Welcome back! After our brief recess, Mind the Gap’s first issue in 2023 is (somewhat fittingly) on the scariest of CV specters.
Ever fretted about how to explain a vague piece of your work history or stuck it out at a job you hated for fear of the dreaded résumé gap?
For Gen Zers, those gaps might not be cause for worry.
“There is less of a stigma attached to job hopping or gaps in a résumé, and joining companies in other geographies without relocating has become easier than ever, making it possible for people to jump from one employer to another,” write senior partners Aaron De Smet, Bryan Hancock, and Bill Schaninger and expert associate partner Bonnie Dowling.
Young people are entering a work world where career breaks may become a more accepted norm; for example, up to 47 percent of under-25s in the UK have taken a career gap of six months or more, according to a recent survey. Many Gen Zers even see time off as a positive.
Employers might feel the same way—postpandemic recruitment has often come from outside the hiring industry, prizing nontraditional experiences. Our research shows that if employers aren’t finding the talent they need, they should investigate a new hiring pool, including candidates who have taken time off for caregiving or other reasons.
While an increased acceptance of career gaps may be a change—for years, a lengthy or unexplained break could be the kiss of death, leading to a 45 percent decrease in the likelihood of being invited for an interview—it fits with the trends young people are seeing.
For one, Gen Zers are increasingly taking gap years before college. Up to 130,000 American students deferred an undergraduate degree for a year or more in 2021, with many hoping that hitting the pause button now may result in a less COVID-19-affected college experience a year down the road. And for high school seniors disappointed with college acceptance results, a gap year can mean a chance to try again with a newly plump experience section in their application or more money saved for school. Students are filling the gap with nontraditional jobs, travel, volunteer work, and more.
The emphasis on experience can be seen by colleges, too; “test-optional” policies for admission are the new normal, and less than half of early-decision applicants to US colleges in fall 2022 included their test scores in their application. One analysis showed that only 3 percent of PhD programs at 50 top-ranked US universities required submission of the GRE, as compared with 84 percent just four years ago—a so-called GRExit that prizes a more holistic look.
(It should be said that not all Gen Zers deferring college will still end up in class—a rising number see work or starting a business as their route to success, with declining faith in a four-year degree.)
Recent McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) research from MGI’s Anu Madgavkar, Sven Smit, Jonathan Woetzel, Jeongmin Seong, and coauthors shows that amassing effective experience is the key to leveling up. Those who make bold moves—jumping into a new job that overlaps only a little with their prior gig—grow their salaries more than any other group.
Many Gen Zers see résumé gaps the same way—after all, 62 percent of all workers have taken a gap at some point in their careers. Business Insider reports that young people are taking time off to plan, network, and figure out who they are and what they want before committing to a career, and Microsoft found that many Gen Zers see leaving a job—whether for another role or to travel the world—as a requirement for learning early in their career.
And for those taking less-elective breaks—such as the many Gen Zers still struggling to find reliable employment in their field—the destigmatization of résumé gaps is a welcome shift. LinkedIn reports that 79 percent of managers will still hire the best candidate despite a career gap. This change in mindset has been especially important for women, who were far more likely to leave the workforce over the course of the pandemic, contributing to a major loss of talent. But if you know you can still be hired even with an interrupted résumé, you might be more willing to leave a situation that’s not right for you, or try to return to the workforce after time off.
So, while you should still mind the gap—hilarious, right?—taking a break is not the cardinal sin it once was.
What do you think about career gaps? Let us know at newideas@mckinsey.com. |
