Unaddressed gaps on the resume will turn into "black holes" if you are not careful. If you have any extended periods of time when you were unemployed, control the interpretation of this with honest explanations.

Understand that large gaps on your resume are going to raise concerns if you have been out of work for any more than 3 months or even longer up to a year. You never want to put these reasons on the resume itself. But you do want to have an explanation ready if you are called in for an interview. Most importantly, you'll want to bring this explanation up whether you are asked about it or not during the interview. If you don't, employers will assume you were having a hard time finding a job...not the impression you want to make.

First of all, keep in mind that you are interviewing with a human being (who likely has probably sat in the very same shoes at some point during their own career). Managers will completely understand some of the underlying circumstances to why you may have been out of work for an extended period of time.

Some of these reasons may be:

relocation (due to a spouses need to move for their career)

family emergency (had to care for a loved one)

medical situation (time off to recover from a pregnancy, serious injury or illness)

personal goals (climbing mount everest, going on an African safari)

educational goals (attended full time classes or certification program)

The best approach is to be honest...yes, even in the instance where you got laid off and took advantage of that situation to take 2 months off to ride cross country on your Harley. All of these provide more than sufficient explanations for why you were unemployed and allow the manager to take the emphasis off your gap and move it onto your applicable work experience.

The best part though is that you will also humanize yourself through these explanations and communicate your level of loyalty (to care for your family), teamwork (in relocating for your spouse), good judgment (to leave work and take care of your medical issue), personal ambition (to be brave enough to still go after personal and educational goals in life), etc...

And what if it was simply just the case that you left or lost your job and indeed couldn't get another one for a long time? Well...tell them this too. But explain that part of the reason for why it took so long is that you wanted to take your time and make the right decision and didn't want to jump into the very next thing that presented itself. At least this way, you can can express your discerning and thoughtful process to find your next home in your career.