Gap in Employment & Resume Gaps (The New Way For How to Explain Them)
In this video, career mindset coach Natalie Fisher addresses the common anxiety job seekers feel about gaps in their employment history and the label of "job hopper." She argues that employment gaps—whether caused by long tenure at one company, multiple short‑term jobs, caregiving, illness, or any other reason—are neutral circumstances. The real issue, she explains, is the individual's perception that these gaps are a problem, which then creates self‑doubt and a negative narrative in interviews. Fisher provides several client examples (caring for an aging parent, surviving cancer, raising children, and holding multiple temporary positions) to illustrate how these neutral events can be reframed as strengths: demonstrating compassion, resilience, rapid learning, and adaptability. She emphasizes that confidence in presenting these stories, rather than projecting uncertainty, determines how interviewers perceive the candidate. The video outlines a coaching approach that helps clients re‑interpret their gaps, craft positive language, and approach interviews with assurance. Fisher concludes by promoting her free workshop “Get a Better Job in 30 Days, Even During a Pandemic,” offering resume and cover‑letter templates, and invites viewers to engage with her channel.
Chapters
In this video, I'm going to talk about addressing the circumstance of having gaps in your employment, being considered maybe a job hopper, or a term that's used among people that I've coached, and any concerns you might have about, you know, gaps in your resume, lack of gaps in your resume. That's what I'm going to talk about in this video. By the end of the video, you're going to know exactly what's important and exactly how you can talk about it confidently so that it will not affect your chances at the job. Stay tuned. The reason I wanted to make this video was because I know that a lot of people are really nervous about gaps in their resume. They feel self-conscious about them. They feel like they don't know how to address them or talk about them. They feel maybe a bit embarrassed about these gaps. The gaps could be there for any reason, right? And I'll talk about some of those reasons, but really I want to talk about how to address them and what's really important and why it's really a problem for you and what you're thinking about them and what you're making those gaps mean. There was a week where I had 2 clients, one who had been at the same company for 10 years, and he was embarrassed about that because he thought that that indicated that he hadn't grown very much. He thought, well, I've been in the same place for 10 years, and this means that that I have not grown very much. And he was of Indian descent and he just said, no, no, no, in our culture, that's what that means. It just means that, you know, you don't grow if you stay in one place, you should be moving around, right? So I found that very interesting. Then the very same week I had a client tell me, well, I've had like 5 different temporary jobs and this means that I can't hold down a job. It means I'm not reliable. It means nobody wants me. It means there's a reason why I haven't been able to stay in one place. So I find it very fascinating that, you know, two clients had exact opposite circumstances and they were both making them mean something very negative about their potential and their capability and their, you know, ability to move forward in their career. First, I want to tell you that those are both neutral circumstances— being at one company for 10 years or having switched 5 times or having Worked for a year and then had a 5-year gap and then worked for another year. Whatever it is, those are neutral circumstances. And everything after that is your thought about what those circumstances mean for you and how you interpret that and the story around that. That is what's actually going to dictate what your future looks like and how you talk about these circumstances in an interview if they come up. So First, I want to offer you that there's lots of people who have had, let's say for argument's sake, 5 different temporary jobs and still landed their dream job on a permanent basis. There's lots of people who have worked and had large gaps in their employment who have still landed their dream job on a permanent basis. So you're probably not looking for that because you're too concerned right now about your own gap and about how you're going to address this question if it comes up for you. So just know that it doesn't have to be an issue. And I'm going to explain in this video how you can think about it in a way where you can address it more confidently. So I've had many clients over the years and they've had gaps in their employment for many reasons, right? So maybe one had to take care of his aging father with Alzheimer's and he had a gap where he didn't work, right? I've had another client who had a severe health scare. She had cancer, she overcame it, and she couldn't work for that time when she was going through treatment. Lots of clients who have had kids, for example, and haven't been able to work during the time when they've been at home with their kids, or clients who have been let go and then had trouble finding work afterwards. And so they've got a gap for a few months there, and they're kind of paranoid that, oh, that means people are not going to want me because I was let go and then I couldn't find something. So the gap and the time that you didn't work is just neutral. And it doesn't matter what the reason was. The reason is neutral as well, right? Circumstance happened in your life. This caused you to not be working for a certain amount of time for whatever reason. And that is a neutral circumstance. Okay? So the next thing that happens is we layer it with a problem, right? We make it a problem for us, right? So the people that I've coached normally come to me with the story of, oh, it's a problem because people think this, this, and this. Like, oh, if I work for 5 places, people think I'm unreliable. People think that nobody wants me. People think that I'm not going to be prioritizing my work because I was at home with my kids. People think that I was not a reliable employee because I left to go take care of my dad. People think, people think, right? And while, you know, we can't control what other people think, it's completely not useful for you to be thinking that ahead of time before we even give people the chance to think anything, right? So right now, those are just thoughts in your head, right? You haven't even talked to anyone yet about it. And you might say to me, oh no, no, no, but I have, and this is what they said, right? So that's because you were coming at it from a place of it was a problem and you're embarrassed about it and you're not sure how to talk about it, right? Or whatever thoughts you were having about the circumstance weren't serving you, right? So it wasn't working because the way that you presented the situation, you were feeling uneasy about it, right? So that's what I want to show you is you thinking ahead of time that it's a problem is what is contributing to making it a problem. Right? And that's proven by the evidence that lots of people who have had kids have gone back to work without any problem. Lots of people who have had 5 temp jobs have gotten a permanent full-time position. It hasn't been a problem. Lots of people who have taken care of their aging parents, taken time off for that, have gotten their dream jobs. It has not been a problem. And so there's evidence of all that as well, right? But we don't see that because we're focusing on the fact that, oh, people