就连“简历缺口”这个词听上去都非常可怕。它令人联想起吞噬一切光和声音的大裂口。它也完全有可能吞噬掉你获得一份新工作的机会。

但这种命运并非无可避免。不管你是花了六个月时间到喜马拉雅山玩极限跳伞去了，还是为了照顾新生的宝宝辞去了工作，还是为了照顾生病的亲人而暂离职场，你总是有办法将这段日子说得积极些——这便是来自职业专家妮可·威廉姆斯的建议。她也是《女孩当道：教你怎样利用约会法则获得职场成功》（Girl on Top: Your Guide to Turning Dating Rules into Career Success）一书的作者。

在此前的一篇文章中，妮可曾对求职网站Monster表示：“你可能辞职去学了一门课程，或者干了一阵子自由职业，或者是去旅游了。”但即便你是因为个人原因而暂时职场，甚至是被上一家公司炒了鱿鱼，只要你在参加面试时抱着正确的心态（以及一些精心准备的答案），你还是有机会成为这份工作的最佳竞争者。

至于如何向面试官解释简历上的这些时间空白，妮可给出了以下建议。

你可能很希望面试官只是在你的简历上匆匆看了两眼，便完全忽视了你已经整整两年没有工作的事实——很遗憾地告诉你，这是不可能的。

妮可表示：“面试官想知道，你的工作经历为什么有一段空白，你在这段时间里究竟做了什么。在申请一份工作时，你可以在求职信中大大方方地承认这段空白，然后简单地解释你在这段时期没有工作的原因。”

如果你觉得解释这种事情很尴尬，请相信我们，由你本人详细说明原因，要比任由面试官去想象好得多。

这是一个大问题。为了简历上的时间空白而说谎，是非常非常不值的。

雇主可以轻易地查到你的就业史，如果你在这个问题上说了谎，那么即便你拿到了这份工作，如果有一日东窗事发，你也可能因为这个问题而遭到解雇，你可不想让这颗定时炸弹一直悬在头上。

不要试图篡改简历上的日期，以填补你没有工作的那段时间。即便你是被上一家公司炒了鱿鱼，也要老实交待。

妮可表示：“丢饭碗这种事是经常发生的。如果你诚实地告诉对方你的处境，会让雇主感受到你的诚实和自信——而这两种品质是每一个雇主都想要的。”

不管你是由于什么原因导致简历上出现了一段时间缺口——被炒鱿鱼也好，裁员也罢，甚至是前面提到的极限跳伞也好，总之，你都能在这段经历中找到一些价值。不管你是干了一阵自由职业者，还是学习了一些新技能，还是利用这段时间认识到了什么才让你真正怀有激情，总之你都能让面试官相信，你利用这段时间实现了个人和职业上的进步，而不是赋闲在家。

去参加面试前，你可以先想一想，你在这段时间里都有哪些收获。

妮可表示：“你可以与雇主分享你的旅行经历。至少他们会很欣慰地知道，你已经‘去过那儿，干了那些事’，因此短时间里，你应该不会再请假周游世界了！”（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎

审校：任文科

Even the phrase is scary, calling to mind yawning chasms void of all light and sound—and any hope for a new job.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Whether you took six months off to go BASE jumping in the Himalayas, stopped working when a kid was born, or needed to leave the workforce to care for an aili面试ng relative, there’s always a way to spin things positively, says Nicole Williams, a career expert and author of Girl on Top: Your Guide to Turning Dating Rules into Career Success.

“You may have taken time off to take courses, freelance or travel—all of which can make you a better candidate for the job,” Williams told Monster in a previous article. Even if you had to exit the workforce for personal reasons, even if you were laid off or fired, you can if you go into your interview with the right mindset (and a few carefully prepared answers), you’ll still have every chance to come off as the great candidate that you are.

Monster’s got the advice you need to bridge the gaps with your interviewers.

You might have been hoping that the folks interviewing you would take a quick look at your resume and completely miss the fact that you didn’t work for two years—but, we’re sorry to report, that’s not going to happen.

“Interviewers will want to know why there is a gap in your job history and what, if anything, you did during that time,” says Williams. “When applying for a job, acknowledge the gap in your job history in your cover letter and briefly explain the reasons for the period of unemployment.”

Even if you feel awkward about your resume gap, trust us—shedding light on the situation will be better than simply leaving it to an employer’s imagination.

This is a big one. Lying about your resume gap is a really, really bad idea.

Employers can easily verify your career history, and lying about it can be grounds for dismissal if you do manage to get the job. You don’t want that hanging over your head.

Don’t try to fake the dates on your resume to fill the time you weren’t working. Even if you were fired from your last job, you need to say as much.

“Unemployment happens,” says Williams. “Being honest about your situation gives the employer a sense of your integrity and confidence—two characteristics every employer is looking for.”

No matter the reason for your resume gap—whether it’s getting fired, laid off, or even the aforementioned BASE jumping scenario—you can almost always find some value in it. Whether it’s a stretch of freelancing experience, a handful of new skills you picked up during your time off or a realization of what you’re really passionate about, there’s often a way to frame resume gaps as a period of personal and professional growth rather than just downtime.

Before you go to the interview, try to identify a few things you gained from your time away.

“Share your travels with your prospective employer,” says Williams. “At the very least, they may find comfort in knowing you’ve ‘been there, done that’ and won’t be taking off any time soon to travel the world again!”