Gap in Judgement: Stop Asking People Why They Have Gaps

“He took a 9 month sabbatical to play computer games before looking for work again… I think we should pass”

Me… 🙁

I don’t know if turning this potential employee away lost us a great employee, or if he would have been uninspiring. I honestly don’t remember much else about his resume. and I’ll never know because I took the lazy way out, and found the worst reason to cut a person loose.

Years Later I would be in the middle of an interview and come face to face with the converse of this situation…
Me: “When you reviewed my resume, what was the thing that worried you the most?”
Interviewer: “I see that you have been at this company for 8 years, and That worries me, because it indicates a lack of drive… In the technical field, we aren’t the Detroit Steel Mills”

Wait… What… So my staying with a company instead of jumping around every year or two was a weakness? I had spent 8 years at one company learning multiple jobs, multiple roles, and mastering multiple technologies. And all that is in my resume, but this is what the hiring manager chose to see. I guess this is what I get for asking that question…

I took time afterwards to review that person’s Linkedin Profile and noticed that in the last 20 years they had worked for no less than 12 companies. That was what suited them, and looking at the “climb” in title that they made over that time, I believe I understand why that approach was important to them. It wasn’t wrong and it wasn’t right. It was just a personal choice.

X years of experience wasn’t wasted because someone took a 9 month Gaming Sabbatical, nor was my 8 years wasted because I didn’t take time to hop jobs and climb the “career ladder” faster.

Surely our skills have not evaporated into thin air because we took a break from our industry, or perhaps in a company for too long. If anything there is likely a renewed vigor to tackle new problems and change up their environment.

Look for that when you see a gap, or years of unified employment.