#resume gap

"White lie"? "Unemployed"? Honey it sounds like you were plenty busy and occupied! You were ABSOLUTELY freelancing for ll that time.

If your friend employed you to complete a project (even if they paid you in beer), then that absolutely counts as freelancing.

Reframe, reframe, reframe your way back to full-time employment, my sweet baby mouse. Your priority should be securing an income, and we support you doing what you have to do to make that happen.

How to Frame Volunteering on Your Resume When You’ve Never Had a Job 

Ask the Bitches: “I Took a Career Break to Care For Someone. How Do I Explain My Caregiving Resume Gap?”

I left my unhealthy well paying job in January and have been working at a library part time since then. The library is wonderful, my coworkers are so nice and I like being helpful, but I am very overqualified, a little bored, and would like to make more money than barely covering the rent so I have started applying to jobs in my field and at the level I was working at before again.

My question is: Should I put the library on my resume? It isn't in my field and the hourly pay is less than half what I was making before. But it does make the resume gap go away...

Thanks for all your work!

I think I lot of people worry too much about resume gaps. Like thigh gaps, they're not as big a deal as people seem to think they are. And for the record I have two big resume gaps and zero thigh gaps.

If it's not applicable to your job search, leave the library off the resume. If a potential employer ASKS about the resume gap in your interview, you can explain that you wanted to try something new, so during that time you worked part time at a library but decided it wasn't for you. Play it cool, and they'll be cool about it.

Here's more advice:

Ask the Bitches: “I Took a Career Break to Care For Someone. How Do I Explain My Caregiving Resume Gap?” 

Ask the Bitches: “I Took a Career Break to Care For Someone. How Do I Explain My Caregiving Resume Gap?”

Recently we got a question from a reader about how to explain a caregiving resume gap. Meaning, they took significant time off from work to care for someone who was sick or disabled. And now there’s an employment gap in their job history that they worry is negatively impacting their resume.

I haven’t seen this problem addressed much on finance and career blogs. That’s surprising, considering how common it is. One in four American adults is a caregiver to someone with a long-term illness or disability. Millions of them are simultaneously working outside the home.

It’s unendurably difficult to be a full-time employee and a full-time caregiver. But the “second shift” is a reality for many people. Caregivers pay an incredible physical and mental toll to do what they feel must be done. It makes perfect sense that someone would choose to pause one to focus on the other.

But of course that doesn’t stop certain prospective employers from holding that choice against you in your job search…

Keep reading

At the end of last year I had a burnout breakdown, quit my student job and took a semester off school, and just slept for six months. Since then I've just been barely able to take one class per semester, and I'll see what I can do next spring. I need to get a job again though and I don't know how to explain the employment gap (without sharing too much or giving the impression that I could be legally disabled) or why I'm taking so long in college (22 and in community college).

How do I explain any of that to a potential employer? Some ask for it in writing (ex. "what was the reason for unemployment/gap in employment") and I'm really scared about if they ask during an interview.

Thank you :) <3

Honey, you experienced a medical emergency. You are still recovering from said medical emergency, and that is a perfectly reasonable and legitimate reason for a resume gap!

By law, potential employers are not entitled to your personal medical information. So whether you answer verbally or in writing, you need only say, "I was recovering from a medical condition," or "I had to take time off because of a medical emergency," and then leave it at that.

If they ask you to elaborate, say "My personal medical history isn't relevant to the discussion, but I'd love to tell you more about how I can contribute to the team," or "I understand your curiosity, but it's not legal to ask for my personal medical information in a job interview. Why don't I tell you about my relevant skills instead."

Burnout and stress are medical issues. Just because they happen to your brain rather than your body doesn't make them any less legitimate. We explain this at more length in our Burnout Workshop:

The Burnout Workshop

My darling child... don't put dates on your resume. At least not until you've had a couple jobs and can make up for the gap. That way no one can tell that you aren't a fresh college grad. They'll just assume you're applying for your first job out of college.

That should at least get you past the gatekeeper. Once you're in the interview phase, you can explain that you took several years off to recover from a major health issue. That's IF they even ask. And do NOT say "mental health," as there's still a stigma against mental illness in the job market. They can't legally ask what your health condition was, so let them use their imagination.

You got this, baby, and we believe in you.

How to Write a Resume so You Actually Have a Prayer of Getting Hired 

How to Frame Volunteering on Your Resume When You’ve Never Had a Job 

Ask the Bitches: “I Took a Career Break to Care For Someone. How Do I Explain My Caregiving Resume Gap?” 

Resume gap? What resume gap? You were "working part-time providing personal services while managing a health condition."

While societal stigma might not agree, sex work is indeed WORK. And taking a break to manage your mental health is a legit medical reason to not be working full-time. Rather than explain a "resume gap," you need to reframe this legitimate experience in a way that will get around our societal stigmas against both sex work and mental illness.

Here's more on how to do that, my lamb:

How to Frame Volunteering on Your Resume When You’ve Never Had a Job 

Ask the Bitches: “I Took a Career Break to Care For Someone. How Do I Explain My Caregiving Resume Gap?” 

Ask the Bitches: “I Took a Career Break to Care For Someone. How Do I Explain My Caregiving Resume Gap?”

Ask the Bitches: “I Took a Career Break to Care For Someone. How Do I Explain My Caregiving Resume Gap?”

Keep reading.