CV unpaid vacation for finishing masters degree

Question

Hi,

To make sure my CV aligns with common consulting practices, I wanted to ask how you would handle the following situation.

I have been employed at the same company for the past two years. However, for six months during this period, I was on educational leave to complete my master’s degree. Legally, I remained employed, but in practice I did not work during that time.

Would you mention this on the CV, and if so, how? For example, would you explicitly note an educational leave with the corresponding dates? Is there a standard practice for this?

While I am not legally required to mention it, it feels odd not to do so. At the same time, I am unsure whether people typically include this in their CV if they were officially still employed. For context, I am based in Austria.

Thank you very much for your advice.

Answer 1

Yes, you should mention it. Not mentioning it creates confusion once someone asks about timing, and consulting recruiters care a lot about clean, logical timelines.

The standard and safest way is:

Keep the employer listed as a continuous role
Explicitly note the educational leave within that role

Company name and role
month and year – Present

Educational leave (MM YYYY – MM YYYY) to complete Master’s degree in X
Key achievements before and/or after the leave ...

Do not split it into two separate roles and do not hide it. Consulting firms are very comfortable with study leave, especially in Europe and DACH, and it is generally seen as a positive signal if explained cleanly.

Ping me if you would like my help to write/review the CV

Answer 2

This is a great question. You are right to focus on cleaning up the timeline, as ambiguity is what the screening machine targets and rejects.

Here is the reality: recruiters and CV reviewers look for clean, continuous narratives. While you are technically correct that you remained legally employed, listing a solid two-year stretch that included a six-month period of inactivity—even if productive—can create confusion, which is the enemy of a successful screen.

Since the leave was for a specific, positive, relevant purpose (completing a Master's degree), you should treat the Master’s completion as the anchor. The best practice here is to keep the dates under your employer clean, but integrate the timeline story concisely so there is no perceived "gap."

Do not create a separate entry for the leave. Instead, under your employment listing (Company X, MM/YY – MM/YY), you can use a brief bullet point or parenthetical note:

* (E.g., Successfully completed intensive full-time Master’s thesis and coursework during 6-month educational sabbatical, MM/YY – MM/YY.)

This approach cleanly addresses the timeline, removes the possibility of a flag during a reference check, and—most importantly—frames the 6-month period as proactive academic achievement, not as a break. You minimize visual clutter while maximizing clarity.

All the best!