'I'm an entrepreneur - here's how to justify gaps in your CV in interviews'

02 October 2023 , 18:30

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She said it's not something graduates should worry about - and they can use it to their advantage (Stock Photo) (Image: Getty Images/Westend61)

We all know the struggle of job hunting - it can be a long and agonising wait, but the buzz when you get accepted for your dream job can be a feeling like no other.

When updating your CV, you always want to put your best foot forward and appear desirable, but how can you make it look polished if there are gaps in between jobs or you've jumped frequently between companies, not wanting to put potential employers off?

A millionaire business owner has shared her top tips for getting your CV up to scratch - and what to do if there may be gaps.

Any recent graduate will know the struggle of trying to break into a successful career and hopping between jobs can be a part of that process but Grace Beverley, the founder of two hugely successful fitness wear brands, lifts the lid on when she would justify a CV that has a lot of gaps and short term employments on.

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It can look unappealing to any potential employer if the candidate hasn't lasted in their previous jobs for a long time, but Grace advises on how to overcome the awkward conversation. Speaking on her Working Hard, Hardly Working podcast, the 26-year-old million-pound business owner claimed that candidates should just simply address it straight away.

"If I've been interviewing someone and my one red flag is that they seem to have been jumping around jobs. First of all, I will probably ask, but second of all, if they call it out in their cover letter and say 'you might notice that all of my jobs have been six months to a year, that's because I'm a recent graduate. I've been prioritising getting a breadth of experience and now I'm really looking for something longer term'".

She said that "if there's an elephant in the room, just address it" and that if they did, it would "put her mind at ease". It it's simply a case of building up their CV to get different experiences, it would make Grace "excited to work with them" due to meeting and experiencing lots of different people too. If they did address it, she also admits she wouldn't "look down on them as experience is still experience" and urges graduates to learn as much as they can.

Niamh Kirk