To not want to disclose reasons for gap on CV?

[llaying]

I know this is supposed to be part of safer recruitment: I could have been in prison or under investigation for any sort of offences.

But my (enhanced) DBS would disclose this if I was. So genuinely, what’s the point of it?

They want to know if you were ill, if you are going to be off sick etc.

Keep it vague - caring duties or something which can’t be checked.

They want to check that your health is good enough to not be a problem with attendance.

Well yes - exactly. It’s not really about safer recruitment at all, is it?

I think being cagey about a CV gap is more suspect than the gap itself. Anyone recruiting is going to ask about a gap. I had 6 months off between jobs once because honestly I was exhausted but it sounds bad to a future employer if you say "the last job was such a shocker I was exhausted", they start to doubt that it was the employer and think it was probably you. So, just pick on something that can't be checked up. Maybe you can use something you did, but just not at this particular time; maybe you cared for someone that was ill, you took time out to improve your Spanish or whatever, you decided to go travelling for 6 months between jobs and enjoyed going to place x. Just make it believable, semi true and give it an end that doesn't impact the employer so they don't end up thinking you're still caring for someone and it could get more intense for example.

Well unfortunately if you want to work in certain roles then you may have to disclose. I used to do interviews in care and someone who refused to disclose would be an immediate rejection.
DBS takes time and money so checking this at interview save the organisation doing a DBS on someone who is not going to be able to be employed. Your also checking someone’s honesty- I had someone disclose a conviction at interview that yes would have shown on DBS but didn’t exclude her from being employed, however had she not disclosed until the DBS came back then we would have withdrawn the offer as there would have been concerns about her honesty.

Everywhere I have worked has insisted on knowing - even small gaps, but I work in education/healthcare and they are very hot on this.

I had to write a statement declaring what I had been doing for a very small gap - they actually wanted someone else to confirm this, but it wasn't possible so they grudgingly accepted it.

It is about safer recruitment and also sensible for them. If you don't want to tell them, it's likely it was for a reason they would want to steer clear of. It's fine to be out of work, but they don't want you off work while they pay you for the same reason

You may not have been in prison - you might have been in Thailand organising a trafficking ring, in a hospital deemed a risk to yourself and others.... the p[oint is not so much what you were doing, but why you wouldn't want to tell them what you were doing.

How long is the gap? You really need to put something rather than nothing . What about:
"Volunteering"
"Caring responsibilities"
"Career break"
"Freelance xyz" (obviously something true but not necessary for it to have been full time)

And would I be likely to say this?

That sounds really combative and I don’t mean it that way. I just mean it’s a really pointless sort of demand, as often it’s something that can’t be supported.

How big a gap?

You can refuse to disclose what you were doing for a period of time however you need to accept that if you do this then a significant number of sectors of employment will be closed to you because of their safer recruitment policies.

I manage our HR & recruitment as part if my role, if there was a gap on your CV & you didn't explain it we'd bin the CV as it woukd be a red flag

mine has a few months and i said it was volunteering and job hunting

I’m not actually applying, though I briefly did consider it. One of the reasons is that I don’t really want to have to justify my every movement over the past two decades, but it wasn’t the only reason. I just am very genuinely wondering what the point of it is. I can see from the poll overwhelmingly people think I’m being unreasonable, so I’m deducing from that most people think it’s a good idea. I normally can see the other side if you like but in this case I honestly can’t see the point of it at all.

The point is if you lie, they can fire you for lying in the application process, so it provides protection from finding out an employee is not the sort of person you want associated with your business.

I have a 5 year gap on my CV from when I was SAHM and every job I have ever gone for has wanted an answer to this. So I just give it. I’m not sure why you wouldn’t be willing to explain, really. You don’t have to say you were burnt out, could just say you took a break between jobs to pursue your interests, like a sabbatical.

You don't have to justify, just state very briefly.

They want to know what you’ve been doing for your ‘working years’. Where you’ve worked, how you got on, what you achieved. If you haven’t been working, they want to know why. If you’ve left jobs, they want to know why (so, yes, ‘justifying your movements’). They’re building a picture of a person and deciding if that person fits into the larger picture of their team/organisation.

You are 100% entitled to keep any and all of that information to yourself, but it means you’re less likely to be hired.

If you’re in a position where you don’t need to work (as you appear to be) and can simply opt out forever, then that’s grand. If not, the longer you leave it, the bigger the gap you’ll eventually have to explain.

It’s not just safeguarding though, it’s about demonstrating work ethic and other personal qualities. If there’s a genuine reason for the gap (e.g. health, caring responsibilities, travel) that would be regarded differently from “sat in my bedroom smoking weed and living off my mum”.

No of course not but the interviewer may well get a feeling that your lying about something which would lead them to either investigate further or not employ you.

I agree it isn’t just about safeguarding but those are the reasons given - and it isn’t true.

Completely fine to want to know what a potential candidates rough sort of movements have been but tying it into safeguarding is really annoying!

I take few months break between jobs every 8-10 years. I just openly said when asked last time that I took a break, travelled, learned new recipes, visit family, did some free coursera reading. Napped a lot, but I did not mention that😂
It was fine. I guess it depends on employer.

This thread is quite literally the first time I’ve ever seen it tied to safeguarding.

Who’s tying it to safeguarding reasons?

it’s been a couple of years since I applied for a job, but no one has ever mentioned safeguarding when asking about career breaks. Application forms usually say something like “briefly explain any gaps” but I’ve never seen safeguarding mentioned specifically.

in fact I wouldn’t have jumped straight to safeguarding because as you say that would show up on their DBS and due diligence. I always thought it was more for continuity, and checking whether people move on from jobs with no good reason- this was a big thing when I came back from a career break, employers wanted to know it wasn’t a habit and I wasn’t going find something better to do and leave.

@Whycanineverthinkofone - it’s part of safer recruitment. here is one of many.