Explaining 2 year education gap on resume
Hey everyone, first post here.
I'm looking for some advice please, I've got several interviews coming up with several BB. I feel prepared and confident but there is one concern on my mind.
I have a two-year gap on my resume in regards to my education. I basically fucked up my college years twice and got kicked out ( I'm from the UK so i think its high school for those living in the USA?). I got my shit together and got accepted into a semi target school.
I'm not sure as to how I would explain this gap, I feel like it would give a very bad impression telling them I failed twice but at the same time, it shows that I have managed to be successful in a very difficult situation.
I would appreciate any advice on how I should explain the gap. For some who are curious, I will definitely not bring it up without them asking.
Give it the spin of a growth story. How many people are able to get kicked out of a college twice, get accepted to a semi-target, and then get several interview calls from BBs?
Here's how you can tackle it if it comes up in the interviews at all:
1. If it was not something illegal, tell them what happened in the undergrad. Focus more on highlighting how 'naive' your perspective was about the world for a while, how you tested that perspective and paid a price. That will show you understand your mistake. Try to keep both the 'kick-outs' as distant as possible. If both of them happened for two different reasons - you can still pull it through. If both of them happened for the same reason, you might have to get a little more convincing with your story as to why you did not learn the lesson in the first instance.
2. Do the first step only for about one-fourth of your response to the question on the gap years. As soon as possible, pivot to what did you do in those two years - invested, traveled, learned a foreign language, took an online course. Showcase how you squeezed productivity out of every hour and built a network over the two years.
The best thing about backward-looking narratives is that you can choose the parts you like. Just focus on things that give your story a positive spin. You were young, had an amateur perspective, and got penalized for it. You learned your lesson at the right time. Bonus - you used all that time to actually grow as a professional instead of going on a vacation. How many target school students have interesting stories that cover two years of a lifetime, to show their personality?
More than anything else - take ownership of what happened. You screwed up. Big deal. Now own it and use it. If the BB can't see it. someone else will. But, it's not as big of a screw-up as you might have made it in your head. Cheers!
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