"Took 12 months off for self directed sabbatical"
Ask HN: How to explain job gaps on the resume?
191–200 of 248 posts
Re: Ask HN: How to explain job gaps on the resume?
#192I wouldn’t mention it; I presume because you are posting here that you are working in technology and, compared to most people, make a lot of money.
One nice thing about that is, of course, that we don’t have to work all of the time to cover our expenses.
That seems obvious to most people working in our field, I think.
I wouldn’t worry about mitigating it. If they ask, I would say something along the lines of what the other commenters mentioned re: sabbatical, but I don’t really assume anyone will ask. It’s not the red flag that it would be for someone working closer to wage slavery (where a gap might mean something more dire due to the necessity of constant work).
Re: Ask HN: How to explain job gaps on the resume?
#193The things you do between roles define you as a person and make you interesting. Use them as such. Tell the truth: I was sick, had enough savings to heal up and take some time off, and now I'm fresh and ready for the fight. I also did X Y Z and A B C, had some fun. Play time's over, and I'm looking to work hard. If they can't appreciate that, then they wouldn't appreciate you in general. A self-solving problem.
Personally, I would never, ever mention anything whatsoever about my health in a professional setting (or a personal one, but that is a different topic). It’s absolutely none of their business, and invites silent discrimination, or worry about future health issues. In the best case it frames you as someone who is sometimes sidelined, not hearty. Why do that to your sales image?
My grandfather had a saying: never talk about your health unless it’s good.
I have some relatively minor and common chronic health issues (fortunately well-managed). The day my clients or upstreams hear about any of them will be the day they are invited to my funeral—not before.
Re: Ask HN: How to explain job gaps on the resume?
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think this sort of statement is thrown around too lightly. It's a bad sign, but there's a limited amount of signal in it. It may not correlate strongly with employee experience, and lots of other positive factors might outweigh it. Maybe it's just one recruiter's resume filter. Maybe the company actually has a great medical leave policy, or pays really well, or works on something the OP is super excited by. Or mayb…
> though, what's it worth? $5k in salary? More? Less? Maybe a huge amount. If an employer has a negative predisposition towards you, and you already have a small negative signal on your own resume (gap)-- they have the potential to really screw things up for you. The amount of suck you might endure is unbounded, and the probability of your recent experience on your resume becoming worse is too high.
I think this answer misses the point, which is that this information is only a weak predictor of the problems you describe, thus must be discounted accordingly.
Re: Ask HN: How to explain job gaps on the resume?
#195As a person who's reviewed a lot of resumes, I don't actively look for job gaps, so I probably wouldn't notice. I'm more interested in what technologies you use (role), and what you've done in the past (experience). As long as you are sharp and know your stuff, you'll do fine. Even if it is a red flag to some, I strongly believe software interviewing is a numbers game, due to randomness and bad interview processes. A…
Can I bring up the converse question - who would actively look for job gaps? And why?
I'm sure there is probably someone who is worried about job gaps and actively looks for them, but I think in general I might notice a gap if I was trying to tally up someone's years of relevant experience on their resume.
Re: Ask HN: How to explain job gaps on the resume?
#196There are two major issues employers have with employment gaps.
1. Were you in jail. 2. Did your skills decline.
As long as you weren't in jail and you can show in the interview that you still have the technical skills, you should be fine.
Also, it's none of your employer's business and you could tell a innocuous white lie. If you don't want your employer to know your business, just make something up. After you start the job, it won't ever come up again.
Something everyone should take to heart: Fake it, til you make it. Just get through the door however you can and then perform. That's all that matters.
Re: Ask HN: How to explain job gaps on the resume?
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
> though, what's it worth? $5k in salary? More? Less? Maybe a huge amount. If an employer has a negative predisposition towards you, and you already have a small negative signal on your own resume (gap)-- they have the potential to really screw things up for you. The amount of suck you might endure is unbounded, and the probability of your recent experience on your resume becoming worse is too high.
I think this answer misses the point, which is that this information is only a weak predictor of the problems you describe, thus must be discounted accordingly.
How do you discount "personal catastrophe" appropriately, though? Surely the volatility in outcomes is very important, and not some simple expected value.
A 5% chance of my house burning down is much more costly to me than 5% of the economic cost of my house burning down. Indeed, there's not really a (reasonable) discounted price I will take for a chance of my house burning down.
Of course, this kind of aggressive avoidance of risk is exactly the thing we are annoyed with the employer for... But most employers do not have their eggs in one basket to the extent that someone returning to their career from a gap does.
Re: Ask HN: How to explain job gaps on the resume?
#198[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How to explain job gaps on the resume?
#199Short term, follow the advice here.
Long term, work toward financial freedom so you don’t need to contort your life to appease some HR gatekeeper.
Re: Ask HN: How to explain job gaps on the resume?
#200A gap in your resume is called a sabbatical. You spent a year doing something else that's more important to you because you can afford it. Medical plus some recovery time is a great reason. But just playing around with some new tech, investing in your education, or even spending time on your other interests, work for charity, or see something of the world, are great reasons. Slacking off may not sound great, but many…
what if the gap isn't one I took because I could afford it but because i literally could not manage to acquire a job otherwise despite attempting to