Resume Gaps Affect 62% of Workers. Here’s How to Re-Enter the Workforce Confidently

Whether you took time off to raise a child, care for a loved one, recover from illness, or reassess your career path, reentering the workforce can feel overwhelming. You’re far from alone.

LinkedIn surveyed 23,000 employees and found that 62% had taken a break from their careers and 35% expressed interest in taking one at some point in the future.

Re-entering the workforce can be daunting. Knowing the key building blocks, including reframed resume gaps, strategic upskilling, and confident networking can help you relaunch your career.

Strategies for Relaunching Your Career

Taking a career break is becoming increasingly common. On average, women work 8.9 years before their first career break, while men work 10.3 years. Moreover, a LinkedIn survey of 7,000 employers revealed that almost one in two employers see these candidates as an untapped labor pool.

While there is still stigma around career breaks, there are a number of actions you can take to show you are uniquely qualified for the position.

Reframing Resume Gaps

When you’re returning after time away, one of the first hurdles is how to talk about the gap. Experts agree: Own it. Illustrate how your experiences can benefit your employer in this role.

“If you took time off to release the threads of a toxic work situation and travel around the world or—like me—to raise a colicky boy (honestly, cheaper than daycare), don’t treat that like a dirty secret. Own it with pride,” says Cara Heilmann, president of the International Association of Career Coaches. “Employers pick up on your insecurities, so instead, tell them what that time meant for you and for them.”

Instead of focusing on what may be missing, highlight how your experiences make you an ideal candidate. Pivot the conversation toward what you bring to the table:

“The best candidates tell a story of how everything they’ve experienced and learned has led them to this precise moment, where this job is the exact next step they want to take, and a job they’ll do well—not because they’re the perfect candidate, but because they will relentlessly highlight the assets they do have to succeed in this role,” says Liz Cohen, founder of Next Step Careers.

If you’re missing a specific skill, be transparent—but proactive. Communicate any research or steps you’ve taken to acquire the skill. If someone without Salesforce experience gets asked about their fluency in Salesforce, Cohen recommends language such as:

“While I haven’t used Salesforce specifically, I feel fully confident in my ability to take on this part of the role. I am fluent in other CRM systems, I have interfaced with client teams who regularly used Salesforce, so I am familiar with the interface, and I completed a product demo before this interview to start getting up to speed on the specifics. I’ve swiftly learned new technologies in every one of my past roles, and I have no doubt that I’ll be able to master this one quickly as well.”

Strategic Upskilling Without Breaking the Bank

You don’t need to go back to school or take on student debt to show employers you’re serious about reentry. Instead, you can:

• Take affordable (sometimes free) courses: Start on websites like Coursera or Google Career Certificates. Additionally, many world-class universities offer free courses, such as Harvard University and MIT.
• Use LinkedIn Learning: There are shorter courses on LinkedIn tailored to specific or trending job skills.
• Watching online videos: Familiarizing yourself with anything new that has emerged and technology platforms utilized in the field.

Cultivate Your Network

As AI is significantly impacting the job market through resume scanning and automation, personal connections make a difference in standing apart. One way to start expanding your network is to put together three sets of contact pools into a list:

• Past contacts: Previous coworkers and classmates
• Present contacts: Individuals you know from social networks, community organizations, sports clubs, or other areas of your life
• Future contacts: Includes anyone you would like to meet, such as members of a professional organization, attendees at a networking event, employees in your field, or industry experts

LinkedIn can be a useful place to reach out and find contacts from the past, find curated job openings, and learn about industry trends. Importantly, remember that your contacts will remember you as you were when you last knew them, and their view is “frozen in time”—rather than how you may see yourself given a post-career break.

Reach out with a clear, warm message about your goals and ask for insights, not job leads. Be honest about your transition, but keep the tone forward-looking.

Consider Returnship Programs

Today, many Fortune 500 companies have returnships, which are return-to-work programs typically for mid-career professionals. In many ways, these resemble leadership development programs where an employee receives support in the first 12 to 24 weeks on the job as part of the professional transition.

While Goldman Sachs launched the first returnship program almost 20 years ago, a number of companies have since adopted them. iRelaunch, a platform that connects employees to returnship programs, works with more than 330 companies to connect job seekers and employers. The website not only includes a job board but also a list of programs, roadmaps, resources, and coaching services for those coming back to work.

Negotiate a Strong Re-Entry Offer

Just because you took a break from your career does not mean you should feel like you should take a pay cut. Instead, it’s vital to communicate the value you bring to this role using the following three-step formula described by Heilmann.

1. Know your worth: “Do your research, tally up your skills, and remind yourself you’re bringing fresh perspective and hard-won resilience to the table.”
2. Be enthusiastic: “You want them to think you’re all-in—until the moment you actually accept (if you do). Never tip your hand early.”
3. Ask for more: “Salary, flexibility, professional development, snacks in the break room—whatever matters to you. The answer is always no if you don’t ask, and you’d be amazed how often a simple, confident ask gets a yes.”

The Bottom Line

Taking a pause from a career gives you a valuable opportunity to step back and identify your career goals. A five-year gap may feel huge, but in the scope of a 40-year career, it’s a fraction of your working years.

Ultimately, by projecting ownership and conducting thorough research of the skills and requirements needed in the industry, you can tactfully show that your experiences make you an asset to the company.