In principle they shouldn't be allowed to ask that. if they seem to be giving too much weight to that they are just being lazy on trying to evaluate you and they will likely be bad employers who believe that taking time off for yourself is a red flag

This question should be illegal to ask.

No I can't. I signed an NDA.

"I was consulting."

It's true, I was giving out advice left and right.

If i have to explain the gap (which clearly means I was not employed), it means you are incompetent, you fail my interview, I don't work with incompetent bosses.

In Germany, just ask them what the gap between 1933 and 1945 in their company's history is as a direct response.

I spent some time in a mountain cave replica in a Nepalese themed restaurant, diligently honing my programming skills without the noise of the outside world. No internet, no mains, no toilet. Just me, my laptop, an angry manager who called the police and 60 charged replacement batteries that fell off a truck.

There I created the art of meditative programming where I learned to program not just my machine, but myself. As a result of this resume gap I am now able to function as a 13.6% more productive employee and have finally met the benchmark of 1.0x engineer. At my former employer I delivered a project which brought them in revenue totaling at least $12, giving me priceless experience because of this training.

Yes. I created the document in Google docs, and you opened it in Word.

"I was unemployed"

• Why?
• Can they not even keep a job?

"I took a sabbatical"

• Mysterious
• Arousing
• Shows off the size of your enormous sack

EDIT : When I took my sabbatical and I was dating at the same time, instead of being seen as a scruffy bum it actually did give an air of mystique, since most people at that age were not doing things like that.

That's too much info. A simple "I can" answers their question.

Me: "I was moving in silence or under a NDA."

I was told one way is: I singed a nda and I’m not allowed to answer that

Those were the times I was taking time off to argue with the voices in my head that were telling me to kill again.

"I had to provide end of life care to a close relative."

I have a big gap from a few years of depression and that's my go to line. I have never ever heard a follow up question.

"That is the year when I was happy."

Haha, as if anyone actually asks that. A gap gets you automatically rejected by the employment AI, long before humans see it.

FMLA is always a safe bet. Only one available to care for a dying family member buys sympathy and is an area they can’t legally ask any follow-up questions.

Source: former corporate shill and interviewer

An idiot asked me that once when I had just finished my masters. Like did you read my resume?

“Sorrry, I have an NDA”

My resume has a bigger gap than goatse

I always put in "traveling overseas"

In my case this is actually true, but I've never had anyone question me taking 12 months off every few years

Took a year off to let everyone else catch up 💅