap, even if it seems unrelated, because it shows you are willing to learn. Put it on the same line as the break or directly under it, so the reader sees the gap was not empty.
What employers may and may not ask, checked 13 October 2026
UK: health questions before an offer
Section 60 of the Equality Act 2010 says an employer must not ask about an applicant's health before offering work, with narrow exceptions such as checking for adjustments to an assessment or whether you can do a core function of the job. Legislation.gov.uk showed the section up to date to 11 October 2026. A gap caused by illness can therefore be named as a career break without a medical explanation.
US: disability questions before an offer
The EEOC's guidance on the Americans with Disabilities Act says an employer may not ask disability-related questions or run medical examinations until after a conditional job offer. It may ask about your attendance record at a previous job, but not how many sick days you took.
UK: criminal records
GOV.UK says you need to tell an employer about an unspent conviction or caution only if they ask, and about a spent one only if they ask, tell you the role needs a standard or enhanced DBS check, and it is not filtered from DBS certificates. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different rules.
LinkedIn's career break entry
LinkedIn lets you add a career break to the Experience section of your profile, with a type or a free description. Its help page says the entry is visible to logged-in members and your network is not notified. When it launched the feature in March 2022, LinkedIn said 51% of hirers in its own survey were more likely to contact a candidate who explains a career break. Keep the dates the same as on your CV.
Where this page stops
- Visa and immigration CVs: some forms want every month accounted for, including unemployment; the visa application CV guide covers which ones.
- Turkish CVs: the Turkish version of this page adds the SGK service record check, military service and Turkish data protection law.
- Long breaks for parenting or caring where you want a structured way back: the guide on returning to work after a break covers returnships.
- Whether to disclose a disability at all, beyond explaining a gap: see the disability disclosure guide. A gap after being laid off has its own guide too.
- This is CV guidance, not legal advice; employment law differs between England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and US states.
Next steps
- Draft the cover-letter sentences next, using the reason and what you did in the gap; the cover letter guide has the structure.
- Rehearse a two-sentence interview answer for each gap out loud.
- Run the finished CV through the free checker on this site: it reports when no dates are recognised or two month formats are mixed, which is how gaps become confusing.
- CitedCV can write a career-break line from the dates and reason you give it and place it in the timeline, without adding detail you did not supply.
Questions people ask
How do I explain a gap in my CV?
With one dated line and a plain reason, such as 'Career break: caring for a family member (Jun 2023 to Jan 2025)'. Add any course or volunteering done then, and keep a short answer ready for the interview.
Should I put a career break on my CV?
Yes, if the gap is visible from your dates. The National Careers Service says to state why you took a career break in your CV, application form or cover letter.
Do I have to say my gap was for mental health reasons?
No. 'Career break: health' or simply 'Career break' is enough. The National Careers Service says to share only what you feel comfortable with, and UK law limits health questions before an offer.
How do I explain a gap from looking for work?
Name it as a job search and fill it with what you did: courses, volunteering, freelance or temporary work. If it followed a redundancy, describe the business decision rather than yourself.
Can an employer ask about gaps in employment?
Yes, and you should expect it. In the UK they may not ask about your health before an offer, and in the US they may not ask disability-related questions before a conditional offer.
Is a gap of a year on a CV a problem?
Not in itself; the National Careers Service says having a gap is not a problem. An unexplained year raises a question, so a dated line with the reason answers it before the interview.
Where do I explain a gap in a cover letter?
In the third or fourth paragraph, Prospects suggests: what you did during the gap, the skills you gained, and that you are ready to focus on the role.
Should I hide a gap by listing only years?
Not if your other lines show months. Changing the date format only around a gap tends to draw attention to it; keep one format and name the break.
Sources
- National Careers Service: Explain a gap in your employmentnationalcareers.service.gov.uk/careers-advice/explain-gaps-in-work-history
- National Careers Service: How to write a CVnationalcareers.service.gov.uk/careers-advice/cv-sections
- Prospects: How to explain a gap in your CV (May 2025)www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/cvs-and-cover-letters/cover-letters/how-to-explain-a-gap-in-your-cv/
- Equality Act 2010, section 60 (legislation.gov.uk)www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/60
- EEOC: Enforcement guidance on preemployment disability-related questions and medical examinationswww.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/enforcement-guidance-preemployment-disability-related-questions-and-medical
- GOV.UK: What information you need to give about a criminal recordwww.gov.uk/tell-employer-or-college-about-criminal-record/what-information-you-need-to-give
- LinkedIn Help: Add career breaks to your profilewww.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a597655/add-career-breaks-to-your-profile?lang=en
- LinkedIn Pressroom: A new way to represent career breaks on LinkedIn (March 2022)news.linkedin.com/2022/march/new-way-to-represent-career-breaks-on-linkedin