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Admissions Tip: Addressing a Gap in Employment

Mind the GapGiven the emphasis that schools place on a candidate’s work experience, it is important for applicants to be proactive in addressing gaps in employment.  When applying to business school, many candidates worry about how the adcom might perceive a gap in employment.  We would like to take some time to discuss strategies for addressing this issue.

It’s not unheard of for an MBA candidate to have a gap in employment, and this will not necessarily make a negative impact on someone’s candidacy.  Gaps might be due to anything from lay-offs to periods of travel.  As a general rule, applicants should use an optional essay to explain gaps in employment that are three months or longer, unless instructed to do so in their data forms. 

The adcom will not want to play detective with vague dates on an applicant’s résumé or large chunks of unaccounted for time.  As the adcom will simply want to know what an applicant was doing during a period of unemployment, applicants should show that they made productive use of this time.  It is important for applicants to be open and clear about extended gaps to show that they were working to enhance their skills or make an impact on an organization or their community (rather than simply spending the time to look for full-time employment).

Addressing current unemployment in applications, meanwhile, requires a different strategy from simply discussing past gaps in employment history.  Candidates applying to business school who are not currently employed are in a trickier situation, as business schools view themselves as career accelerators rather than career jump-starters.  The task is not impossible, though, and given the current state of the economy, more candidates are applying to business school during a period of unemployment.  As with addressing gaps in employment, these applicants should not evade discussions centering on this issue.  On the other hand, they should not present unemployment as the reason for applying to business school nor should they suggest that they aren’t presently looking for work due to the need to devote time to their MBA applications (a major red flag).

In addressing unemployment, applicants should show that they are doing their best to find something temporary or engaging in volunteer work.  Ideally, applicants would show that they are doing something in line with their stated professional goals, like attending conferences or working to secure an internship in a field they want to explore.  Whatever the case, applicants should be honest and appear proactive.

As every applicant is unique, we encourage our readers to request a free consultation with our partners at Veritas Prep if you need guidance on tackling a past gap in employment or your current unemployment situation. An experienced counselor will be in touch to answer questions and discuss your candidacy.