Being in charge of hiring for a company can be a strenuous task. There may be hundreds of applications to go through. Who has that much time? Wouldn't it be easier to just throw out the applicants who have clear and distinct resume gaps? You may be thinking yes, but those candidates might just be the best in your pile. Give those candidates a chance to interview and explain those gaps. Resume gaps don't always mean lack of experience. Here are some reasons a candidate might have gaps on their resume.
Life happens
It is all to true but life can get in the way of any career. A relative gets sick or a layoff happens. Even traveling or spending time just volunteering. All of these events can explain a gap in someone's resume but are they all bad? No. Once you let a candidate explain, none of these reasons should raise a red flag. They even might be gaining experience that they wouldn't have gained while working. Traveling allows people to interact with others from all over, which can help to develop someone's communication and teamwork skills. People gain compassion when taking care of a sick relative and while no one plans for a layoff the situation can show that someone is a hard worker and dedicated if they have been spending that time searching for a job.
Lack of space
We've all heard it before; your resume shouldn't be longer than 2 pages. Then how does someone with 15+ years of experience show all of their employment in 2 pages along with all their education, skills and volunteering? This can cause your resume to show gaps in employment when in reality you don't have any. Allowing a candidate to come in for an interview or even go through a phone interview can give them the chance to explain how their resume is arranged and any gaps you may see.
First jobs
We've all been stuck in between that rock and a hard place when it came to finding our first job. Reading job description after job description and seeing 3-5 or 5-7 years of experience needed has made everyone a little crazy. A gap in employment could be due to graduating college and entering the workforce with no experience. In these situations it is important to look at other things such as volunteer work or again the life experience they have gained. Did they travel abroad for school, were they a teacher's assistant, what groups were they involved in? All of these experiences can help people gain skills that can be transitioned into the workforce.
Having to read through resume after resume can be time consuming but don't take the easy way out and throw away those resumes with gaps. Those resumes might just be your best candidates. What are some reasons you hired a candidate with a resume gap?