Employers constantly tell me "Your resume looks great, you have a lot of skills, so why is there a gap in those years? What were you doing? Don't you have any experience in technology X or Y? You might get bored here". I never get hired.
It's very likely they've got some other reason, and you can then clarify when they give you the "real reason" or adjust your process/resume/story for future applications with that information.
Granted, if they are providing reasoning already up front (we think you may be bored), it's fair game to ask, but I don't think I've ever seen someone get a response when asking these types of questions.
Neither one of us can get hired anywhere despite multiple degrees and experience in engineering and in other fields. We are both over 40 and unemployable. Can't get jobs at Trader Joe's bagging groceries (and other unskilled labor, yes- have tried very hard)... overqualified, you see. Maybe we should try for a job in neurosurgery? Neither one of us has experience in that field...
my most recent job search went really slow until I scuttled my comprehensive, chronological resume and replaced it with something which is basically just a list of sales-y bullet points: lots of languages! did this! did that!
likewise, don’t bother listing everything you’re good at. list the stuff you’re best at, and list the newest, flashiest stuff, and summarize the rest. “skilled in numerous languages, including Hot New Shit A and Old Thing That I Happen To Be Great At B” is great.
if my resume showed every language that I’ve ever used, I’d be including a ton of languages that don’t even exist any more. people don’t see that and think, “wow, how diligent to include such a comprehensive list.” they think, “does this person expect to use that here? why are they wasting my time?”
An employer once told me to my face he was glad my resume didn't have any gap. The real reason my resume doesn't have gaps is because I only write the years during which I've done each gig. You can hide up to 23 months of hiatus that way.
And to do it without lying you can remain perpetually employed at the random consulting firm you coincidentally founded.
MANY OF YOUR EMPLOYED PEERS HAVE DONE THIS
I was honest with the employee and I demand the same in return. If you will lie to me about that, you will lie to me about other things or, worse, lie to coworkers or clients.
Dishonesty means your value to me is nothing and there is no reason to continue our relationship. Some forgiveness is fine for my personal relationships, but my business is staked on trust and dishonesty violates that.
Then again, I don't really care if there is a gap in your employment history. What you did is none of my concern. I care if you can do the job and if you're the most qualified I can reasonably find.
This is not clearly the case and it's disingenuous to argue otherwise.
Resume gaps are just the ugly zit of people's career arc. Nearly everyone has had one, and they'd all rather not talk about it after the fact.
Trying to obscure it somehow by specific construction of the CV is more of a form of blemish concealer. Nothing more.
(NB: Your apparent enthusiasm for canning people is frightening. I wish I knew where you worked so I could never cross your path.)
A willingness to be dishonest is not acceptable. You can tell me you were in Colombia smoking crack, it's okay. Don't lie and say you were in Colombia handing out aid to indigenous people, unless you were.
There are some lines that I don't allow people to cross. That is one of them. My employee's actions reflect on me and my other employees. They can cause harm to me or my other employees by making the business look bad.
I'd be more concerned with acceptance of dishonesty than I would with a perception of my enthusiasm.
The reverse is also true. If someone client is dishonest with one of the employees, our relationship is over. I will not have an employee's reputation harmed by the acts of another.
I don't think honesty is too much to ask for.
As for your own views, you can take comfort in the fact that I've long since sold and retired.
If you call in to work, don't tell me your dog died. Tell me you're going to stay home and get royally drunk - if that's the truth. I'll still make it a paid day off.
Your actions are your character. If they aren't, you have no character.
I'd invest a lot in an employee and do a great deal to protect an employee. Demanding honesty is a pretty low barrier and everyone knew my policy. Don't lie. It's not very difficult.
Lies in business has another name, fraud. Don't do that. Well, you can, you just can't do that and represent me.
Lies, in business, is also known as fraud. That's not okay.
At the other end, I was very protective of my employees. If a client or vendor lied, our business dealing were over. More than once have I insisted we get someone else to work with and more than once have I terminated relationships with suppliers.
Dishonesty is forgivable in your friendships, even though it's still not very good. You can forgive someone you love. You can't as easily undo the damage caused by something like a vendor lying to an employee and the employee telling a client erroneous information based on that lie. I can't easily undo the damage done when an employee lies to a client.
It's not just about face, it's about minimizing harm to the business and doing what I can to keep everyone employed and making good money. My policy on honesty was well known and clearly vocalized.
You can call in and say you're going to go get drunk and play golf. It's still going to be a paid day off, so long as it isn't excessive. What you can't do is call in and claim your kid is sick when your kid goes to the same school mine goes to and hangs out with my kid. Just be honest.
Not to mention, I'm kind of baffled. Why would you want to work for someone that you can't be honest with?
Again, it's also okay to say its none of my business, that counts as honesty. Lies are willful and intended, by the way. Mistakes are absolutely forgivable, as is not knowing.
Maybe this will help? I employed a bit under 250 people directly. We had three offices on the eat coast and a satellite office in the Midwest. I never put out a help wanted ad, it wouldn't have done any good. The kinds of people I employed weren't looking for ads in help wanted sections. I often pulled people directly out of academia but many hires came from referrals and I'd make sure to provide any needed training.
That may explain the environment better. I'm not sure the policy works for others, but it worked for me. I sold and retired a decade ago. Even if it doesn't work for others, I'd not want to work for someone with whom I couldn't be honest.
KGIII 1 day ago
I'm retired but I am a scientist. I am technically a mathematician, but I still apply the method and use the philosophy of science in many areas of my life.
I would lie to you about the extent of the server problems I dealt with on a weekly basis, so you don't have to worry about what a rickety POS your technical stack is. I'll meet deadlines and you're going to be a great reference.
The bar? The bar is much lower. You are worried about employees that are going to make excuses like "their dog died"? See, those aren't the kinds of problems us perpetually employed people are trying to get around.
Us perpetually employed have clearly adapted. We move through whatever random screening you've made up, and work with integrity. That is mutually exclusive from honesty.
What does that makes us, sociopaths? Okay sure, all the employees that pass your random screenings are sociopaths making their way to the top with the other sociopaths. Comes with the territory.
For this to be anywhere close to fair, you should have told interviewees about this policy of yours before the interview, so they have a chance to adapt. Otherwise, it just becomes a random “gotcha” years later.
I hired professionals, adults. I expect them to be adults.
I'll put up with a lot. Dishonesty is not on that list, however.
If you have worked as consultant for 5 years and let's say you usually worked for 6-12 months for a single client and there is 2-3 months gap between contracts to get new client I'd put that on my CV as 5 continuous year of employment as consultant.
How is that dishonest? I was consulting 5 consecutive years, time off between clients is still work and I'd actually argue it's more difficult than time you spend doing actual tech work for clients because it involves negotiation & sales which is a completely different set of skills.
If you would then ask to talk about different projects during those 5 years then we can talk more details but splitting that up on a CV would just waste a lot of space and make the resume too complicated.
More importantly, the downtime shouldn't matter. You don't have to explain a few months. 'None of your damned business' is an acceptable answer, should you be pressed and not feel like answering.
The point is, don't attempt to deceive. Don't lie, there is no need to. If you have to lie, don't work for them.
I am so glad I'm retired. I find this worrying and the votes disturbing. I'm not mad, I'm disappointed. Fraud is never acceptable, not even small amounts. I treated employees with great respect and expected, and got, the same in return.
I hired adults, professionals, and helped them fill their needs. I'd train, pay for school, and put up with all sorts of quirks. However, dishonesty violates a very basic line of trust. It is disrespect and it can harm the reputations of others. It's not okay, it's not acceptable, and any circumstance that encourages it should be fixed.