Do you maintain a resume?

[fiby41]

Mostly geared toward the early-retirees but feel free to answer...

How would you explain the career gap?

Apart from extended maternity leaves, the recruiter is going to assume that you were unemployed for that period. No one is going to believe if we said "I quit on my own to try other things out..."

Possible exceptions maybe:

Entrepreneurs: you actually registered a company, it didn't work out, and now you are looking for a job

Globe-trotters: you have stamps on your passport to show you didn't go underground/off-radar to evade the police or anything like that. Maybe they'll dismis our applications as 'you're not a cultural fit for our company' (read: unrelieable?) but atleast no raised eye-brows during interviews.

Non-profit: Started/volunteered at NGO. 'If it was so great why do you want to work with us?'

Say you were doing multiple things during your mini-retirement, which of those activities would you put on your resume?

You would most definitely put it if it was something like 'completed my PhD' or 'published a book' but if it was an income-generating activity in a completely different industry than the one you are applying for?

Pros: Shows you are versatile, can wear multiple hats, well rounded

Cons: You are not entirely dependent upon them, they won't be your sole source of income, they can't have you on their beck and call 24/7

[IlliniDave]

I'm not yet retired and won't be a super early retiree, but I quit maintaining a resume a few years ago, and only continued that long because my employer required us to keep a resume "on file" to help with staffing decisions. One of my ER ground rules is to not leave myself vulnerable to having to go back to a professional occupation. In the unlikely event I would decide to do that for amusement, I'd have to cobble one together and explain the gap by just saying I retired. It's not unheard of in my industry, although when retirees do return it is usually within a year or two of retiring. Might be a tougher sell leaving the workforce at age 45 and then trying to drum up a job at 55. You could try citing the nebulous "to pursue other interests" and put the most industrious spin reasonable on whatever you'd been doing. If you didn't burn bridges you could give your former employer as a reference, and they might verify you left of your own accord (in the US a lot of companies won't do any more than verify dates of employment to steer clear of potential lawsuits).

[ertyu]

I feel like the best way to explain the gap would vary by industry. What industry are you thinking?

[2Birds1Stone]

I do maintain a resume. Took 13 months off work from late 2019 - late 2020 and had no trouble explaining the gap to several potential employers. I did end up biting me in the ass because I took a position without enough leverage to negotiate more favorable compensation terms, but now 6 months in I can go back and ask for what I want, or look elsewhere from a position of power.

[chenda]

I don't think people care much if at all. If you're really concerned fudging a few start and leaving dates would probably be ok (a 'typo') Or just say you were helping to nurse sick puppies or something.

[2Birds1Stone]

If you're really concerned fudging a few start and leaving dates would probably be ok (a 'typo') Or just say you were helping to nurse sick puppies or something.

In the USA one of the biggest reasons they do background checks is to verify past employment dates. This is surely something that would immediately get you disqualified for falsifying information.

[Alphaville]

in this day and age when personal development supersedes careerism, and everyone lists their hobbies at the top of their linkedin profiles, i think you can safely say "i took a sabbatical" or whatever, without falsifying data. i mean, do i need to know that my dentist is an avid skier and mountain biker and lives in a ranch with his wife and children and horses and dogs? certainly not, but these are things people advertise to confer distinction upon themselves. see: veblen's theory of the leisure class.

of course they might expect you to list your sabbatical's great accomplishments, like "became a champion tango dancer" or "fed a village of starving children in sudan," a bit like an eager college applicant's extracurriculars, but... there are ways to make a year watching hulu in bed appear as some deep form of contemplation... which it might be after all, because television is today's best literary vehicle, and i'm sure you can apply all sorts of literary analysis to episodes of "rick and morty."... which is what one does in college anyway.

ultimately i think is more about the attitude of how you deliver the answer than the answer itself. proud or nonchalant >> shameful. but yes, having proof of "an interesting life" is a big plus, whatever that may mean in your context--record of a startup, a year in a monastery, your photographs with the red cross, tango trophies...

[ertyu]

The question isn't whether recruiters care, the question is that in some industries / for some positions the first sift through the cvs is done by algos and those might drop anyone with a cv gap. I would say depending on the case, it might be better to make something up just so there isn't a gap.

[Alphaville]

The question isn't whether recruiters care, the question is that in some industries / for some positions the first sift through the cvs is done by algos and those might drop anyone with a cv gap. I would say depending on the case, it might be better to make something up just so there isn't a gap.

right, it's a matter of choosing the right names for it though. eg i've got a friend who christened his after-college loafing as a "post-bac" (he took some courses... not too many)

[macg]

I'm in IT, so I am not sure if this would relate to other careers .. once when I was laid off by my employer, I ended up taking 3 years off - in fact, it was my first "accidental" introduction to "early retirement". I had enough money to do what I wanted, so I did, until I needed to work again.

What I did on my resume was marked those years as "IT Support", and had bullet items explaining various IT stuff I did throughout those years for friends or local businesses. Was it true? Yes, because I did help people with backups, OS installs, or a friend's business with setting up security systems, or the local library because their WiFi sucked, so I fixed it, etc. But was it "fudging it" as well? Yes, because 99% of the time I didn't do any IT work lol.

I think you just need to bridge the time.. "self-education", "apprenticeship", things like that.

Of course, I also made sure that whatever job I applied for, I could do, or learn to do quickly, and made sure I had knowledge of the requirements so I could speak to them ... and when I got interviews, and explained the truth, that I chose to take time off because I could, I never had one person react like it was a bad thing. In fact, almost all of them replied with something around the lines of "I wish I could do that"

[Scott 2]

I feel like IT is the special case. Last I heard, the number of programmers doubles every 5 years. That means a very high tolerance for unusual work histories, career changers, etc. I hesitated to jump in with my plan, because of this IT bubble.

