# How to answer career gap in resume? **URL:** \ **Category:** What is on Your Mind?\ **Created:** [December 18, 2025, 3:16pm UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/how-to-answer-career-gap-in-resume/397398 "2025-12-18T15:16:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ihattaren](https://community.unix.com/letter_avatar/ihattaren/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@Ihattaren](https://community.unix.com/u/Ihattaren)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 3:16pm UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/how-to-answer-career-gap-in-resume/397398/1 "2025-12-18T15:16:40Z")
I will be interviewing for a private IT job tommorrow. I left my technical support job which I got right after college of more than two years. The company did not force me to leave. But I left mostly because I had once conflict with a senior teammate in a standup meeting. I crossed the line when I choosed to speak foul words. I had apologized for that incident in front of the entire team. But I felt very bad. Also I felt I was being quietly disposed due to decreased responsibilities, annoyed manager, continuous complaints on my work without evidence. I will have to answer the existing five-six months gap(as of now) in my resume. During that time I have been rigorously preparing for government IT job. I am asking this in context of a private IT job interview.. The question "Why did you leave your previous job without finding a new job?" is like a compulsory question. Way-1, about what I will answer. I will answer them "To prepare for government IT jobs". Now there will be two possible follow-up questions(based on my experience interviewing a couple of Nepalese IT Companies after my resignation from my ex tech support job): - They will now ask why are you coming back for private jobs back again? - What did you feel missing in your ex private IT job that made you to prepare for government IT job? For the first question; I will answer, I have now finished preparing/studying for the competitive exam which the government takes to recruit IT officers. Now this leads me to a new dilemma. They will think, why should we hire you and invest in you when we know you will leave in six months or one year to government jobs? I have faced such situation in the last company that I interviewed for last week. I tried to convince him saying it will be 1.5 years before I enter a government job. But obviously he was not convinced. ( I said 1.5 years because exams, interviews, deployment on office etc takes time in government and it is true). For the second question, it is easy: financial security and predictable career growth mostly. Noone will have hard time believing it. I do not see anything better than this. Of course I could say health reasons. But it will be difficult to prove. Or I could say "The environment in my department was not helpful for my career and financial growth and I want to prepare myself for better jobs". But this leads me to another difficult phase. I have been solely focused on preparing for government IT jobs. I have been re-studying various subjects that are present in IT officer syllabus of government services. What I wanted to say from the paragraph above is that I have not been doing certifications like RHCSA, Certified Kubernetes Administrator type or even learning to build a homelab in the last five months. I have nothing to show for that case. (Note that I am applying for IT support, devops, system engineer titled jobs) Some AI bots gave this answer for the first question asked above. "Over the period of time(5-6 months), I realized my core values were continuous growth(learning, financially, career etc)-\>thus I seek for private IT jobs now." It sounds so fake. I would appreciate a more humanly response to this situation. ---
**Author:** ![Neo](https://community.unix.com/user_avatar/community.unix.com/neo/32/22838_2.png) [@Neo](https://community.unix.com/u/Neo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 3:28pm UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/how-to-answer-career-gap-in-resume/397398/2 "2025-12-18T15:28:21Z")
> [@Ihattaren](#): > > It sounds so fake. I would appreciate a more humanly response to this situation. Just tell the truth. Honestly is "always the best policy." You could say, for example: _"This was my first position out of school and I learned a lot , had a good degree of success, gained a lot of experience and made some (normal for a junior) small mistakes. I am motivated to apply all my experience, knowledge and lesson learned to a new position with your company."_ Or something similar which matches your honesty and unique perspectives. ---
**Author:** ![vbe](https://community.unix.com/user_avatar/community.unix.com/vbe/32/266_2.png) [@vbe](https://community.unix.com/u/vbe)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2025, 3:52pm UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/how-to-answer-career-gap-in-resume/397398/3 "2025-12-18T15:52:15Z")
Exactly, the truth and being strictly factual: 1. I saw no future where I was ( I decided to prepare myself for the competitive government exam…) 2. I realise now, as time is passing, less chances I have to find a good job in IT , and so I am not ready anymore to gamble with the hypothetical success of the exam, if I find a good opportunity, I will play safe and go for it, etc… You get my point? ---
**Author:** ![Ihattaren](https://community.unix.com/letter_avatar/ihattaren/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@Ihattaren](https://community.unix.com/u/Ihattaren)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 3:36am UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/how-to-answer-career-gap-in-resume/397398/4 "2025-12-19T03:36:45Z")
I went to the interview today. I was really terrified when they brought up “how is your anger management issues”. Mine was bad, for a moment I thought they learnt about me. But later they told that since it is a school/college, lots of issues are non-issues and you will be annoyed with them or not. ---
**Author:** ![Neo](https://community.unix.com/user_avatar/community.unix.com/neo/32/22838_2.png) [@Neo](https://community.unix.com/u/Neo)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 5:41am UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/how-to-answer-career-gap-in-resume/397398/5 "2025-12-19T05:41:15Z")
> [@Ihattaren](#): > > “how is your anger management issues”. Mine was bad, for a moment I thought they learnt about me. You might want to practice the (ancient and wise) **Brahmavihāras** in situations like this. They’re simple but very effective: - **Mettā** – loving-kindness: wishing well, even when provoked - **Karuṇā** – compassion: recognizing suffering (yours or theirs) - **Muditā** – appreciative joy: not taking things personally, not competing - **Upekkhā** – equanimity: balance and non-reactivity When these are present, anger has very little room to arise—or to stick around. ---
**Author:** ![MadeInGermany](https://community.unix.com/letter_avatar/madeingermany/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@MadeInGermany](https://community.unix.com/u/MadeInGermany)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 6:51am UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/how-to-answer-career-gap-in-resume/397398/6 "2025-12-19T06:51:33Z")
Always imagine, you all are sitting in the same boat. It needs a joint effort to move forward. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://community.unix.com/uploads/default/original/2X/c/c7e9e16a595259edafe88615719d5c5dcda035c2.png) [@system](https://community.unix.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2026, 6:52am UTC](https://community.unix.com/t/how-to-answer-career-gap-in-resume/397398/7 "2026-03-19T06:52:07Z")
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