I’d be suspicious if you tried to hide it and it came to light. I’d just be honest and say you took some planned time out, did a bunch of non work related stuff, recharged and now you’re ready to go again. If they push you can be creative if you’re embarrassed by what you actually did. But don’t try and disguise that you took time out as it will end any process if they find out.
Ask HN: How to justify my time-off?
11–15 of 15 posts
Re: Ask HN: How to justify my time-off?
#12Change your resume to show which years you were at a job. Leave the months off. e.g.: Assistant to the Regional Manager, Dunder-Mifflin, 2009-2023 A 10-month gap will be invisible. You'll see. Then, next step, never mention it in an interview.
This is terrible advice. Don’t do this.
Re: Ask HN: How to justify my time-off?
#13Change your resume to show which years you were at a job. Leave the months off. e.g.: Assistant to the Regional Manager, Dunder-Mifflin, 2009-2023 A 10-month gap will be invisible. You'll see. Then, next step, never mention it in an interview.
And hope that either the new job doesn't run a background check or doesn't care about the discrepancy (very likely once you reach this point of the pipeline, but you never know).
Was the resume lying? What's the discrepancy?
If they want exact dates of employment then by all means give it to them. If they ask during the interview, tell them. I have never seen an interview cycle get that picky about dates.
If you really want an unethical life protip, tell them you were caring for a sick family member. Do you think they'll press on that button?
Re: Ask HN: How to justify my time-off?
#14Change your resume to show which years you were at a job. Leave the months off. e.g.: Assistant to the Regional Manager, Dunder-Mifflin, 2009-2023 A 10-month gap will be invisible. You'll see. Then, next step, never mention it in an interview.
You should probably do this in any case, including months in employment periods is a bit like saying "I'm seven and a half!" when someone asks your age.
I haven't put months on my resume in decades, for this reason.
Re: Ask HN: How to justify my time-off?
#15Change your resume to show which years you were at a job. Leave the months off. e.g.: Assistant to the Regional Manager, Dunder-Mifflin, 2009-2023 A 10-month gap will be invisible. You'll see. Then, next step, never mention it in an interview.
And hope that either the new job doesn't run a background check or doesn't care about the discrepancy (very likely once you reach this point of the pipeline, but you never know).
What discrepancy?
I've been omitting months for a very, very long time and have gone through numerous background checks from different companies. Never once has omitting months been a problem or even something anyone wanted clarification about. I'm not saying anything that isn't accurate. I'm just rounding off irrelevant detail, no different than omitting the exact day that I started and ended each job.
Nobody cares about what month you started and ended, unless your employment lasted less than a year, maybe.