Will having a gap in my CV make it harder to find work at a similar level?

Sorry to hear you’re going through this! I would include a brief explanation in your personal statement on your CV explaining your absence or reasonings for leaving for that employer. If people have unexplained gaps in employment this may make future employers less likely to contact you

It's mat leave, no explanation needed! It's kind of irrelevant to your CV that you've been made redundant as your gap in employment will stay the same!

@Rachel 100% agree with this!

@Rachel not irrelevant to her CV if she’s being made unemployed before maternity leave was due to end with her employer

@Charlie not really? Mat leave is a year long? She wants to take a full year off?

@Rachel a future employer will not know she was on maternity leave. If her CV says unemployed from X date and continues to have her leave it will show a gap.

I would expect her to say she's on mat leave as she is currently?

The point was, she was worried about how a year long 'unemployment' would look on her CV. Regardless of if she was still employed she would be having a year off with maternity and no explanation needed? Am I missing the point?

If you explain the gap in employment was what you were taking for maternity anyway then you should be fine. I would just make sure you aren’t being made redundant over other employees because you are on maternity though as that’s illegal and may allow you to keep your job.

@Becky agree with this. My husband was made redundant (in finance no less) whilst he was on pat leave. Long story short, they didn't have a leg to stand on and he got a payout

@Rachel yeah I don’t think we are understanding eachother 😂 if she is officially unemployed from Feb 2025 and then starts applying for jobs in November 2025 her CV will show a 9 month gap in unemployment. If you are not made redundant during Mat leave you are still employed and your CV would not show an end date as this is continuous employment. If you have a gap in your employment (not mat leave), unemployed - you should write something on your CV explaining this briefly because if I am recruiting for a position and I see a CV with an unexplained gap I wouldn’t even make an initial call to that potential candidate.

She wanted to know if a gap in her CV would make it harder for her to get a job. She's just had a baby, it's normal to have a year off regardless so, no it won't be harder for her to get a job

@Becky this is what I’m trying to say - just explain it on your CV 😂

Is it even legal to be made redundant during pregnancy?

@GABRIELA there are a couple of scenarios where it is sadly

Just making sure you've read your rights re mat leave & redundancy - pretty sure it's not legal/there's special rules to follow

No I don’t think so. Someone I know had a career gap of 9 years to raise her kids & went back to a similar role non questions asked

@Charlie yes this would be the scenario unfortunately! 9 month gap unless I rush to get another job

You’re a finance director? You should know that you’ll have absolutely no problem having this gap. Also, please don’t demote yourself! You’ve been a director, you should have no issues going back in at this level. You’re taking off a year for a baby, not to go do nothing for a year.

I second what @Emma is saying - you should have no problem whatsoever getting another job! There are not enough finance directors to go around so don't demote yourself. Just explain the gap on your cv. My partner took nearly 1.5 years off because he wanted to spend more time with his elderly mum and me (had a super stressful job before) and he was able to find another role after that gap - he just said on his cv he took a career break for family reasons, no need to elaborate. So a gap due to mat leave is totally fine!

@Nina exactly and I wish I had said it like this! Us women demote ourselves and don’t apply for jobs we know we can do if we don’t fit 100% of the criteria. When I go back to work, it’ll be a few years and I’m not worried at all. I’ll be applying for jobs at the same level or higher because I know I’m a desirable candidate.

I didn’t think you could be made redundant whilst on maternity leave? Pretty sure you’re protected for 18 months, you may want to look in to that.

@Anna definitely not legal, I’m going down the tribunal route 😞

There is a charity called pregnant and screwed. You should talk to them Incase you have a case

@Sophie no that’s not true, you can be made redundant as long as it is a true redundancy and not due to pregnancy discrimination.

Maybe I'm silly but don't give a damn about gap year or years. The experience with your baby is something you can never have again if you miss it but you will always be able to start a business and find another role no matter how difficult it is. Cheers

As an employer gaps on CVs don’t really worry me unless they are recurrent. Just state MAT leave and if you proceed to interview stage then you can add that you’ve been made redundant during MAT leave. Any decent employer won’t use it against you and if they did you don’t want to work for them!!

It's not legal for them to make you redundant on the mat leave any company can't do that. You should definitely take them down. !!!

@Sunny it absolutely IS legal, but by the sounds of this post, the employer hasn't played by the rules!

The gap is you were in maternity leave. Very simple explanation

I’m a HR consultant and have seen 10000 of CVs I would suggest you detail maternity leave on your CV to detail the “gap” you are learning loads of transferable skills during this time (hello multi tasking and working under pressure 😭) any employer who doesn’t accept this isn’t worth being your future employer ☺️😭 Also check they are treating you fairly and legally, you have extra protection from redundancy during your pregnancy, maternity and even when you return from any unfair treatment, are they closing the site and making everyone redundant? ☺️