Should you list caregiver dates on your resume or a bullet point in your last role? What I thought would be a short stint as my father's caregiver turned into more than a year away in a small town.

28 Comments

1. AnonymousSeptember 11,2025 at 6:11PM UTC

   I’m in the same boat I took university courses online while being a caretaker to ensure my skills were up to date At this point it’s just age discrimination and I’ve given up I wish companies would quit using ATS Sorry I have nothing to offer but empathy

2. MichelleSeptember 15,2025 at 1:58PM UTC

   I feel you. These ATS systems are being used so that the companies don't have to pay the HR person to do their jobs and they disqualify people that are completely capable of doing the job and have real life experience.

   I'm also noticing that more and more companies, organizations and firms are wanting a degree and if you don't have one, you're dead in the water. It really does seem pretty hopeless.

   I've been looking for a job for 3 years now and I've never had such a hard time finding one!

   I never expected this!

   The job market really IS in the toilet!

3. AnonymousSeptember 11,2025 at 6:29PM UTC

   If your resume is showing caregiver for example, Family Caregiver 1/2025-Present, that's what the ATS system will pick up. What companies are looking for are those who have the current experience. But you haven't been out of it long. I highly recommend, finding a recruiter with the company you're interested in and work your angle of networking instead of click and apply. That's not working. Stats show as we've found many in the org I'm in, most students are finding jobs via networking, not applications. Look for people who work in companies of interest and send them a message to connect. Keep connecting. To outwit the ATS system, try adding your resume with your last professional role. Some systems will take your resume and add it to their system, while you still have to manipulate the data. If not, and you enter it manually, add this Family Caregiver (Marketing Director 15 years experience). Something like that to outwit the system. But asking for a mentor in a company you seek and finding a person to send the resume to can be a work around. Too many job seekers are sitting on computers clicking and applying. FIND people to connect to. Most jobs are found by finding someone - a human in a company. Some companies still make you apply, but ask your new connections for guidance on how to get around the systems pushing you out.

4. MichelleSeptember 15,2025 at 1:50PM UTC

   I beg to differ. I've reached out to many HR people and I never hear back from them! Networking doesn't work anymore and I have even tried to send my information to them through their email and I hear nothing, or they tell you to apply through their website and ATS systems!

5. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistSeptember 17,2025 at 9:53AM UTC

   They tell you to apply through the ATS because that is how the hiring process works.

6. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistSeptember 17,2025 at 9:56AM UTC

   Please share all the ATS you have hands-on experience using.

7. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistSeptember 12,2025 at 2:25AM UTC

   You don't need to "explain" the gap, just show it:

   September, 2024 to September, 2025

   Family Leave

   January, 2020 to September, 2024

   XYZ Company

   Director of ABC

   experience bullet points

   Lots of people have gaps in their resumes these days. Since COVID, it's not that much of a thing.

   And I don't think the ATS does what you think it does. An ATS is basically an electronic file cabinet that stores resumes, it's where we schedule interviews, move candidates forward for managers to review, it's where offer letters are generated. No ATS is making a decision about your application.

   This is an exceptionally tough job market - you don't say what you do - but what you're most likely running into is a math problem. Simple law of supply and demand. Hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people laid off = hundreds of thousands more jobseekers X hundreds of thousands less jobs.

   Regarding relocation - if you are open to relo, I strongly encourage you to put "OPEN TO RELOCATION" right across the top of your resume. if you're willing to pay for it yourself add "AT MY OWN EXPENSE" or make it SELF RELOCATE. If there are only certain places you're willing to relo to, you can add that also.

   Please let me know if you have any questions.

8. Lisa McCartneySeptember 13,2025 at 3:07PM UTC

   Thank you. I also have a Family Leave after a downsizing situation. I am coming up on two years, unfortunately I am still "helping" my parents.

9. EricaSeptember 12,2025 at 2:38PM UTC

   I have a similar situation and what works for me is to leave it off my resume and briefly explain the gap in my cover letter. If the interviewer needs more information, they will ask. That gives you the opportunity to bring up new certifications and skills.

10. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistSeptember 17,2025 at 9:51AM UTC

    Many recruiters do not read cover letters. If there is important information, it should be on the resume.

11. OLIVIA JOHNSONSeptember 12,2025 at 3:31PM UTC

    HI there!

