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HR, Don't Mind the Gap
- Szilvia Olah
- Mar 4
- 3 min read
Talent shortage? No! Lack of imagination and too much judgement.
While it doesn’t apply to me, I’ve always hated the question, “Can you explain the gap on your CV?” Yes, Emma - life happened. People took a break. Or maybe they worked nonstop for 30 years and finally hit pause. What exactly do you think they missed? A couple of Microsoft updates and office gossip?
There’s no talent shortage - just talent blindness and employers trying to dictate how people should live. That question implies that you’re supposed to start working at 18 and never stop until retirement. Okay, Emma, you go ahead and do that. Stay judgmental, overlook great talent, and at the same time keep complaining about a “shortage” while ignoring the real issue.
Why someone took a break is none of your business. Can they do the job? If yes, hire them. And no, they don’t need some kind of “reintegration” program to ease them back in. They haven’t forgotten how to work - so stop treating them like they need rehab.
Someone sent this to me the other day, and while these initiatives aren’t new, I really liked this one because it’s specific. It focuses on: “We don’t mind the gap.” It preserves people dignity by not invading their private life and decisions.
It removes the awkward and irrelevant “Can you explain the gap on your CV?” and, more importantly, acknowledges that life happens - and taking a break is perfectly fine. A career pause shouldn’t be held against anyone, and it certainly doesn’t mean they’ve lost their skills or ability to work.
There are so many niche talent pools out there if HR gets a little creative. So let’s stop talking about talent shortages - especially for office jobs. Because, honestly, what do we do in offices?
Send and forward emails. Then ask for clarification.
Navigate office politics (which consumes 60% of our time and energy).
Prepare presentations—with painstaking attention to font choices.
Sit through endless meetings.
Gossip.
Create two more presentations to prove to the boss that we’ve been “productive” (spoiler: we haven’t).
Draft plans and strategies that will never be executed.
Hold brainstorming sessions that lead nowhere (but at least we had snacks).
Get scolded by IT for opening suspicious emails.
Complete compliance training that has nothing to do with our jobs.
And then… we go home.
Is this really what you need “top talent” for? These tasks require you to be brain dead to enjoy them. That’s why people are leaving corporations. They’re all Intellectually Bored & Politically Exhausted.
Everything in corporations is overcomplicated, driven by this arrogant idea of “You must be special to belong here.” Spoiler: There are very few jobs that actually require you to be special. You guys are not running the country or some sort of space program okay? You are still on Excel sheets because you cannot even figure out how technology works. Yes, that’s special.
On that note - just to highlight how little thought goes into recruitment - I still see job ads listing Excel and PowerPoint as required skills. Dude! Run with the program!
But the real gem? Job criteria that demand experience with a specific system. Keep in mind, these ads are targeting a generation that grew up with technology and can figure out new software within hours on their own.
Yeah, you only mind the gaps when you don’t understand people, their context, and you lack creativity. Here’s the thing - jobs that actually require skills, like trades, are the ones willing to take anyone and train them. But the white-collar crowd, with their no-skill jobs, are the picky ones. Make it make sense.
So, open your mind to the opportunities and the massive talent pool out there. Drop the judgments, focus on what the job actually requires, and hire people regardless of gap, age, years of experiences and all the other irrelevant barriers you put up if they can do the job.
At the end of the day, it’s just a job. A simple job that you wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate if circumstances required. So, if it’s not that important to you, stop making such a big deal out of it!
If you enjoyed this article and want more of corporate stuff like that, I wrote two books tackling many of the corporate nonsense. Enjoy!
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