Meirl

Please explain why this job is open. Abusive workplace? Poor hours with poor compensation?

I (an older student) went to university full-time starting in 2023. At a job interview last week, the manager asked me where I had been working since 2023, and I just answered “I have been in school full-time”, to which he responded “So you’re really just saying you’ve been unemployed for two years”.

That was one minute into a 20 minute interview. I could barely contain my distaste for the dude. I didn’t know I had the capacity to fake a smile to such a degree.

I’ll tell ya what, answering “Cancer” really shifts the ball into your court.

Serving prison for killing your previous manager might be pertinent though.

Yes I travelled to the middle East to what I thought was a holiday camp, after the first few days I thought the activities were not designed to be fun. Turns out it was actually some sort of training camp. I left a week early so I’ve no idea what the final days entailed but I wanted a holiday not exercise. Food was amazing though. The only good thing is I’m now a person of interest according to the local police.

Always say you were taking care of a sick relative until they passed. They don’t need to know why you actually had a gap, and it makes you look good

At my most recent employer I was trained to specifically not ask because it’s none of our business, people have their own reasons and as long as they’ve got potential and a clean background, give them a chance.

Looking for work can sometimes take years, even if you have a college degree and job history

Oooh you bet your ass I will gladly tell them I was unemployed and used that time to look for a job and try to relax as much as I can from the stress. Even better if they ask why it was for many months, because I will also gladly tell them that was how long it took due to the chaotic economic situation at that time. They want to ask me about my business, they will know all about it. 🤬

Write your resume so you don’t leave gaps in it.

Don’t specify months, only years.

If asked, you can always lie. “I was tending my terminally ill grandma that passed away” seems to do the trick most of the time. You can always politely refuse to answer by diverting the conversation to something else while always maintaining a reasonable flow.

Treat this like a fight that you need to de-escalate.

While I completely agree, it’s their decision to hire you or not, so they are literally the only people with the “right” to make that decision.

Just tell ‘em you were crushing it

Most people have gaps in their resume because they got fired. That is what the employer wants to know. If the gap is not understood well enough the assumption is that you were fired and thus will be a liability. 

Yea. Plus people don’t want the gap so they’ll use terms like self employed, gig, small business owner, etc. which kinda makes those things and words lose their meaning.

I think employers maybe hesitate hiring people they don’t feel need the job because they’ll be harder to manipulate which sucks because often times they are actually better and more qualified employees. It’s all BS.

“I’m not legally allowed to discuss that time period.”