You just took a gap in your study, articleship or regular practice for an accounting or auditing firm, for probably one of the following reasons,
Personal (aiding a family member, unfortunate illness or demise, etc)
Social (you are passionate about a particular cause like LGBTQ+ rights, so you took the month of June as an OFF to volunteer for the cause)
Soul Project (Apart from being a CA, you’ve also been a poet at heart, so you took 1 month’s gap to attend this long masterclass to learn the art of writing).
Ofcourse, it can be a much-more diverse list of causes that makes you take this big decision, but by doing it, you have NOT called upon a curse on you.
Here’s what you do when justifying your career gap,
- Be Confident but Honest: If your gap was not because of professional or social reasons, be upright and honest enough to let them know the cause. Whether it was your wedding, unfortunate demise of a significant other, family caregiving or personal health concern; iIt could be anything, but you let them know, precisely, the actual cause without going into the unnecessary details.
-
- You say this to your employer, for instance,
During the time indicated, I took a personal leave of absence due to severe migraine attacks that required my full attention and recovery. Gratefully, I’ve fully recovered and am now eager to return to work and contribute to a team like yours.”
- Highlight the Skills learnt and Experiences Gained: Now imagine your gap was because you were supporting your sibling with their new business venture. Now that they’re settled with their venture, you returned back to your firm,
-
- Now this is how you let them know that the gap has helped you grow as a professional,
During the time indicated, I took a social leave of absence since I was supporting my sibling with their start-up. I’ve gotten better at management, operations, communication, ofcourse, negotiation, and the hiring process. I also audited his company and made sure it was an eco-friendly business set-up.
- Certifications/Projects: Your employer needs to know that you utilized your time off on ‘learning.’ So you let them know that you took up some courses or you worked upon some projects with organizations and personal brands and gathered licenses.
-
- This is what you tell them about your additional learning, for instance,
During the time indicated, I took a leave of absence since I was volunteering for the “menstrual education” campaign of ABC N.G.O. I handled the funding, accounts, for the campaign, and even streamlined their accounting process for the future via MS Excel and Tally.
- Achievements before the Gap: Now, something which is pretty obvious; you highlight your achievements prior to taking the gap. It could be your articleship, your rank at the ICAI, your control on softwares, or some teaching experience.
-
- This is how you put forward your achievements, for instance,
Prior to taking my leave of absence, I was AIR 67, in the year 2019. I scored the highest in advanced accountancy. I was an article with XYZ accounting firm who wanted me to join them full-time as an employee, but I wanted to expand my scope of work. I also have experience with teaching accountancy at a coaching center for 2 years.
Here’s what you DON’T when justifying your career gap,
- Be dishonest about your career gap
- Be under-confident or doubtful about why you took the gap
- Not being convincing on the fact that you didn’t let your career gap go to waste, and utilized it to learn.
- Not show excitement on resuming your professional journey.