Why YSK: Interviewers like to weed out people who have gaps in their employment history for myriad nonsensical reasons. If you remember that this is all just a game to the employer, you can play to win.
Fill the gaps with a story about a failed foray into entrepreneurship in a related field.
I had a massive gap and this worked gangbusters after six months of constant rejection. The gap was caused by my mother’s health rapidly deteriorating, and my sense of responsibility to care for her - which became a full time job until she passed.
After that, I went through the dehumanizing experience of dozens of interviews where I was asked about the gap. Describing why I took the time out of the workforce was hard enough - adding insult to injury was the homogenous reactions among all interviewers. You could watch them mentally write me off in real time, and then go through the motions before sending me off to wait for a “the organization has interviewed several great candidates” email.
It occurred to me that instead of baring my pain for callous interviewers, what they’d rather hear about was a “go-getter” whose spirit has been broken enough to come crawling back to the rat race. So I concocted a story about a failed attempt at being an entrepreneur in their industry.
Lo, and behold - After I stopped telling the truth and started telling people about Vandelay Industries` mighty struggle to remain solvent due to market forces, I found myself with three offers in the same number of weeks.
The difference in interviewers` whole demeanor between “took care of dying mother,” and “had to see if I could get Vandelay Industries off the ground while I was young enough to be able to recover from a failure” was night and day.
Read about failed startups. Rehearse.
Everybody lies in the corpo-world. Lie better.
NDA APPLIES (6-2020 8-2022)
Come up with a bunch of skills you had or gained during the down time, list them.
That’s it, you can talk about the skills acquired and honed during the time, but you can’t talk about specifics due to an NDA.
I really hate how it’s “frowned upon” to take a few months to rest and recuperate after working for a number of years. I’m usually honest about why there’s a 1–2-month gap.
If they don’t take me because of this, then so be it, probably not a good company to work for.
This is great advice, coming from someone who pondered using the “Mother was really sick and had to manage her illness and passing” excuse if I ever went back, as it was true for me too. (I’m sorry for your loss, it’s a really painful life transition, I know.)
I ended up taking a slightly different approach. I worked in IT project management before I retired early. My LinkedIn resume shows me currently employed as an “IT consultant” and will until I decide I need another job or I kick it.
Wage labor is dehumanizing in it’s current form.
I’m very sorry for your loss.
Appreciated. This happened many years ago, so I’m used to my new normal.
I posted this here because I was going through my exported posts/comments from reddit, and realized that I have a ton of intellectual property that I feel can be shared with others without their involvement.
The #1 red flag to an employer is “I don’t NEED a job.” before my VA pension got bumped to 100%, I was looking for a bs job to keep busy and you could see the switch in their head flip everytime when I’d explain “I’m retired, I’m not scrambling for money I’m looking for a good fit.”
Employers lose their gdamn minds if you aren’t exploitable. They know that means if I schedule time off for a trip or concert, I’m not going to cancel with two days notice to cover some shift. They know it means I’m not going to stand for 3 managers blaming my entry level ass for their mistakes and/or incompetence. It’s garbage and really speaks to the core of capitalism.
I started an LLC a few years ago for a couple hundred bucks and I use that to fill the necessary gaps in the same way you’re referencing.
I just said the truth that my Dad had cancer and I went home to spend time with him and then take care of things after his death (1y gap). Kinda annoying how they still ask me that even 8 years later, but at least there is usually some sort of apology or regret after I tell them.
I don‘t know why it didn‘t work for you, maybe it only works on compassionate people and I got lucky. Good advice though, no need to be truthful in interviews.
Just say you signed an NDA /s
How is the import/export business these days?
No time to talk! I’m in latex now.
I’ve only ever had one company call any of my references lmao
My current job is the only one that ever has
I know because the first one is my wife, who was actually my boss for a while
On the way home from the interview HR called her, she was in the car with me lol
Wow, you actually fucked your boss!
I’ve also seen people say, “that portion of my career is covered by a non-disclosure agreement”. This one has varying levels of success.
I feel like this would be highly dependent on your resume.
Might catch some looks if your work experience is mostly Dennys and Walmart and you’re trying to hide a six month gap behind an NDA.
Might be catchin looks but Momma din’t raise no snitch; I signed an NDA bitch
On top of justifying your employment gaps, laying through your fucking teeth is a mighty effective tactic in job interviews in general.
You have the experience they’re looking for. Where did you get it? Toys r us, sears, choose any company that went bankrupt. List your friend (coach them on what to say) as your manager at that place.
You love overtime when it’s necessary. You don’t have anyone at home waiting for you so if there’s work to do you’re happy to get a bigger paycheck instead of being bored all night. It doesn’t matter if it’s true because that guy told you “we don’t ask for overtime often, we work well”. Both of you were lying, it’s fine.
You need a certification from a bullshit company like AWS or Azure (not actually useful certs like forklift mind you, please do stay secure). Don’t fucking pay for it, tell them you had the opportunity to follow the classes but we’re too busy with work to pass the exam! Sure you don’t have the paper to show for it but you know what you’re talking about! And you’re such a great candidate why would you like to them about that?
Lie through your teeth everytime you get the chance, because they’re doing it too. Worse case scenario? They find out and never call you back. Oh no! The thing they were going to do if you didn’t lie!
I do this for every job lol. It always worked out and after they hire you, its much harder to fire you for their petty reasons.
I had to lie to get jobs too. I left home at 16 and worked full time through high school/college to support myself. After getting my degree, I watched as all my classmates got good paying jobs while I didn’t. Eventually after 20 or so interviews I lost my cool and asked why I was getting turned down. “Well, we don’t want a laborer handling our accounting records. Maybe work as a receptionist or executive assistant for a few years to prove you’re capable of office work?”.
So I started lying. I took all of my previous work history off my resume and advertised myself as a fresh college grad. It worked… At first. Once I started talking about basic work things in the interview they knew I was lying and wouldn’t go further. So I took a different tactic: lie about my unofficial title being higher than what a background check would say, but “admitting” that I couldn’t get promoted because I was a nepo hire.
Oddly enough that worked REALLY well. Everyone loved the idea that I got jobs through connections instead of my own hard work. They loved that I walked, talked, and dressed like someone who breezed through life. My only guess is that I came off as one of the “popular kids” and they wanted me at their table. In just a month I had a dozen offers across the industry.
I absolutely agree with you. If you’re trying to dig yourself out of unemployment or poverty, lie, lie LIE! Interviews are notoriously bad at determining whether or not you’re a good employee. Do everything you can to play into people’s biases and let them fill in the blanks.
