I’m a blockchain developer returning after a 1.5-year break — how do I explain the gap for US-based Web3 roles (EST/PST overlap etc)?

I took a similar break in 2023, and what helped me most was reframing the gap as a shift in priorities, not a drop in capability. Hiring managers don’t panic about gaps — they panic when the candidate can’t show current thinking. So instead of over-explaining the personal reasons, talk through what you’ve done in the last 60–90 days to get “market-ready,” because that’s what separates serious candidates from people casually browsing remote web3 jobs.

When I returned, I refreshed my repos with a Foundry test suite, added a few invariant tests to old contracts, and pushed one small upgradeable proxy experiment. This wasn’t huge work, but it signaled velocity, recency, and confidence (and in one US loop they literally asked me to walk through that repo + how I’d handle test design).

In interviews, don’t apologise for the gap. Just be clear: “Web3 moved fast, and I made sure I caught up before applying.” Then walk them through 2–3 concrete things you’ve done recently — even if they’re small

Speaking from a hiring side: what worries us is not the break — it’s ambiguity. If the story is clear and you can demonstrate you re-entered the space thoughtfully, the gap stops being a red flag. (The “US logistics” stuff like time overlap or W2 vs 1099 is usually a separate filter; it shouldn’t be the centerpiece of your gap story.)

If you’re trying to align with what recruiters look for in crypto jobs, the winning pattern is simple: one-line reason, then proof of recency. What usually works well is framing your time away using a structure:
(1) What you paused for — one line, factual.
(2) What you experimented with — freelance, prototypes, audits you read, a repo you refactored.
(3) What you learned about today’s standards — Foundry, L2 bridges, security patterns, calldata optimizations.
(4) What you’re doing now — a short “learning sprint” that proves readiness.

Candidates who can clearly explain how the ecosystem evolved during their break and what they did to catch up tend to perform much better. It reads like maturity, not stagnation.

I’ve interviewed a few people returning from breaks, and the strongest ones didn’t pretend the space hadn’t shifted. Instead, they talked about it openly — especially around audit expectations.

For example, audit work today demands stronger reasoning around edge cases, L2-specific assumptions, and test structure. If you can speak confidently about how Foundry improved fuzzing, or how invariant tests reduce blind spots, the break stops being the focus. In one panel I sat in recently, the deciding factor wasn’t “months off” — it was whether the candidate could explain why they chose certain invariants and what failure would look like.

One practical tip: pick one of your older contracts and do a “2025 refactor.” 

Add a Foundry suite, fix a minor logic issue, document the decision-making, and push the whole thing publicly. This single repo becomes the story you reference during interviews: “This is how I updated my thinking after 1.5 years away.”

This comes up a lot inside AOB — the space moves fast, but credibility after a break is rebuilt through clarity and recent proof of work, not by hiding the gap. If you’re in a “how to transition into web3 from web2” moment (even if you already have Web3 experience, but your timeline looks like a reset), the same rule applies: show recency and decision-making, not just claims.

A short “learning sprint,” a refreshed repo, or a small Foundry-based test suite often signals more readiness than a perfect résumé. And when US screens bring up overlap or contract type, treat it like a checkbox, not a confession—answer it cleanly and move back to proof.

Building on Reply 1 + 2, the cleanest “gap story” I’ve seen land well is: one sentence for the pause, one sentence for what changed, then one artifact you can open on-screen in under 30 seconds. Example: “I stepped away for personal reasons, the bar moved from basic unit tests to Foundry fuzzing/invariants, so I rebuilt one old repo end-to-end—Foundry suite, invariants, a small proxy upgrade, and a short README explaining tradeoffs + what I’d do differently.” 

Then if they ask W2 vs 1099 or USD/USDC, keep it practical: “I can overlap 4 hours with EST/PST, and I’m open to contractor or full-time depending on the role.” It stops the gap from feeling like a risk discussion and turns it into a proof discussion.

If you had to pick just one thing to rebuild trust fastest after a gap—one strong refactor repo, a security write-up, or multiple smaller shipped commits—what has actually moved the needle for you in interviews?