Ask HN: Is it okay to have a short gap of unemployment on your resume?

Yes it's fine. You could take advantage of these few months to do something, like volunteering, OOS contributions, mentorship, etc to make it even "more okay". But your scenario is valid explanation enough.

Yep, absolutely fine. If anyone asks, just tell them the truth, you moved, left one company and are learning the new market and who's there.

My only comment, if you let a few months turn into 5-6+ months, you may want to explain up front versus them seeing a 6 month gap as you may not get in the door for a competitive position. You can do this in your intro email/cover letter, mention that you recently moved to the city, took some time to vacation and get to know the city a little and recently saw their position advertised and felt it might be a good match. Or something along those lines.

Serious question: what's the problem with résumé gaps? Is it a big deal in USA? I'd say that in Europe it's not such a big deal. Nobody is going to ask you why you have, for instance, a 4 month gap in your résumé if you have been working 3 or 4 years in a row. Almost everyone would guess that you took that time off, and that's not a bad thing precisely. Perhaps you took that time to learn new skills, to read a ton of books, to travel around the world, to be with your kids,... a lot of activities that do more good than harm. Most of us are going to work until we are 60 or so, so what's the big deal with having a few months every 5 years or so in our résumé? They give you a medal if you finish your career without gaps?

Imagine this scenario: developer A has been working in a time span of 10 years without résumé gaps. Developer B has been working for 9 years and has been taking gaps of 4 months every 3 years. Do you really think there is going to be a big difference between the two developers in terms of skills set? 10, 9, 8 years, it doesn't make a difference at all in terms of accumulated knowledge. But developer B has been doing "something else" during a whole year (3 gaps of 4months each). Maybe he travelled the world and learned a little bit of a couple of languages, and I'd say that's a valuable non-technical skill to have.

As I've said, I see more good than harm in taking a few month off from time to time.

Going back to your question: if it's just for a few months I see no problem at all, and if recruiters ask then just explain what you have post.

I have two (5+ month) gaps in my resume; one was so that I could party, the other was so that I could work on a personal project (that would definitely not make money). When people ask what I did during those breaks I tell them 'personal time' and that I wanted to explore a personal project in more detail (respectively). I do not seem to be any less employable.

(USA - North West)

This is anecdotal -- but it seems like companies are more or less pretty understanding if your reason is justifiable. I had a string of jobs (fulltime, then laid off, then consulting for 3 separate clients). I interviewed with over 20 companies this year and no one had a problem with the gaps in my resume. They were more interested (concerned?) about why I had worked with so many companies.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Any chance you can obtain a contract position or freelance work during that time so you can just list it as contract position/work.

But I really wouldn't worry about a small gap especially when moving to a new city.

Once you know you're leaving and getting ready to turn in your notice you could ask HR if you could take unpaid leave so your last official day is a few months out, not sure this is possible but if you're worried about your last official day of employment or a gap it might be worth asking.

I think I've only had one company contact my previous companies HR to verify my dates of employment. And one of my former companies HR staff called to let me know about it and see if it was ok to give them information and say they weren't even sure they can legally call up and ask for employee information like that.

Anyway good luck landing a new gig.

Having gaps on your resume isn't a big deal. If you're good at what you do you shouldn't have any problems. I have two 6 month gaps on my resume and it wasn't any problem getting my current job as a DevOps engineer. It can be a smart move taking your time to find the right thing. The last thing you want is to end up working somewhere just so you can have a paycheck.

I had a 13 month gap between my last job and my current job, because I went travelling and then migrated to a new country.

It was absolutely no problem and I actually think it helped me because I spent a decent amount of that travelling time developing skills I didn't have previously (both technical and soft skills).

I had a friend who was looking for Administrative Assistant roles with a 2 year gap on her resume and it was a problem. The companies could always find a younger person to sit in the chair and do the menial tasks, and somebody with no gaps is more likely to stay put. They also marked her down in interviews for not knowing the latest Excel version (even though she knew Excel and had been using it for years, like anything significant had changed in a year). So jobs like that are kind of shitty to applicants.

But you as a programmer? I cannot imagine it being a problem. You are a high-skill worker who earns enough that you can easily afford to take the time off. Just say you were exploring personal projects in your spare time. That sounds awesome.

As people have already said, a gap is not a problem. Being 'left behind' in your chosen niche can be a problem, though - volunteering, side projects...anything can make you 'safe'.

You can go thorough this list 100+ Career Guides to look for more career guidance.

https://www.thesuccessmanual.in/category/career-success

An asterisk on your CV time line will suffice: * Transferred to New City with my spouse. Took some personal garden leave during the transition.

Should anyone probe further, tell them ... I'm not a job-hopper, I've been very selective on my search looking for a good company match. Things that are important to me are the quality of the people, interesting work problems to solve, and obviously a good compensation package.

As someone with gaps in my resume for various reasons, I have found a range of responses by potential employers.

I have worked in two different career fields. When I made that switch, getting the professional certifications took me about 3 months, during which time I was not working. Almost nobody asks about the gap, though almost everyone asks about the career switch.

I have a several year period in which I was working only contract employment. There are gaps of up to 5 months between contracts. Most employers ask something about that time, and most are satisfied with the simple explanation that finding a new contract took that much time.

Some employers care more than others. IBM required me to write a letter of explanation for every gap of 3 months or more. Some employers don't even ask.

It GREATLY depends on the narrative.

Yes, some companies will have filters for things like "hasn't worked in X months => automatic dismiss pile", but by and large, I've found that it depends how that gap fits in with the rest of your life/work story.

They'll wonder about the following Was that gap after 3 months working somewhere? Was it after 5 years? What caused it? Boredom? Familial reasons? Illness? With a tight narrative (e.g. reasonable explanations and a human story), you'll be fine. The person(s) on the other end are also human beings, and most recognize that life happens. It's okay.

Few months is no big deal.. If they ask just say you moved because your spouse for a new job and you helped manage the move and the new place so you took a bit of time off.

I've hired a lot of people and I wouldn't even question a few month gap.. Life happens. I would question more then a 6-8 month gap.

Yes it's fine. In this day and age, it's almost suspicious not to have any gaps in one's tech resume. There are just so many sources of discontinuity in a career nowadays.

A related question - is there an official job registry in the USA?

That is would the gap be known about from public record, or is it up to you whether to specify it in your CV or not?

Also, how would you put the "tried a startup, failed" unemployment period into the CV?

Just insert 'sabbatical' or 'self-employed' for the duration. Whichever you can explain as the reason for a break. I tend to go with 'sabbatical' and explain during interviews that I managed work-life balance poorly and that needed sorting out. I might also mention how my relationship is for the better after my break, and that I am now more able to stay consistent, without swings in mood and existential crisis. I might also mention a hobby project I picked up that keeps me busy in my free time, like going back to reading fiction, woodworking, gardening, etc.

This usually creates the air of a real person during interviews. They find me interesting and interested, and as such I stand a better chance of being accepted into their community at the workplace.