    Great question. Also good for you in putting family first and you shouldn't feel penalized for it!

    I would not add it as a placeholder to explain career gaps. It is what it is and in these times, especially since COVID, it has been ongoing conversation in the HR professional community about handling these occurrences or even asking these kinds of questions in an interview.

    A few recommendations.

    Stay traditional in chronological order. It will show your end date a year prior but this would be the it is what it is approach. If you have a strong background and it aligns with what we are looking for, as a professional I would most likely assume that something occurred.

    Relabel your experience section from Professional Experience to "Relevant Professional Experience". This is commonly utilized when selecting the applicable roles in your career that best align with the role you are pursuing. Though the dates should be in chronological order still, it is understood that there may be gaps in dates eliminating roles that are not applicable.

    The long and short of it is that regardless of the reasoning for the gap, the area that this would be explained is in the interview.

    Hope this helpful.

    Coach Olivia

12. AnonymousSeptember 12,2025 at 11:09PM UTC

    Don't call attention to it. That explanation can be given during your screening interview. Don't give the ATS a reason to not move you forward.

13. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistSeptember 17,2025 at 9:50AM UTC

    The ATS is not moving candidates forward.

14. AnonymousSeptember 15,2025 at 12:37PM UTC

    I had this situation twice on my resume & I just skipped them on the actual resume but in my cover letter I did make note that the gaps in my resume were due to a temporary health issue and the other a family caregiving issue I would gladly discuss during an interview & it worked out fine. At a later point the caregiving became useful for my resume as I was going into that field so updated my resume & added those dates

15. AnonymousSeptember 15,2025 at 1:31PM UTC

    I agree, I've done the same thing and it worked out fine!

16. AnonymousSeptember 15,2025 at 3:35PM UTC

    Thank you all and I appreciate the advice. Joan, if I don't address the gap on my resume, does ATS filter out candidates due to recent experience. I've heard mixed things about ATS and to be honest, I don't understand how it works and especially third party vendors grading candidates. How do they understand transferable skills, willing to relocate and why do application listed as new for years when you're listed as a high match for the job and had that exact position? I'd appreciate your help. I've reached out directly to hiring managers and HR and I don't hear back. The message when I do is that we can't help as we're hit with so many requests and if that's the case, how do you find the right person to contact? I'm willing to put in the work but even finding the hiring manager's email on Rocket Reach, providing a targeted pitch address their pain points and what I can offer doesn't yield any results.

17. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistSeptember 17,2025 at 9:49AM UTC

    Please see my long post up above for how an ATS works. The ATS is not rejecting candidates.

    You wrote "How do they understand transferable skills, willing to relocate and why do application listed as new for years when you're listed as a high match for the job and had that exact position?"

    The ATS doesn't understand anything - nor does it need to - because it's not making decisions about applicants.

    Regarding transferrable skills. This is an exceptionally tough job market - possibly the toughest I've ever seen. I will be honest with you, a jobmarket like this is not the best time to count on getting a job based on transferrable skills.

    There are so many well qualified candidates on the market - put yourself in the hiring managers shoes. Why would they hire someone with transferrable skills when they can hire someone who has the exact skillset they need.

    Regarding relocation, I addressed that in my comment down below - make sure that information is at the top of your resume.

    You wrote "why do application listed as new for years when you're listed as a high match for the job and had that exact position?"

    I'm not sure about an application being listed as new for years. Please tell me you're not checking applications from years ago. Those should automatically get dispositioned out when a position is closed but an ATS is just a piece of sottware like any other, so there's glitches that happen. In addition, Talent Acquisition teams have been decimated over the last two years. The recruiter responsible for that position may have been laid off.

    You wrote "when you're listed as a high match for the job"

    Not sure who/what is "listing you as a high match for the job" - the only thing that makes you a "high match for the job" is the recruiter reviewing your resume and deciding that your experience meets the criteria the hiring manager is looking for.

    You wrote "and had that exact position?"

    Having already had that position doesn't mean you're a fit for every position with that title - every req is different. I have positions - even within the same department - with the same title and they are completely different positions.

    In this tough job market, It's the simple law of supply and demand.

    Hundreds of thousands (millions?) of layoffs = hundreds of thousands of additional jobseekers X hundreds of thousands less jobs.

