Explaining long term absence

[Pegs11]

Hi, I’m hoping to return to work after a couple of years living with a long-term illness (now in recovery). My CV is great in terms of my experience… but shows that my last job ended in 2019. How do I tackle this… should I put something on my CV/cover letter to explain the gap since my last employment?

Similarly, what should I put on my LinkedIn profile as my current occupation? “Unemployed” just sounds rubbish, I worry it will put potential employers off.

Also, I can only return to work part time at the moment due to needing to manage my health, but I can’t find ANY part time roles in my industry, only full time. Can I apply for these roles, but then see if they will take me part time? If so, at what point do I ask for this?

Thanks

With LinkedIn - use something like: looking for new opportunity.

I was recently sitting next to a lovely lady in my new job at induction, who had 2 years out of work - they got in with a recruitment agency who handled making applications for them. I found companies who recruit in bulk/multi recruit tend not to concentrate on why you left/gaps.

@Userxxxxx thank you for your reply! I’ll try contacting some recruitment agencies who specialise in my field of expertise 😊

Good idea about LinkedIn too 😌

I'd tend to include a little explanation at the beginning of the covering letter e.g. "having recovered from a period of ill health I am looking forwards to restarting my career. I'm particular enthusiastic about xxx as it aligns well with the experience in my previous role".

I should have also said good luck, I'm sure this reasonable period without a role shouldn't stand in your way

@GoldenBlue thank you for your reply, this is great advice, which I shall follow! Thanks again