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Recruiters generally view any gaps in your CV with suspicion. If you’ve been out of work for a few months – even a year – have you been using your time effectively? Does your lack of success speak volumes about your quality as a candidate? In short, a leaky career history needs to be explained.

In the current climate, however, hiring managers recruiting for jobs in banking technology appear completely sanguine about any time between roles.

According to a survey of hiring managers by technology-focused recruiters Nicoll Curtin, 0% – yes, that’s none of the people questioned – were concerned about gaps between jobs.

“The results were surprising, but when looking at a CV hiring managers in banking technology are more concerned about technical skills and qualifications than a completely linear career path,” says Lawrence Hargreaves, managing director of Nicoll Curtin. “Banks want new recruits to hit the ground running, and their knowledge and experience is the most important factor.”

This attitude is, perhaps, also indicative of the current climate. Technology, generally speaking, has escaped the worst of the recent redundancy banking announcements, but cuts are happening. In particular, we understand that a number of banks – including BarCap, HSBC and RBS – have curtailed their use of contractors.

Therefore, if you lose your job now, it’s likely that you’ll struggle to find a new role at least in the short term. Any gaps in employment could therefore be justified.

However, recruiters suggest that this more forgiving attitude to gaps in your CV is not across the board.

“If the skills you possess are niche, and remain in demand, then banks will still want to hear from you, even if you’ve been out of work for a few months,” says Ben Cowan, director at recruiters Astbury Marsden. “However, if you’re a Java developer, for example, and have been on the market for a while, employers start asking questions about whether you are among the best candidates.”

Cowan suggests that three months out is fine, after six months a few questions start to be asked and anything more than a year needs to be adequately explained, particularly as recruitment appetite is muted and employers are being more stringent about who they take on.

However, Hargreaves says there’s no real cut off point for time you take out, and that it’s the job of any good recruiter to spot a good candidate and extol their virtues to a potential employer regardless of any CV gaps.

“There are a number of reasons for being out of the financial services market; perhaps they were pipped to the post for a number of jobs they went for, they could have been travelling, taken time out to work in the third sector or worked on their own venture. Most cases are unique, but our research suggests hiring managers are generally unconcerned with gaps in employment history,” he says.