The absence of clear information creates speculation at best and assumption at worst – about the reason itself, but also about your motivations for omitting it.
Maybe you took time off to start an entrepreneurial venture, initiated a career switch, or got laid off. Or maybe illness or other personal circumstances were to blame.
Speaking of being reflective, this can be a point in your favor. Articulate not just the circumstances surrounding any employment gap, but what you learned from the experience.
Since most schools have limited space for the optional essay, keep it concise and straightforward rather than going into exhaustive detail.
It’s common to feel anxiety over how a school will perceive an employment gap if you weren’t productively employed every month since graduation. While the broader panorama of your career evolution is certainly of interest
The most successful approach that I’ve had with applicants is to be forthright about why the venture was ultimately not successful but focus on the actions that you took once the dust settled.
This can be for positive reasons, such as starting or expanding your family, or challenging ones such as a personal health crisis or needing to care for a sick child, spouse, or parent.
Like taking leave for personal or family reasons, MBA applicants tend to be a little overly-apologetic when discussing relocating with a spouse.
Whether it was a relatively radical change, such as from education to marketing, or a more lateral shift, like from technology to finance, you decided to take a chance and pursue what you knew was the right path for you.