But - I haven't updated my resume since joining my last company, about 10 years ago. Linked-in is a little more current, missing maybe the last 3 years of experience. I do have a list of what I've done. Since stopping work in February, I left Linked-in up. I intend to let my professional certification (held since 2005) lapse in 2022. I kept 5 career books, but dropped all continuing education.

My hope is, if I find myself doing things for money, that it grows naturally out of what I want to do. I'd need to be very interested in the project and people. I think the resume problem would sort itself out.

I wouldn't lie about it. They'd figure it out, probably sooner rather than later.

[ertyu]

I don't think people care much if at all. If you're really concerned fudging a few start and leaving dates would probably be ok (a 'typo') Or just say you were helping to nurse sick puppies or something.

In countries where background checks aren't the norm, still be careful not to fudge the start and end dates of jobs your future employer is likely to call. Be honest about the places you use as references - some people don't do this and get in trouble.

[Lucky C]

In case you need a background check or references, you should keep track of work history with start-end dates to the month, supervisor name and contact info, and education history including enrollment start and end dates accurate to the month. You might think you'll remember all this but after a few years these details can slip away!

Also, if you ever anticipate needing a security clearance, you need to keep track of residences and neighbors, or at least people who knew you when you lived in every place you've lived. Could be tough to remember it all if you've moved frequently.

You could also keep a longer copy of a resume with bullets about every job/project you've ever worked on, to be able to pare it down to suit different types of work in the future depending on what is most relevant / eye-catching. And you could post online a version of the resume with as many keywords as possible if you want to get a lot of messages from recruiters.

[nomadscientist]

I have a pristine resume, despite not really making any effort to get one (I made no effort to find a job before graduating, but swung a career track job randomly from someone over coffee just after my final exams).

But as I get older I think the pristine resume is a negative signal. It shows you are very compliant and reliable -> selected for compliance, reliability jobs. So, generally, dull jobs with low employee bargaining power.

Of course that's most jobs, so scary to throw away the pristine resume, and once done cannot be undone. But if you have FU money, and that kind of personality, having weird stuff in your resume can serve very effectively to filter out the vast majority of jobs you don't want and select in the handful of oddball employers you'd really rather work for instead.

[Mister Imperceptible]

I overinflated my resume and because I know how to audition well I am now similarly overpaid. It is not that I lie- I just list the type of projects I have worked on and when recruiters and managers want to imagine that I did those projects all by myself (and they want to be done with their search) I do not convince them otherwise. I did not adopt the strategy until realizing that it was not helping to detail my technical inadequacies as if I were in a Catholic confessional booth. I still get recruited for upper management level gigs that I have the good sense to turn down. I recommend a reading of Stanislavski. When the only negative consequence is that you might not be hired for doing this, the payoff seems pretty asymmetrical. I have looked pretty stupid in some interviews and none of those occasions resulted in being banned from the industry or having money taken out of my bank account. It depends on how hungry you are, and how confident you are that you can learn the ropes on the fly.

If you establish a business entity (LLC or corporation) you do not have to list start dates or end dates of operation. Every contract falls under the umbrella of ongoing business operations.

I just got recruited on LinkedIn by a matchmaker to be a pretty young thing for ladies with money. I think this is how Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix came into wealth.

[Ego]

If you establish a business entity (LLC or corporation) you do not have to list start dates or end dates of operation. Every contract falls under the umbrella of ongoing business operations.

Truth be told (or not), you can do this without an LLC or business entity. I know a guy who uploaded a few designs to cafe press ten years ago and has ever since claimed to be the principal of his own part-time freelance graphic design firm, October 2011 to present. He once listed it on some sort of financial application so it now shows up when someone runs a background check.

On the other hand, this kind of thing works until it doesn't and then it works against you. AI screening pulls data from everywhere. It can rank applicants using a million little pieces of data and produce a result that is inexplicable to humans. In theory it could compare his banking deposits from cafe press with his business claims and decide he is stretching the truth.

[Mister Imperceptible]

Don’t lie. Be vague, encourage imagination and let hiring managers make hasty decisions if they decide to be lazy, and they almost always are, besides being incompetent.

Another tactic is submitting resume with letterhead from Company Y to bitter rival Company X.

****

Company X representative: You want how much per hour? I really do not think we can accommodate that!

(Mr I submits resume with Company Y letter head)

X rep: (remembers losing multi million dollar project to Company Y in recent past) You work for Company Y?!?!

Mr I: No but I am interviewing with them and they are going to extend an offer for me to manage Project Z.

X rep: Our HR department is processing a contract for you now. Your requested hourly rate has been approved.

[nomadscientist]

That definitely works (not that I would try the letterhead thing specifically) and I've got no idea why. I have an ex-colleague who almost certainly got a promotion out of a company that was otherwise just about to fire him* by getting an offer from a rival. Like, we don't like this guy but we can't let them have him. What?



*differences of opinion, not incompetence - maybe it doesn't work the other way around

[Mister Imperceptible]

Mimetic desire

[fiby41]

That didn't work for me. I got a call from company A last month saying your online aptitute test is at 3 pm tommorrow. I told them I have to go to another company B's office that day and could they reschedule.
Never heard from company A again but got an interview after clearing company B's aptitude and technical rounds.
Within a week, I found the exact same job description of company A posted on the jobs section of an online learning platform whose certificate I had mentioned getting on my job application to company A.
(These are small companies, less than 200 employees each.)