Resume gaps if left to themselves will bring more attention from the hiring manager than the rest of your bountiful experience and valuable skills. Why? Because no one wants to hire what they *might* perceive as a “problem”. What do I mean by a problem, I mean an employee that presents well in person, scores the position, and then before you know it their true colours come out...those amazing skills – they don’t exist and their team driven personality is temporary meaning either you agree with them or*you’re* not part of the team. I am sure many know exactly what I am trying to get at here. This may not be even close to who you are or what you have to offer companies – but gaps get managers wondering and asking a lot of questions regardless.

So what if you get to the interview and you are now being drilled about a gap in your resume – what should you do? Be prepared, always be prepared for questions on resume gaps. If you walked into the interview with a prepared answer, it’s more than likely you’re going to be caught off guard and your response will be less than appropriate – absolutely sending off red flags to the hiring manager.

Here are your key steps to “Filling the Gaps”:

1) Prepare, prepare, prepare! Know your gaps inside and out – when, where, and why

2) When communicating the gap:

· Be honest, brief and concise

· Have a beginning, middle and resolution. I didn’t say an “END” but resolution – how did you resolve the gap?

3) Don’t let a gap happen in the first place – fill your gap!

· That’s right, even though you might be spending a lot of time “job hunting” and “building networks” how are you doing this? And why aren’t you giving yourself credit for it in your resume?

· Don’t under-value the opportunity to volunteer in your area of expertise. Yes, I know it won’t pay your bills – but the general job searching activities don’t either. At least by volunteering you are keeping your skills fresh, you are building networks, you are getting “known” by an organization that could even become a potential employer, and you’re giving back to the community. The way I see it - these are valuable opportunities!

If you have had to answer questions on gaps on your resume, how have you handled them? What have you done to “fill” your gaps?