I have some gaps on my resume. So, apparently I am the antichrist.
I told one recruiter about a co-worker I had who had no gaps on his resume. He would come to work and spend the entire day playing games or texting and calling his girlfriend. I am certain he would get chosen for numerous jobs over me even though I am a workaholic.
Gaps are meaningless! The world is too random and using your imagination to imagine the worst when there is a gap on a resume is foolish.
I had one recruiter annoyed with me because I have a large gap on my resume for the time when I was a full-time student in college. I’m not making that up. She wanted an explanation for why I wasn’t working. Recruiters are ridiculous!
Just like with other forms of discrimination people could still judge you silently and withhold a job from you but at least it would stop the harassment by recruiters about gaps.
Just FYI, in case it helps anyone. I work in acedemia and have worked in goverents positions. Academic and governmental institutions are so scared of being sued for discrimination that we have all kinds of rules about what you are and are not allowed to consider in a hiring decision. At least for the instiutions that I have worked for, asking about or considering gaps in work has been on the list of “no, you cannot ask anything about that”.