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Thread: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

  1. #1
    Featured Member CherryBomb954's Avatar
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    Default Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    How do I explain the huge year long gap in my employment?

    I did a search and found one thread but the only helpful info I got was to NOT list dancing on my next job application (well, duh)
    Hell NO I am not going to list it....so what have I been doing for the past year??

    I have been lying awake all night worrying about this. One I thought of was "traveling"
    The main thing I am concerned with is, if they do a backround check, it's gonna show activity at my address for the past year and a half, so I can't use "traveling" as an excuse.

    What about having medical problems? Are they going to ask for my medical records? Or are they gonna not want to hire me cause they are afraid I'll be unreliable by getting sick again?

    Taking care of a sick relative? Nah, I am a bad liar. I'd never be able to pull it off.

    I am so friggin stressed out and confused guys, help!!!

    P.S, if for some reason there is a thread I looked over or missed that may be helpful, please link me to it! I did search though....

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    Veteran Member Morgan_TX's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    How about, "I took some time off to explore some different career options. I learned a lot about myself this past year, and I realized that this career is a perfect fit for me. That's why I'm job-hunting again now."

    You can elaborate, but go ahead and be honest. For example, "In my last job, I had a very difficult manager, and it really made me question whether this was the right career for me." or "In my last job, I was required to work 60 hours a week, and I needed some time off to recuperate."

    You can also say, "I worked a few odd jobs throughout the year, but none of them are relevant to this position."

    You can say that you were self-employed.

    There's lots of things you can say. Why DID you take the last year off to dance?

    Contact me for a psychic reading or spiritual advice!
    I can contact all my exes at once by drawing a pentacle on the floor, sacrificing a ram, and shouting "Hail Satan". Convenience is a must.


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    God/dess virgoamm's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    A few ideas:

    You were in school
    Your bf/husband was supporting you and were taking care of his kids
    You taught English overseas

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    Veteran Member Robertjordan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    I think it depends on what position you are seeking and with which company. Smaller businesses tend to do less background checking than larger ones. If I were looking at your resume I'd certainly ask the question. If you told me you stayed at home to take care of kids or a sick relative that would work for me assuming there are no other strange gaps. As for researching that, no I don't believe anyone would ask for proof or even question it further.

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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    You were living overseas with your mom/dad/brother, etc.....

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    God/dess carmen_b's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    Lets see ... you were a:
    Nanny
    Web Designer ( self employed )
    Wedding Planner ( self employed )
    E-Bay seller ( self employed )
    Sold artwork by traveling to different festivals
    You owned a small dog training / grooming business
    ect. , ect. , ect.

    ^ Virgo's is a good one. The chance of them asking for school transcripts ( if you didn't "finish" school ) are really slim.

    There are so many things you can say you did . An extensive search into your background may show tax stuff . What does it say you do on your taxes?

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    God/dess shanna dior's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    You can saw you were taking a bunch of different classes like at a community college or recreation centre to figure out what you wanted to do with your life (irrelevant ones like cooking, dance, music... that sort of thing!)

    Maybe even say that you started a blog and generated some income from that (google ads). The key is to have a good explanation for what you got out of your gap, so in this case you could say something like it built on your social networking skills, make you much more computer/internet savvy, etc., etc.!

    Travel is definitely a good one too though. Since you're worried about the activity at your address, you could say that you just travelled around the country. It'd probably be easier for you to talk about that if they asked questions rather than making stuff up about some foreign countries. Just say you wanted to see the country and you got exposed to a lot of diversity and learned a lot about the country itself

    Also, if it could work on your resume (as in you've got jobs that lasted more than a year) just list the years. So you worked for XYZ from 2004 to 2007. That way the gap might not look as long.

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    Veteran Member fluffypenguin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    Oh my god, I have a 5 year gap after having a nervous break down and have been wondering how on earth am I going to get back into the workforce. No one is going to want to employ an ex-nuttcase. I am so going to use these tips!
    Man I love this site)


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    God/dess ahmeerah's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    You can always say you took some time off to do some travelling or hleping out with family stuff.

    What's your position? I worried about my gap on my resume, but not anymore.. I don't give specific dates. I state the season and year :o) Spring 2004 - Summer 2008 (example)/-

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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    You could say you were a waitress or bartender and were working for tips. This way you would only be half lying.

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    Featured Member CherryBomb954's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    All these suggetions are great, but if they do a backround check it's all over with.
    It will be really easy for them to tell I wasn't doing any of those things. Can you get in trouble for falsifying info on a job application?

    Does anyone know if places like Target, Wal-Mart, Walgreens or other various retail places do extensive, in-depth backround checks?

