Welcome back to another episode of the corporate Cowboys podcast today’s proof of life it’s still December 22nd it’s a Thursday 2022. you get two episodes in one day lucky you so I’m back at it gonna give you another little 30 minute consultation for free if you want to have your own
Personalized tailored for your own circumstances if you need help breaking into corporate or moving up through corporate you let us know reach out to us on IG that’s at corporates Cowboys with a z also patreon the corporate Cowboys podcast you can subscribe to any number of tiers more than one if you want
And some of them actually give you the option to send questions send prompts for podcast episodes alternatively you can write to us that’s PO Box 3372 Rancho Cordova California 95741 now this comes from r slash career guidance really the question is how to address a gap in work during an interview see
They’re asking here I’m sure this has been asked before it says right and they probably has right they could have gone through the r slash career guidance subreddit and use the search function and literally just type in the keywords Gap in employment history or Gap in work history
And pull up any number of different uh uh posts I guess they’re called for the subreddit but because they didn’t they chose to ask it again they’re saying here it goes again I quit my job earlier this year in January due to the increasingly toxic work environment and no promotion in the
Role after six years I have an interview lined up next week what’s the best way to address the Gap in employment during this time I’ve partially remodeled my house taken care of an elderly family member decompressed after their said job and also freelanced as a graphic
Designer so read it what’s the best way to package that up for a potential employer this might be one of those ones that are less than half an hour because it sounds like this person has packaged it up already on their own what the [ __ ] do they need me for
Really what they’re asking for is interview advice during the interview if they ask why you were unemployed given your context given the facts that you’ve provided in the body of of this post I would venture to Guess that you did okay for yourself even while caring for an ailing family member
I mean that’s not to say that an interviewer is just going to over lick over look six months of unemployment half a year of unemployment but if you can come back with an answer that pretty much says you had no need to work right you could use your sick family member as
A reason for having been out of uh having been out of corporate and because you freelance you had added flexibility to care for them but at the end of the day you not having to work I guess if you wanted to spin it in a way where as a professional
It wasn’t necessary that you have what’s the term called gainful employment I guess that’s a term I’m looking forward you weren’t required to be employed because of your life circumstances because you didn’t need to work or because your family member was sick I don’t think there’s any more
Explanation you really need to add other than that you were in a position in life where you no longer had to work if a company really is railing on you not having worked for a six month period of time you got to ask yourself what it is they expect from you uh and
If they can’t uh if if they give you no what’s the term called no no consideration for having cared for a family member while having worked also I mean you stayed busy it wasn’t like you went without work and then subsequently became homeless because of it that might strike an interviewer as
That might pose a red flag to an interviewer because it lets them know that you don’t have a work ethic that there is some instability in your life that they are then going to have to account for when hiring you and more than likely they wouldn’t hire you
Because you sound it sounds like your position in life is unstable if you went without if you went without work for a six-month period and it wasn’t Justified right if you got let go from one day to the next and and um the field that you work in is highly
Technical highly specialized to an extent that vacant positions are very few and far between and there’s a there’s High competition for it you know that might um that that might strike the interviewer as being uh more reasonable right but you have other justifications you were still working you didn’t need
To work a consistent schedule right so you were freelancing on the side and caring for family so I mean family comes first at the end of the day you have to look out for your personal interest and if they are Urgent if they are emergent if they are critical it’s not unreasonable
To place them above having to work above needing to work a consistent schedule I mean again it’s not to say you weren’t working you just weren’t on somebody else’s payroll you weren’t uh you weren’t salaried by somebody else somebody else didn’t have wasn’t uh claiming you as an employee I mean if
You’re freelancing you’re an independent contractor right so you could you could charge what you want your rate on your time and who’s to say you weren’t making more as an independent contractor charging uh charging personalized rates overworking a set amount salary yeah I think you really don’t need to spill your guts
In a situation like this but you definitely want to lead off with a with a strong position that you simply didn’t need to work the the requirement the necessity wasn’t there you had enough to take a little time off of work and focus on your personal life which was what remodeling your house
Getting your Affairs in order and caring for family as well but you weren’t unproductive either you were freelancing so I think packaging it the way you put it actually in the body and it looks like this is going to be less than a 30 minute consult
Packaging it the way you have it in the body but it’s the form that you present it it’s it’s it’s stylistic I think everybody has their own style of how they would present it and it’s the form in which you would you would present it um yeah honestly I I don’t see
Any issue with how you packaged it it’s more of how much emphasis you would put on those key points that were intersecting that time in your life that you were not working for somebody else that you were not an employee for somebody else right it’s just how you present them don’t uh
You know don’t what’s the term I’m looking for don’t unduly lean on that sick family member like a crutch right because that would amount to an exaggeration and if you had time to work to be productive and to remodel your house I mean you want to be honest but generally
You can lead off with the fact that you were not required to work you had enough to take some time for yourself and work on yourself foreign the job market before re-engaging with corporate and there’s nothing wrong with that again it’s how you present it professionally and you
Can come away from it appearing to be a very valuable professional because this professional happened uh to decide on their own will that they did not need to work there is a sense of power in there obviously your resume your resume in its entirety should be
Like chef’s kiss like uh like A1 should be a hundred percent top to bottom right so you should be well qualified maybe not overly qualified even then you could spin overly qualified to be adequately qualified but how again how you present your resume and further how you interview for
The position it will dictate will dictate whether or not they perceive you to be a professional or if they perceive you to be an amateur somebody unstable somebody who might leave six months from when they’re hired who might leave again right now if the issues with your sick family member are recurring
You know that may require a little bit more consideration a little a little a different treatment because that is an issue you will have to bring up with your employer because if you start taking time out of the um you start taking time out from your employment and
Caring for your ailing family member at a time when you’re necessarily applying and agreeing to the terms of your employment if you have set PTO or set family leave you might be able to use it but it may not be available to you for some time right
So again taking that time off requesting that time off having those I’m calling them issues but they’re not problems right but having those issues come up could be in could be a reason could be a reason that you’re not hired on the spot I mean you might still be considered but that
Depends on your reputation professionally on your experience and credentials on your CV on your resume and again your interview how well you can communicate your intention how well you can communicate your intent to return to work to return to corporate and why they should welcome you
Yeah I’m going to cut it right there if you have Associates co-workers if you are in a position where you’re trying to exit you’re trying to lateral you’re trying to barely initiate enter the workforce infiltrates corporate there’s a strategy there always is reach out to us don’t be afraid
Don’t be afraid that you don’t know what to do if you have folks you can speak one-to-one with our rates are reasonable you can spitball ideas with us we can come back with something tangible have yourself a great rest of your day talk to you later
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