think it's a problem and we're We're fixating on the fact that what we think people are going to think, and so we're anticipating that they're going to think this beforehand, and so we're nervous and self-conscious about talking about it. So you thinking it's a problem is the problem. Okay? So I hope you're following me here because let me explain to you why. If you can help the company, if you can do the job, if you are the person they need for that role, Why does it matter? Right? It's like if, say, I want to get an electrician to come in and install— I had to do this the other day— I have an electrician come in and install a fan. I wanted a ceiling fan, and then he had to put in a switch to make it work. I'm not going to care if he hadn't been working for a while. I'm not going to care if he had to take care of his sick parents. I'm not going to be— I'm not going to care if he fixed 5 other ceiling fans before mine. I'm not going to care about any of that. All I All I care is that he can get it done for me and that it works and that I'm happy. So I don't care about any of those other things, right? But if he came to me and he was all like, oh, well, I don't know if I'm going to be able to do it. I haven't done it in like 2 years. I'm not really sure. Like, oh, you might think I'm not capable because of this. Like, I'm going to start to doubt him too. I'm going to be like, oh, like, are you sure you're up for this? Like, are you all right? Like, but— If he just came in with full confidence and is like, oh yeah, it's like riding a bike. I know how to do this. I went to school. Yeah, tell me where it is. I'll get it done for you. I'm going to be like, great, right? I'm not going to question it at all. So hopefully that illustrates that your mentality about your gaps in your resume is what is projecting onto the people that you're speaking with. And that is the only thing that gets in the way. That's the only thing that's the problem. Ask yourself, The gaps in your resume, whatever your specific circumstance, what are you making it mean? Why do you think it's a problem? Right? And all of the times that anyone has brought me any sort of gap that they were really convinced was a problem, we have reframed it. Okay? So I'll talk about a few of them. So my client who had to take care of his aging father, he's a human, he's compassionate, he's a loving human being who took care of his dad. Right? That is actually a positive thing, right? We want people who care about other human beings, right? Like, isn't that nice that he wanted to take care of his dad, so he had to take some time off work, right? He wasn't putting himself first. He was taking care of his dad. Like, he's a human. Lots of interviewers are human too, you might say, right? They might have aging parents or sick family members. They would understand. And if they don't understand, then really, like, do we want to be working for a company that doesn't understand that? Not if you're the person who did it, right? Secondly, the woman who I coached who had cancer and she was in a hospital bed and she was going through chemo and radiation and she had to heal herself. She had to get her body back into the position where she was strong enough to go back to work. And then when she was strong enough to go back to work, she was afraid that nobody was going to want her because she hadn't been in the field. She hadn't been working for a long time. And we were able to easily reframe that. I was able to show her how strong she actually was, how she almost died and she came back And she is now ready to hit the ground running, and how amazing of a story that is, right? So so many situations where we can reframe these stories into where you were thinking it was a negative; it's actually a positive. It's actually an asset, right? Like when you're at work, right, and you're doing something challenging, and you got to keep going because you don't want to give up on getting the task done. It's actually very minimal and almost nothing compared to freaking fighting cancer. And still being alive, right? Just a couple of examples, and those are extreme, but like, you can use those to your advantage, right? They're not a detriment to you. They're part of who you are. They're part of what makes you stronger. They're part of what makes you a more valuable employee and a more valuable person, right? And the person who started 5 different jobs in a short amount of time, you had to get up to speed, right? You have to get up to speed every single one of those times. You have to learn a whole bunch of new things. Even if you were only there for 2 or 3 months, imagine that learning. Imagine all those breakthroughs that you had. Imagine how much better you now are at getting up to speed in a new place. How freaking beneficial is that to somebody? You can get up to speed quickly because you've done it already 5 times. And if you want a permanent full-time position, then you just say, I would really like to stick to somewhere. You know, this is what I want. These situations were temporary. We find the wording. When you get creative, you find the wording to tell your story in a powerful way. So whatever your job gap was, however long it was for, however many job gaps you have, whatever the reason, those things are not actually important. All that's important is how you feel about your job gap, why you are making it mean whatever it is you're making it mean, why do you think it's a problem for you, and then once we clear all that out, You are going to be unstoppable because it's actually not a problem unless it's a problem for you, right? So I hope that makes sense to you because I've seen it happen so many times where people come to me and they think something's a problem and I'm like, it's actually not. So this is what coaching is, right? We figure these things out together so that you can go out there confidently and nail your interviews, show up confidently so that you don't have to worry about your past being something that is going to impede you because it actually can always be turned into something that serves you no matter what it is. There you have it. I hope that this lesson was very helpful to you, and no matter what the gaps were on your resume, it doesn't actually have any bearing on what you're capable of doing in the future, what you can do moving forward. Your past is your past. If you can focus on your past in a way that serves you, you can move forward in an even more powerful, even stronger way. My name is Natalie Fisher. I'm a career mindset coach. I help with this stuff every single day. I'm very, very good at it. I can assure you that any roadblock you have, I can help you get past it and achieve the result you want to be getting to. If you're interested in working with me, hit the link below. I have a free workshop. It's called Get a Better Job in 30 Days, Even During a Pandemic. And I'm going to show you evidence of this being done, and I'm going to give you the exact resume and cover letter that was used to accomplish this result— a better, higher-paying job in 30 days, even during a pandemic. And I'm going to give you that on the workshop, as well as some great training for you to succeed in your own career. If you're interested in that, click the link below. Find me at www.nataliefisher.ca. Give me a thumbs up if you liked the video, thumbs down if you didn't like the video, and then subscribe to the channel. I'll be here again next week with another video. And leave me a comment because it's the only way to know who's watching, and I love to hear your thoughts. Thanks so much, and I will see you next week. Bye!
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