How to explain a career break in your cover letter

Common reasons for a career break

There are several valid reasons why you may need to take a break from your career for months or even years at a time.

Perhaps you need to care for a child or family member, take a break to travel, volunteer for a worthy cause, or work on a personal project.

Explaining your career break

Whatever the case, it can still feel a little awkward explaining your career break to prospective employers once you return to the job market. And while doing that return, you may find challenges in different steps of the hiring process.

With that in mind, we put together a few tips that can help you explain your career break in your cover letter.

Focus on what you can offer 

First, you don't want your cover letter to sound like a defence of your employment history or why you had to take some time away from work.

Very few employers will worry much about your career break unless they think you're not ready to return to work, or there is some underlying factor that will affect your work with them. They are far more interested in your relevant experience, relevant skills to the field and what you accomplished in your previous company.

A great place to focus on what you can offer is also the resume summary. This brief introduction quickly captures employers' attention, showcasing your achievements, experience, and career goals—proving you're the ideal fit.

With that in mind, focus on the positives you can offer your prospective employer

Instead of addressing your career gap immediately, talk about your accomplishments in previous roles. For example:

• Did you help to increase revenues for your former company?
• Did you help to finish a major project on time and within budget?
• Did you receive any specific recognition for your work?

Think about what you can share that will demonstrate your competence, industriousness, and expertise to the recruiter.

After all, the main reason you're writing the cover letter in the first place is to make yourself look as attractive to the company as possible. For that, is always good to mention valuable skills you may have and potential transferable skills as well are important.

Don't try to hide your career break

Even though your qualifications and value to the prospective employer should make up the bulk of your cover letter, you still need to explain your absence from the workforce at some point on your job interviews.

Never give in to the temptation to hide your career gap, or gloss over it.

Granted, there may be a small possibility that the recruiter overlooks the gap; but if the recruiter finds out at a later stage of the hiring process, it could become an issue. In this situation, as in all others, honesty is the best policy. Remember that this is a potential employer, so a clean slate is something to always aim for.

At the same time, it is a good idea to mention why you think you are a strong candidate for this role.

Perhaps you could reiterate your previous experience in similar roles or how you've kept your skills sharp during your absence. One way to show that is by mentioning how you stayed on par with industry trends and how you kept your focus on your personal growth even during an employment gap.

Don't give out unnecessary details 

When it's time for you to explain your career break in the cover letter, keep the explanation brief and concise.

Remember, you don't have to go in-depth about why you left your previous job.
For example, let's say you decided to leave work to care for your elderly parents. In the interview stage, the recruiter doesn’t need to know the details about how you made the decision, as it is very personal to you.

Instead, you could briefly state something like: In [insert year], I took some time away from work to care for my parents. It's simple, to the point, and tells the recruiter all they need to know about the situation.

For more advice and tips, check out our jobseekers guide.to finding your next role. 

Looking for your next job?

At Airswift, we are committed to helping employees in the energy, process and infrastructure industries find the right job.

If you'd like to explore current openings in your field, sign up to our jobs board today.