Is there a 'good' way to explain 10 months of unemployment?

Page 1 of 1 [ 6 posts ] 

bamsaidthelady
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

User avatar

Joined: 24 Nov 2014
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 47
Location: Oregon

23 Feb 2016, 9:11 pm

I went back to a private university last spring (for the third - yes, third - time), and only then learned about [more] people I'd known from my major graduating and working in coffee shops. Not seeing a point in finishing, I left, and spent the summer unsure about how to get into trucking school. In the fall, I got a scholarship application from an employment (aid?) agency, but didn't complete it until January. Between Vocational Rehab and a partial scholarship, school is paid for and I'm in it right now, but it will be almost 10 months of unemployment when we finish.

All that time, I figured I didn't want to have a job for just two or three months, but there's no excuse for taking so long. Is there a good way to explain this without disclosing depression and Asperger's?


_________________
Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 94 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 123 of 200
You seem to have both neurodiverse and neurotypical traits


Yigeren
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 20 Dec 2015
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,606
Location: United States

23 Feb 2016, 10:43 pm

Just say that you were taking a break to help family.

I have 4 + years that I have to explain. 10 months isn't that much.



LaetiBlabla
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 31 Dec 2015
Posts: 981
Location: Earth

25 Feb 2016, 6:37 pm

I think it is indeed not good to tell an employer that you had a depression.

"Gaps" often happen in a career, but you have to tell simply the employer (clear, short and confident) what you did during these 10 months:

from...(date) to ...(date),
1. I studied / learned this... (read books? practiced a language? improve any skill?)
2. it's good to mention small jobs even if not relevant, it proves your will to work
3. I have looked for a job (recruiters know it is not always easy)
4. family (as mentioned in above post seem good to me), work in your house (garden, painting)
5. any "activity" or "improvement": you "did not lose your time"

and my congratulations if you got rid of depression :)



AuroraBorealisGazer
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 May 2015
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,082
Location: Fluidic Space

26 Feb 2016, 1:45 pm

Attending school is a valid reason to be unemployed. Even if you weren't in school for all of those 10 months, it still counts and you don't have to explain every single period within that time frame.



carthago
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 15 Nov 2013
Gender: Male
Posts: 140

27 Feb 2016, 12:54 am

If you're a full time student, you're not unemployed, even if you have a semester or a summer off. As long as you're in a program of full time study, for background check purposes, you don't need to explain anything.
Typically you're only expected to explain gaps in employment, not counting time as a student or as a minor (under 18) that occurred in the past 5 years, and lasted two consecutive months or longer. If you have had any such periods, it's not an automatic out, since there are many valid reasons to be unemployed. For example, you could be caring for a sick family member, or you could be on a self-discovery voyage around the world (some employers actually respect this reason). The trick is, whatever explanation you give should sound like you were alright before, but your time off was either for the greater good (caring for someone) or added to your personal value (upsell your personal brand in this case). Be that as it may, if you had just a few months off, once, over a year ago, then "the job market was bad, I had to move to find work, and decided it was a good time to get back into school" is perfectly acceptable.
Don't sweat it.



Monkeydoo
Butterfly
Butterfly

Joined: 27 Feb 2016
Age: 41
Gender: Female
Posts: 16

28 Feb 2016, 12:47 pm

Being a full time student = you were studying, not unemployed. Easy-least.



cron