'What did you do in 1996?': Man claims HR asked about resume gap from 30 years ago
A job applicant shared a bizarre experience during a recent interview during which he was asked to explain a gap in his resume dating back to 1996. In the post titled "Asked me about a gap 30 years ago", the man recounted a team interview for a management role at a German company.
During the call, one of the HR representatives reportedly questioned him about a three-year gap immediately after high school. "I can see you ended high school in 1996, but I can't see what you did between 96 and 99?" the HR interviewer allegedly asked.
The applicant, now 47, said he was taken aback by the question and responded bluntly: "If I mentioned every job I ever had on my CV, it would be 10 pages long," before going on to explain the missing years.
"I can understand asking about a gap a year ago or so, but almost 30 years back? Seriously. What is the relevance?" he wrote, adding that despite being the only Swedish-speaking candidate, which the role required, he did not get the job.
The post drew widespread support from fellow Reddit users, many of whom shared similar frustrations about being asked to explain employment gaps.
"There isn't any relevance. The person who asked is an idiot," one user wrote.
Another added, "I lost a job offer because of a one-year gap on my resume. The hiring manager couldn't comprehend that I used savings to travel."
Others advised editing resumes to avoid such questions entirely. "I recently removed the months from mine and just kept the years. I got tired of justifying every short stint."
"There isn't any relevance. They're just trying to seem like they know what they're doing. They practice interviewing procedures, and they go by that," said one user.
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