Gaps in your CV: how to explain them honestly and confidently

Common reasons for a gap in your CV

A gap in your CV is a period when you were not working or studying. The reasons are as varied as our lives, and most of them are perfectly normal for an employer to hear.

• Illness, your own or in your close family.
• Parental leave or a period at home with children.
• Unemployment after redundancy, downsizing or the end of a contract.
• Caring for parents or other family members.
• Travel or a gap year.
• Studies, retraining or courses.
• Burnout and time to recover.
• Moving, for example to Norway, and time to learn the language and sort out paperwork.
• An attempt at starting your own business.

Do you have to explain every gap?

No. A few months between jobs rarely needs explaining. Job hunting takes time, and most employers know that. If the break is longer, say six months or more, it is wise to show it in your CV rather than hope nobody notices.

An unexplained period makes the reader guess, and the guess is often worse than the truth. A short, factual line removes the uncertainty and lets you decide how the story is told.

How to show a gap in your CV honestly

The simplest solution is to give the period its own line under work experience, with dates and a short description, just like a job. Keep it factual and do not apologise. If you did something useful during the period, add a bullet point or two.

Do not stretch the dates of the jobs before and after to close the gap. It can come out when the employer calls your references, and then it is trust that suffers, not the break. Here are some examples of how it can look:

• “08.2023 to 06.2024: Parental leave”
• “2022 to 2023: Caring for a family member. Main responsibility for looking after a close relative.”
• “01.2024 to 09.2024: Job seeker. Completed courses in Excel and project management, and volunteered at a local food bank.”
• “2021 to 2022: Travel in South America. Learnt Spanish to B1 level.”
• “03.2023 to 02.2024: Career break for health reasons. Now ready for full time work.”
• “2024 to 2025: Relocation to Norway. Completed Norwegian courses to B2 level.”

How to explain a gap in your CV at interview

If you are asked about the break, it is a good sign. The employer is interested enough to want to know more. Answer briefly and honestly, then move the focus forward. A simple recipe is three sentences: what happened, what you did or learnt, and why you are ready now.

Practise your answer out loud beforehand so it comes out calmly and naturally. See also our guide to common interview questions, and practise more questions with tips in the free interview questions tool.

• Illness: “I had a period of illness that I needed time to recover from. That is behind me now, and I am ready to work full time. I kept up to date by following developments in my field and taking a course in documentation.”
• Parental leave: “I was at home with our daughter for a year. She has started at nursery now, and I am looking forward to getting back to my profession.”
• Unemployment: “My position was cut in a round of redundancies last year. Since then I have applied for jobs where I can use my logistics experience, and I got my forklift certificate to strengthen my applications.”
• Burnout: “I took a break after a period with too heavy a workload. I have learnt a lot about prioritising and speaking up early, and I am ready for new challenges.”
• Travel: “I had saved up and travelled for six months. It was a deliberate choice, and now I am motivated to stay in a permanent job for the long term.”
• Moving: “I moved to Norway in 2024 and spent the first year learning Norwegian and getting my qualifications recognised. I now have B2 level Norwegian and am ready to start.”

What you do not have to share

You have the right to keep health information to yourself. Under the Norwegian Working Environment Act, an employer may only ask applicants for health information that is necessary to carry out the duties of the position. So you do not need to give a diagnosis or talk about treatment. It is enough to say that there were health reasons and, if it is true, that things are fine now.

The same goes for family plans. Under the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Act, an employer must not ask about pregnancy, adoption or whether you plan to have children when hiring. You can also choose not to say why you had caring responsibilities or who they were for.

Keeping something private is not the same as lying. Do not invent jobs or periods you did not have. If you are unsure what is fine to say, a short, honest phrase such as “personal reasons” is almost always safe.

Turn the period into something positive, without overselling

Many people did more during their break than they think. Courses, volunteering, a seat on a housing cooperative board, a trade certificate taken through the experience based route (praksiskandidat) or a language you learnt are all worth mentioning if they are relevant to the job.

At the same time, be careful not to oversell. If you write that parental leave gave you project management experience, most recruiters will smile a little. It is better to say it as it is and let the real courses and experience speak for themselves.

If the break is recent, you can still do something about it. A short online course, a certificate or a few hours of volunteering a week shows that you are getting going again.

Unemployed? How to keep your job search going

If you are unemployed now, register as a job seeker with NAV straight away. It is a condition for applying for unemployment benefit (dagpenger), and NAV can offer guidance and courses. Temporary assignments through a staffing agency can also be a way in, and they go on your CV as normal experience.

Keep your CV up to date and tailor it to each job. In Selja you can paste a job ad and get a professional, ATS-friendly CV and cover letter tailored to the job in under a minute, based on your own details. Under Jobs you will find fresh vacancies from arbeidsplassen.no that match what you are looking for. Read our guide on how to write a CV for the basics.