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.
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.
I’ll put on “waste management consultant” because technically its what the human body kind of is…
Honestly, a lot of people lie or at least embellish during the hiring process. Hell, company can mislead you about the company culture, scope of responsibilities, and room for advancement. So, it really is in your best interest to put forward the best version of yourself, even if it involves filling in the gaps a bit, as long as it is within reason.
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.
I have worked in a hiring position in the past. How many times do you think the company actually checked or attempted to confirm certifications or degrees? It didn’t happen.
So yes, do what you have to do to get the job. So long as the job gets done well and everyone is happy.
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.
Never tell the truth in an interview. Tell them what they want to hear.
And act interested in the company. I asked about some trucks in a framed picture on the hiring room’s wall and I got the job like one day later
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/987822225941995560/1120077838234689626/IMG_7902.jpg
My sister sent me this a while ago and it’s scary how accurate this is.
Just say you signed an NDA /s
I unironically pondered this approach, but came to the realization that the background checkers would still see a gap. (And that it wouldn’t create intrigue as much as it would frustrate the interviewer.)
Hey, if it makes the interviewers life just a little bit worse, isn’t that what really counts?
Wow, that’s fucked. Not that you’re recommending this, but that it’s necessary at all.
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 didn’t start an LLC, but have told many employers that I did, and it’s worked well. It is insane how people worship “small business owners” in this culture.
Yeah, mine actually expired a long time ago, but nobody checks that.
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
How is the import/export business these days?
You should give up the exporting and stick to importing
I’m more of a mergers&acquisitions type of guy
yeah, uh ya know uh trade and stuff
OPEC and tariffs and pareto efficiency
No time to talk! I’m in latex now.
I prefer the tactic “I signed a non-disclosure agreement” - I can’t talk about it because of that NDA
I wouldn’t suggest this approach. I’ve signed many NDA’s and none of them preclude you from stating the name of your employer and the dates of your employment. If someone said this to me while I’m on a hiring committee I would assume they are lying.
Why are you asking them about their gaps???
Great advice. I’ve also had success with embellishing the truth, or even just putting a positive spin on the truth. I didn’t leave my last job to look after a dying relative, I was a freelance on-call PA working 12 hour days. I wasn’t forced to leave my home and spend my life-savings driving cross-country to live with an old friend who was kind enough to let me stay with them and only asked I help out at a soup kitchen they work at, I was expanding my mind with travel, networking, and filling my free time volunteering for a local charity whose goals I felt strongly about.
It helps get you in for an interview. Although in my location jobs are fairly easy to come by these days, which wasn’t always the case.
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.
This is actually really helpful. I had been telling people I was caring for a sick family member because that seemed more palatable than the truth that I just had plenty of savings and didn’t want to spread Covid to people I live with who have high comorbidity factors. Then those people got forced to return to work.
I’ll just tell them I was trying to start up a freelance career instead.
Make sure you play up that it failed, though.
From experience, if you interview for jobs as a successful freelancer, it may not go so well because they think you don’t “need” the money.