    I know that when we first moved to AZ my husband applied to Target, they did a drug screening (which I have NO WORRIES) and some sort of a backround check but we aren't sure how deep they dug.
    I know that most backround checks show all addresses you have lived at, the last time you lived there, if you are married or not, your tax info.....


    MorganTX: I started dancing cause I waited tables for over 10 years and got super burnt out. Double shifts (12-14 hours) at least twice weekly, low income and just general hatred for the restaurant business after being stuck for there for so long. A girlfriend talked me into dancing.
    The SC industry is just not fruitful enough in this town, especially for the stress I put my mind and body through for 50$ a night.
    I don't want to go back to waiting tables but I want an hourly job, I don't care if it is minimum wage.


    AHHHH! If I knew dancing was going to cause me this many problems, I would have never done it.
    Don't even get me started on the whole getting an apartment stress we are dealing with right now. UGH.
    The stress is probaly going to kill me soon anyway. Brain hemmorhage, anyone???

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    God/dess virgoamm's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    You're making this out to be a lot worse than it actually is! It's just a year gap in employment. Aside from the state, government or places like banks and casinos all background checks do is look for some sort of criminal history. They're not going to verify every placed you lived or even every place you've worked! And they're most definitely not going to have access to your tax forms.

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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    a one year gap is nothing these days. anything over 2 years can be a problem, but less than that, not so much.

    self-employed isn't a bad option, or sales rep. closest to the actual situation and not something that inspires a background check.

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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    CherryBomb,

    Could you say you were a bartender or waitress at the club where you dance, instead of a dancer? I know a former dancer who does this.

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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    Quote Originally Posted by CherryBomb954 View Post
    MorganTX: I started dancing cause I waited tables for over 10 years and got super burnt out. Double shifts (12-14 hours) at least twice weekly, low income and just general hatred for the restaurant business after being stuck for there for so long. A girlfriend talked me into dancing.
    You answered your own question! Say, "I was waitressing for over 10 years and ended up working a lot of overtime. I took some time off to decide what I really wanted to do because I was burnt out and not a very effective waitress. I realized during this time off that it's time for me to try something new, and so I'm looking forward to learning more about the retail industry."

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    Featured Member exotica268's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    You could say you did "promotions" ....like you were a Bacardi O girl and showed up at events, endorsing specific products, giving out samples, etc. That shows that you interacted w/the public, were reliable, etc.

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    God/dess Bunny's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    My brother spend a couple years being a bum and playing video games. He put that he was a self-employed computer consultant on his resume.

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    Veteran Member person's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    Quote Originally Posted by eagle2 View Post
    You could say you were a waitress or bartender and were working for tips. This way you would only be half lying.
    High frequency, small margins personal trading
    None of that is lying.
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    Veteran Member MissDewdrop's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    I agree with the self-employment notion. If you file your taxes as an independent contractor (without specifying the dancing itself), you can tell them any type of "self-employment" activity was your source of income. What about an antique scout? There are people who travel from tag sale to tag sale, buy valuable but underpriced stuff on ebay, and then sell it to antique and consignment shops.

    That could work in conjunction with the ebay selling. Anyhow, unless you have a dancer's license that comes up, or wrote "exotic entertainer" on your tax forms, they'd be hard pressed to figure it out. If you wrote "entertainer," say you were a magician at children's b-day parties or some such.

    Good luck!

  20. #20
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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    Tell them you were in a financial position to take some time off for yourself. You were struggling with weight for a long time and decided to take off a year to get back into the shape you've always wanted. You went on mini vacations to do the things you've always wanted to do. I'm sure there were times you weren't at home. Say you went camping around the states on those vacations to think more about where you wanted your life to go.
    Just some odd suggestions..I'm starting to get into the same position. Looking for a part time job that will already take taxes out. I'm not sure how I'll handle this situation either.

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    Default Re: Ready for a "real job soon, and.....

    I imagine that most people would make themselves self-employed, have a phonable reference to back it up, and make it something vague that they sort-of know something about. Self-employed makeup artist working in a hair salon, renting space from them, if they're good with makeup - then have someone back it up. Running a daycare. Dogwalker. There are so many to choose from.

    I imagine it could, in some cases, lead to serious troubles to lie, though it probably depends who to, and I doubt that in most places it would go beyond getting fired. You can probably grossly stretch the truth, with someone to back it up, so that it's totally defensible. "Self-employed troupe artist at gatherings and events. Had been my passion since teenage years, but can't do it any more because of ligament trouble." Pretty damn close, if you will... just be prepared to be able to back it up, at least somewhat.

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