Took 6 months out travel - what do I put on my CV?

TS7

TS7

TS7

Soldato
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So mid last year due to many factors I made the decision to leave work and do some travelling / focus my attention on my interests and what I wanted to do.

So now I've had a lovely 6 months or so of travelling / enjoying myself and I've done everything I set out to do during this time and I'm ready to return to work.

Now here's where I need help.

1. I leave my CV as it is with the end date of my last job being July 2016 and then if I did get an interview they would quiz me about the gap and I would explain then.

However my worry is it would put potential employers off seeing an unexplained gap and thus not reach interview stage at all.

2. I put some blurb explaining the gap BUT how do I phrase this and where do I put it? It would be bit odd (in my opinion) putting this before the details of my last job as I'd be starting off with waffle about my travelling even before the employer reads about my skills and experience. However if I put it at the bottom of the CV it makes no logical sense?

My friend suggested I attach a separate document/page on my CV explaining the gap so it technically doesn't form of the CV.

Thoughts?
 
I guess for me it would depend where I am applying to for a job.

Something less career orientated (see retail) I would probably just leave it off and explain it in the interview, however if I was looking at starting somewhere to make a career of and 'settle' down (as much as is possible {taking into account development at work [and potential to leave in the coming years]}) then I would preface the section about previous posts that in July 2016 I decided I wanted to go travelling because of X,Y,Z reasons for 6 months and now I have done this I am returning to work giving some light details of what you experienced and what you gained from this period of travel in your life which has bettered you as a person.
 
Don't put it in at all. Just leave it as is.

If you get asked what happened in that period, say you took some time out to travel, and perhaps elaborate slightly. They might ask you why, tell them.

Don't see the need to over-complicate it. :)

You could include in your covering note that you took some time out of employment to experience the world a little, and are now looking for employment again?
 
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I would add a succinct paragraph about the travelling chronologically within your work experience section. Travelling is perfectly acceptable, as long as you frame it with professionalism in mind. Exploring cultures and seeing the world: yes; boozing it up in Ibiza: no.

I'm sure some might disagree with my suggestion - there are rarely set rules for CVs and I've found that many people have conflicting views. Honesty and clarity are the best policy, though.
 
Moses said:
How much travelling etc? And what interests did you focus on/achieve whilst pursuing them? I mean, if you just went on a two week holiday to a beach resort and then played console games for five and a half months, that's hard to sell... but if you refer to it as a sabbatical and did x, y, and z objectively interesting things, it could easily be a positive, imo. As above, it can be mentioned in the covering letter - how you're now back from a sabbatical etc etc.
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10 countries about about 15 cities (I think). Also a lot of travelling within England doing (what I would regard) as interesting things.

However when I try and phrase that I seem to come out as some 'gap yah' ****** :p
 
Edrof said:
I would add a succinct paragraph about the travelling chronologically within your work experience section. Travelling is perfectly acceptable, as long as you frame it with professionalism in mind. Exploring cultures and seeing the world: yes; boozing it up in Ibiza: no.

I'm sure some might disagree with my suggestion - there are rarely set rules for CVs and I've found that many people have conflicting views. Honesty and clarity are the best policy, though.
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exactly how I would have put it..if all you did was get off your face in seedy med resorts..would play it down

if you went to expand your horizons and explore the worlds great variety of culture, architecture and history, use it as additional education!
 
Yep, I'm very boring in that respect relative to other 25 years olds. No partying. It was about experiencing the world / other cultures / food and most importantly architecture and photography.
 
I put in my covering letter that I was travelling (8 months) during X & Y from there when they see the work experience on my CV if they have read the covering letter they can do 2 + 2
 
sigma said:
Using the term sabbatical sounds better than travelling to me :)
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Depends on what you were doing as a career though - if most of your CV is working on a till in retail that kind of looks silly heh.

I don't see the problem with just putting it down as travelling with little explanation unless the rest of your employment history is also full of holes - its not entirely uncommon and most employers will just skip over it if its just a few months and potentially a slight talking point in an interview.
 
I wouldn't put sabbatical.

I've seen people put that before - and when pushed, turns out they weren't in sabbatical at all (ie, they weren't on "a period of paid leave granted to a university teacher or other worker for study or travel, traditionally one year for every seven years worked.")

They were actually bumming around Vietnam, kite-surfing.

Which is fine and dandy, and if you have there wherewithal to do that for 6 months. Just don't make it out to be some sort of intellectual exercise, when it wasn't.
 
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