CV and Portfolio When Your Path Zig-Zagged

The short answer: stop hiding the zig-zag, start narrating it

Herminia Ibarra's career-transitions research (source), which we've covered before for the pivot itself, also makes a clean point about how non-linear careers are read by hiring decision-makers. They aren't read as messy by default — they're read as missing a story. A zig-zag CV with a coherent through-line outperforms a linear CV in the same role about as often as it loses, especially in senior or specialist hires where the breadth becomes an asset. The work is in the story, not in the timeline. Most readers with non-linear paths have a story; they've just never written it down.

Why "explain the gaps" advice is the wrong framing

The defensive posture — apologise for the gap year, the pivot, the side career — registers as a signal that the candidate also reads their own history as suspect. Decision-makers borrow the candidate's frame. A confident frame ("these three roles taught me X, which is why I'm here now") changes the reading of the same data. You aren't hiding anything; you're saying what it adds up to. The CV / portfolio is a narrative artefact, not a chronological log.

Five moves to make a zig-zag legible

• Find one through-line in two sentences. Not three through-lines. One. "I keep ending up at the intersection of X and Y." The sentence might take you a weekend; the result is the spine the rest of the document hangs on.

• Group experiments by capability, not by title. A six-month consulting gig, a two-year role at a company, a side project — if all three taught you the same capability, group them. Capability-led structures read as intentional; chronological-led structures read as random.

• Lead with results, not duties. "Reduced churn by 18%" beats "managed customer success". This is generic CV advice but it matters extra for zig-zag CVs because results are what convert experiments into evidence.

• Name the pivot in a sentence; don't bury it. "In 2022 I moved from X to Y because of Z" reads better than missing context. Mention pivots in a deliberate sentence and they become a feature; leave them as a chronological cliff and they become a question.

• Have one portfolio surface that proves it. A simple page, GitHub, Substack, case studies — somewhere that a curious reader can verify the story by seeing the work. The CV asserts; the portfolio proves.

Why this pays double for ADHD

ADHD careers are statistically more non-linear than average — more pivots, more side projects, more changes of direction. The defensive read of this is "flighty"; the constructive read is "unusual breadth". The choice between the two is made by you, in the document, before the reader gets to it. The narrative work is therefore higher-leverage for ADHD readers than for neurotypical ones, because there's more raw material to organise — and the same material organised well produces a more interesting candidate, not a riskier one.

Where it fails (and the repair)

• Through-line that's actually three. If your sentence has three "and"s in it, it isn't a through-line yet. Boil down further; the result reads cleaner and is more memorable.

• Apologising in the body copy. "I know this looks unusual, but…" undermines the rest of the CV. Cut it. State the through-line and let the document carry itself.

• Targeting too broadly. A zig-zag CV that aims at every possible role is back to looking random. The through-line works against the specific role you're applying for; you may need three CV variants for three role types. The variants share the spine but lead with different evidence.

FAQ

Should I leave gaps off the CV entirely?

Usually no — most decision-makers notice the missing year and infer the worst. A short, neutral one-line treatment ("2022: caregiving / sabbatical / contract work") closes the question without giving it weight. The exception is very old gaps (10+ years back) that no longer affect the story.

How do I deal with role titles that don't match what I actually did?

Use the formal title plus a parenthetical that describes the actual scope. "Senior Engineer (de facto tech lead, 4-person team)" reads honestly without misrepresenting the badge. Recruiters are used to this and it lands better than either dropping the formal title or padding the formal one.

Is a long CV bad for a zig-zag career?

Two pages is the practical ceiling for most readers. A zig-zag CV that runs four pages signals that the author hasn't done the compression work — exactly the read you're trying to avoid. Compression is the discipline; the through-line is what makes compression possible without losing meaning.

Do I need a separate portfolio site?

For technical, creative, or unusual paths, yes — the CV alone can't carry the proof. For conventional professional roles, a polished LinkedIn plus selected published work is usually enough. The portfolio is the receipts the CV is referring to; it doesn't have to be elaborate, just clear.

What if I genuinely can't find a through-line?

Then the through-line might not be a topic; it might be a capability. "I keep being the person who joins teams in their first growth crisis" is a through-line. "I keep ending up where strategy meets product" is one. Look for the recurring shape of the work, not the recurring subject. The shape is often clearer to a friend who's known you across roles — borrow their eye for one conversation if your own is too close.