    Even if you feel you're a great fit for the position, chances are pretty good that there's someone who'd just a bit better of a fit.

    Just because you didn't get an interview or get hired, didn't mean that others didn't. Only one person gets the job.

    You wrote "I've reached out directly to hiring managers and HR and I don't hear back."

    Hiring managers are busy. Hiring new staff is just an extra responsibility added to their already overwhelming workload. HR - in most companies - has nothing to do with hiring. And recruiters are too swamped. I do not have time to do "coffee chats" or "informational interviews". If you are interested in one of my positions, APPLY. If you're "interested" but not interested enough to apply, then you're not that interested.

    If you are going to reach out to someone, do it after you have applied - and put the information about the specific position you applied for in the message. But qualified candidates don't need to reach out to me.

    Roughly 90% of the jobseekers who apply to my open positions are not a fit. Many are not even close to being a fit. You want to catch my attention? Be qualified.

    I have connected with some jobseekers who have insisted that they were being rejected for positions they were just perfect for. I had them send me their resume and the job postings and within 2 minutes, I could point out usually at least 2 or 3 ways they did not meet the position requirements.

    I don't know that trying to reach out to hiring managers will be the best use of your time. Please make sure that what you can offer is clearly reflected in your resume.

    Please let me know if you have any questions.

18. AnonymousSeptember 15,2025 at 5:37PM UTC

    Try reaching out to your local unemployment office. They constantly have career fairs where you can talk to career recruiters and get advice and resume tips.

19. AnonymousSeptember 15,2025 at 10:09PM UTC

    What I did that worked was putting a sentence in my summary, stating that I was returning to the paid workforce after caring for a family member (and then listed the dates).

    If you have a section on your resume for other activities or volunteer activities or a skills section, you could list some of the skills utilized or certifications obtained if they would be relevant to the position to which you are applying.

20. AnonymousSeptember 18,2025 at 3:32PM UTC

    Thank you and I've used in my cover letter but I didn't consider the summary. Great idea and appreciate your suggestion.

21. AnonymousSeptember 16,2025 at 1:37AM UTC

    People are inquiring more about ATS systems and I'm as a loss as well. Joan shared that it's like a cabinet to store resumes. After submitting an application, a lot of third-party vendors Greenhouse and Workable, how do they send and grade candidates and is that info then added to company's ATS system? How does grading work and if you're a top applicant on for example LInkedIn are you weeded out to not even receive an interview. How to have an ATS friendly resume with keywords and scoring is confusing.

22. AnonymousSeptember 16,2025 at 7:02PM UTC

    I've used Greenhouse extensively, as well as some of the competing products. It doesn't work the way I think you're describing, in the sense of grading and sending resumes to a company. The simplest way to think of it is that it's a database of potential job candidates. The candidates get into the database in two ways (mostly):

    - Direct applicants: By applying to an online job application and attaching their resume
    - Sourced applicants: By a recruiter for the company importing them from LinkedIn, Indeed, etc.

    Either way, at least in Greenhouse, the most recent job title + company are formatted in bold right under the person's name, whether you are viewing them in a list of many candidates or viewing their specific profile in detail. I point this out because what OP is worrying about is probably genuinely happening. When her profile is quickly skimmed over in a sea of profiles, "Family Caregiver" will appear prominently, instead of "Marketing Director". For this reason, I'd advise removing this as a "position" on the resume or when filling out an application online.

23. AnonymousSeptember 18,2025 at 3:31PM UTC

    Thank you and I appreciate the confirmation. I've added the caregiver line now as a bullet point to address the time away but without using it as a lost role. That seems to be working and I run the dates to when the role ended rather than caregiving.

24. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistSeptember 17,2025 at 9:01AM UTC

    I haven't posted about this in a while since this site has become such a Hot Mess Express but since you asked, here we go!

    I have experience with 9 or 10 different ATS and with different configurations of those systems.

    The ATS is basically an electronic filing cabinet that stores resumes, allows recruiters to manage and track candidates through the interview process, schedule interviews, it’s where offer letters are generated.

    Here's what happens (on all the systems I've ever used) when a candidate applies to one of my open requisitions:

    I click on their name in the list of new applicants for that requisition. Their resume has not been ranked. It has not been sorted for keywords. It has not been "scored". It has not been filtered.

