6 ms·

What to do with no work history for 4 years?

• bitxbitxbitcoin 4y ago
  Set up a blog (of your past HN comments) and say you were an aspiring writer the entire time. Is this false?
• bobro 4y ago
  Are you looking for a good lie or something? A positive framing of the truth is probably the better option.
• Barrera 4y ago
  > What is the best way to cover my lack of employment without discussing the disability that caused it when going for an interview? If the interviewers have been trained in the law and this is for US work, they will defer questions around illness to HR just like questions around religion, home ownership, etc. See the Americans with Disabilities act if you haven't already: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act_of_1990 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Ac... I don't see how you can talk about the gap without talking about the illness, though.
• riishabh 4y ago
• marrone12 4y ago
  Better to be honest, just say that you had an illness and you couldn't work. They won't ask you for details and if they do, say that you don't feel comfortable discussing.
• fnordpiglet 4y ago
  Increasingly the employment gap doesn’t matter and a lot of employers advise interviewers to not ask. Often the answer is something like care taking, illness, or other semi-protected life event that HR just doesn’t want to unwrap. I would be honest. There’s no better excuse for not working than you were unable to due to an illness. As mortals we all appreciate this reason. If you are interviewing with someone who doesn’t understand that, do you really want to work for them? If it’s the nature of the illness that you are uncomfortable disclosing be aware you are entitled to medical privacy. Just tell them it was a serious illness that prevented you from working and if they ask for specifics tell them it is private. Again if they can’t respect that 1) they may be violating local or state laws if not their own policies, 2) do you want to work for them?
  • actually_a_dog 4y ago
    In this case, "taking care of a sick relative" is also an accurate statement, and reveals less information.
    • eunoia 4y ago
      I think this answer draws the right balance between truth and vulnerability. A corporation is not your friend. The interviewer is probably feeding you less benign little lies about the company simultaneously.
      • fnordpiglet 4y ago
        You must have had some pretty awful managers. I’m sorry. There are better managers out there.
        • eunoia 4y ago
          I’ve had both, been in the industry for a while. The unfortunate thing I’ve discovered about great managers in big companies is that the work (not personal) relationship is temporary. There’s a good chance they get promoted/move on before you do. Edit: I’ve also been a manager and even with the manager cap on I stand by my advice. I would not fault an interviewee if it turned out “Taking care of family health” really meant “Taking care of my own health”. To me it’s no different than a company telling candidates how well funded and good the future prospects are, right up until the layoffs. Ever had a private company recruiter show you a slide deck of how many millions your options will “surely” be worth in a couple years (via their non-GAAP proprietary metrics)? Same stuff, it’s all a game. Loyalty is owed to individuals, not corporations.
• cellis 4y ago
  Why even bother? Either you can do the work or you can’t do the work. Talk about relevant experience you have if they ask ( and they will ask what you’ve been working on recently, if my experience as an interviewer of hundreds of swes is worth anything ). Other than that do your best to indicate that you’re enthusiastic about the role and that you’ll make their life easier.
• pkrotich 4y ago
  You don't need to make an excuse at all! Just tell the truth.
• CM30 4y ago
  Say you were working on startups or as a freelancer for 4 years? It's kinda hard to prove otherwise, especially if you did business as a sole trader or what not.
• HedgeMage 4y ago
  If I hired someone, and found out that they lied during their interview about anything at all, they'd be fired, period. I could not trust someone who lies during an interview to make ethical decisions in the future. Honesty doesn't have to mean full disclosure. You can be honest while keeping some facts to yourself. Here's a good example: I was taking some time off for voluntary reason when I became ill. I was lucky enough to be able to afford treatment and to delay my re-entry to the workforce until I became confident that my health wouldn't be a hindrance. Just keep it simple and be honest. I realize that there's a stigma attached to certain types of illnesses or disabilities, and it may seem tempting to make an excuse or cover rather than being honest. However, in addition to the likely inevitability of the deception being discovered, there's a worse possibility: One young man I know (Calling him Bob, not his name) interviewed with a friend and colleague of mine (calling her Alice), but didn't get the job. I checked in with Alice to find out what happened, thinking that at least I could get Bob some useful feedback. It turns out that Bob had rated well on skills related to the job. However, he'd been so cagey about a six-month work history gap that the interviewing committee thought it likely that he'd worked some job not on his resume and was fired for cause, perhaps for stealing or sexual harassment or "something else big". Bob was so afraid of the company finding out that he'd been in psych care after a major trauma, that he led them to believe he was a criminal. Honesty really is the only good policy.
  • actually_a_dog 4y ago
    "Taking care of a sick relative" is an accurate statement here that avoids all considerations of stigma.
  • thebean11 4y ago
    OP has no responsibility to share about their illness. In this case they are perfectly within their right to tell some half truth (wanted to spend time with my family, study x subject, burnout etc) and your company might be in some legal hot water if you fired OP in response to finding out they were ill during that time.. Frankly I think it's unethical, and shows a lack of empathy, to punish someone for hiding an illness from an employer.
  • worker_person 4y ago
• mc4ndr3 4y ago
  Vote to ban discussion of gaps during interviews. They serve no purpose but to place candidates in a needlessly vulnerable position.
• ozten 4y ago
  Agree with much of what has already been said, so I will just add: It is an employee's market right now. If you've got the skills, plenty of companies are hungry for your talents.
• josh_fyi 4y ago
  If you did even one freelance job, say you freelanced. No one will ask exactly how many hours you did. If they ask you to describe a a project you did, describe some long-ago project. If they press for specifics of a given timespan, say that you take your customer NDAs seriously.
• rednerrus 4y ago
  2018-2022 taking time to care for sick relative.
• nsonha 4y ago
  Apply to returnship programs https://www.simplyhired.com/search?q=software+engineer+returnship https://www.simplyhired.com/search?q=software+engineer+retur...
• qgin 4y ago
  Nobody owes anyone an “excuse”. You are under no obligation to prove your dedication to capitalism.
• oshirisuki 4y ago
  I don't think "an excuse" is needed, say that you were ill, if someone can't/won't accept that as a valid reason, I wouldn't want to work there anyway
• wyan 4y ago
  Personal reasons. I'd be weary if they require me to explain more.
• thorin 4y ago
  Can you get stuff done, and did you have a reasonable work history before. If so, no problem, just go for it. If you're unsure or low on confidence start working on a new or existing skill, do projects, github, volunteer, teach, blog and you'll get there eventually.
• cosmodisk 4y ago
  I would just say I went abroad to travel and worked odd jobs here and there. Say you wanted to do it and now that you crossed that item off the list, you are ready to join as their most loyal employee who'll make all the difference.
• bjourne 4y ago
  Lie