    I click "download resume". It downloads in whatever format - Word doc or PDF - the candidate uploaded it. I look at their resume. With my eyeballs. Every one.

    There's no need for me to search or sort by keywords - or anything else - for new applicants because you're sitting right there in the list of new applicants.

    I know most candidates don't seem to want to hear this, but when you're being rejected, you're being rejected by a human.

    I'm the bot.

    You wrote "After submitting an application, a lot of third-party vendors Greenhouse and Workable, how do they send and grade candidates and is that info then added to company's ATS system? "

    Those third party vendors - Greenhouse, Taleo, iCIMS, Workday, etc. - those are the ATS vendors. Unless a company has a proprietary in-house ATS they developed themselves, companies purchase an ATS from one of those vendors.

    You wrote "how do they send"

    Nothing gets sent. My company buys Workday for our new ATS - we implement it - you apply in our Workday ATS.

    Regarding "grading" or "scoring" - this is sooo rarely used by recruiters. Most companies either don't buy that feature or don't have it turned on. Even if it is turned on, the vast majority of recruiters completely ignore those because the systems are so notoriously bad at it. In a recent survey on LI, 86% of the recruiters who responded said they ignore and scores or rankings.

    You wrote "if you're a top applicant on for example LInkedIn are you weeded out to not even receive an interview."

    I hate to disappoint anyone but being a "top applicant" on LinkedIn means nothing.

    There is no such thing as an "ATS-compliant" or "ATS-friendly" resume no matter how much someone wants to charge you for one. There just isn't.

    Please write your resume for the human that will review it.

    I know the dimfluencers are out there telling you that y'all are getting rejected by AI and if you just pay them a bucket of money, they'll sell you a resume that will "beat the ATS". None of that is true. There is no "beating the ATS" the goal is to get INTO the ATS so you can be considered as a candidate.

    If AI was reviewing and rejecting resumes (it's not because the only AI in my brand spanking new ATS is the scheduler and the little chatbot that pops up to annoy you), why/how would recruiters be able to receive things like tax returns, take out menus, recipes, copies of summons', wills and frighteninly, just tonight, a Substance Abuse Assessment that candidates accidentally attached instead of their resume.

    Also, ghosting is, unfortunately, all too common these days. If AI were reviewing and rejecting resumes, you would have a 100% response rate.

    Now let's address when a job posting on LinkedIn says "Over 100 people clicked apply" - that does not mean that 100 people actually applied to the position.

    That just means that over 100 people CLICKED THROUGH THE JOB POSTING.

    Typically just a fraction of the jobseekers actually complete an application. LinkedIIn has no way of knowing whether or not someone completes an application in our ATS. They do not have access to that information.

    And of those that do complete an application, roughly 90% are not a fit.

    Some recruiter math: 200 people click through the job posting - 50 actually complete an application - 90% of those will not be qualified - now I'm left with 5 potential candidates.

    So just because it may have a lot of applicants doesn't mean it had the qualified applicants needed.

    You may not be competing with as many people as you think.

    If you're qualified, please apply!

    Regarding reposting of jobs, if I need to make any change in a job posting - even to move a comma - I have to un-post it, make the change and then re-post it.

    For the most part, if my job is still posted - no matter how long it's been open - I still need candidates!

    Please let me know if you have any questions.

25. AnonymousSeptember 18,2025 at 3:29PM UTC

    OP: Thank you so much for explaining. There's so much confusion and jargon around ATS and HR that I appreciate your advice. Having a better of idea of the process will impact my applications.

26. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistSeptember 19,2025 at 4:29AM UTC

    Yes there is a lot of confusion and unfortunately much of it is caused on purpose by dimfluencers lying to jobseekers.

    Please make sure the "advice" you're seeing if offer by someone who is actually qualified to comment on the jobsearch process.

27. AnonymousSeptember 28,2025 at 5:15AM UTC

    You don't have to list it. Leave the gaps as it is on the resume and explain the break when asked for it.

28. Sebastian BrooksSeptember 13,2026 at 5:18PM UTC
    HIA resume gap can be easier to explain when the experience is presented clearly and kept relevant to the role you're targeting. I also find it helpful to organize information in a simple, easy-to-scan way rather than overcomplicating the format. For ideas on organizing information into clear lists, you can explorehttps://tierlists.org/.