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PoSiTiOn rEqUiReS sTeAdY wOrK hIsToRy
by /u/skeeloco | 103 comments | 2026-06-16T23:45:09+00:00 Central
Comments
| /u/usernames_suck_ok Trust me, you won't even get this far with a gap, unless it's a staffing agency recruiter. |
| /u/cookies_n_weed Yep, I took six months off to help my father who was dying of cancer. Recruiter or Hiring Manager: "ZOMGGGG a gap!!! RED FLAG ALERT!!11!! DO NOT HIRE!!11!!111" |
| /u/Fluffy_Muffins_415 Heaven forbid you have a family emergency or need to help your family. I'm sorry for your loss and also glad that you had the time with your father |
| /u/cookies_n_weed Thank you I appreciate it. I eventually added a placeholder for the gap: Employer: "Family leave of absence" with title: N/A and job description of Took planned leave of absence to care for a terminally ill parent. That actually helped, nobody even asked about it after that. So I am glad that not all recruiters and hiring managers are total sociopaths, lmao! |
| /u/PretzelPrize I did something similar to explain the four years I spent caring for my elderly dad who had dementia and COPD. I wasn't completely out of the workforce that entire time, and picked up some part-time and temp work when I could, so I was able to truthfully put the name of the temp agency I'd worked for during a chunk of that gap. I also did a little bit of freelance so I would be able to put that too. But I still made it clear that I'd taken a leave of absence from my normal career to care for a family member. Oh, and there was a whole recession during that time and when I went back to looking for full-time work, the area where I lived hadn't even really pulled out of it yet. Good times. |
| /u/Common_Sens3_Is_Dead Imagine having to be public about a private family event just to get a job... |
| /u/cavalier2015 Or just want some time to be not working and enjoy life with some of the money you worked to save up |
| /u/Mariellecupcake6e Absolutely, make yourself happy too and enjoy your life. |
| /u/Mooncakepink07 I hate this discrimination of gap bc you're doing something for yourself and your family especially you experience unexpected events like this in your life. People hate to train people these days and the excuses they have is "you lost your skills in your gap years" or "it's expensive to train these days". Fuck these companies. Hope you're doing well. |
| /u/cookies_n_weed I know any excuse they can come up with, it's disgusting! |
| /u/BedBubbly317 Significant gaps do actually erode skills, that is a proven phenomenon. Skills only stay sharp when used regularly. But it's very easy to "relearn" them very quickly once you get back into it |
| /u/DrQuantum Ah yes my skills of typing one email a day, being in meetings, clicking buttons in a gui and attending conferences to be sold bull-I mean expand my skillset. And don't forget my complex solutionizing, aka obtaining answers online. |
| /u/Wrong-Thing1567 Surprised you weren't promoted to management. |
| /u/BedBubbly317 Well this just sounds like you never had any skills to begin with then, unsurprising they overlooked you. |
| /u/AdCalm3789 The first comment, I was wondering if you were just a common asshole and then I read this one and it erased all doubt... |
| /u/OnTheEveOfWar My friend got laid off a year ago after working at Google for 11 years. He's been struggling to find a job and recently a recruiter told him his gap looks bad. Dude has 11 yrs of experience at Google as a top performer. |
| /u/Mooncakepink07 Gonna say it, some recruiters are insecure bc wtf you mean someone is getting rejected when you have 11 years of experience and a top performer? These recruiters are threatened. |
| /u/Comfortable_Visual73 Lie. You still are employed. Whatever it takes to Get to hiring manager |
| /u/blazze_eternal It's called "Entrepreneur". |
| /u/Effective_Rock_2513 Bro my dad had cancer and I left my decent paying job to take care of him. Now its been almost a year and I can't find an interview. During my unemployment I decided to get a degree but it is useless unless I specifically go into that field with more certs and that means more gap in my resume. I am lost in life right now. |
| /u/Beneficial_Cobbler46 You "worked for the family firm" Pick a job that someone in your family does that is independent. Like, landscaping. And you were "consultant manager for family landscaping business" |
| /u/ishitfrommymouth I'll never understand recruiters that act like this. Now if you had no explanation that would be one thing, but half a year for a terminal parent is easy to get a firm past as long as they have any semblance of faith in you as a recruiter. |
| /u/SnooDoggos5226 What field are you in? |
| /u/HeatherFuta Couldn't you add "caregivers" as your job during that gap? If it wasn't a full year, could you not just put the years of employment down. Then no gap. |
| /u/IAmBeingTargeted33 I got a job with a huge work gap history. It all depends on the job |
| /u/Jane__Delawney It's way more than 367,000 at this point :( |
| /u/Cenorg I mean.. according to his statement, it's about 255 employees per company? What's wrong about that? |
| /u/SnooDoggos5226 Just say you did consulting |
| /u/Possibly_a_Firetruck And then you get the immediate follow up question, "What kind of consulting? Tell us about some of your successful projects." Saying you can't because of a NDA just sets off everyone's bullshit meters. |
| /u/LiveLaughBruv And then you get the immediate follow up question, "What kind of consulting? Tell us about some of your successful projects." Saying you can't because of a NDA just sets off everyone's bullshit meters. Love that you didn't figure out that if the plan is to lie about being a consultant, a key part of that plan is to prep fake talking points about it. |
| /u/SnooDoggos5226 I took a year off work. Told them I did consulting. They asked what I've worked on. Told them about a project where I was a cash paid ghost consultant. And since then? It's been tough to find a client. Lots of canceled contracts. That's why I'm looking for work. |
| /u/Avalonians Because that's not how NDA fucking works Gah I feel like we're stuck in 2010 sometimes If you actually have an NDA for consulting you're very much authorized to give a general explanation about the mission, and you are very much going to put in your resume that you worked 6 month at <company> for <project> so there isn't even going to be a gap |
| /u/juul864 That depends entirely on the NDA. Some intelligence positions won't let you describe even the most general parts of your work. |
| /u/Avalonians True, but then again intelligence jobs obviously train workers on how to handle an interview. So, those workers won't even mention they did a job that's so secret they can't talk about the job. Obviously. Gotta think about it backwards: if a candidate mentions an NDA, either it is bullshit indeed, or it's already in the resume and they will be able to draw the broad strokes, explain that the details can't be shared and talk a bit about the skills that were put in use. Maths, finance, management, whatever. |
| /u/Throwawayrip1123 Prepare fictional talking points, or find closed companies. Some of my employers shuttered, what can I do? Not my fault, I wasn't there anymore. |
| /u/OnTheEveOfWar "I got a good severance package and took some time off to travel, spend time with family, etc" Not that wild of a concept. |
| /u/hufflepuph Companies check that during the background check if you get hired. NEVER make up a job unless you have financial receipts to prove it. |
| /u/HawksNStuff Just went through a background check with a Fortune 500, one of my old employers just never answered them... They did not particularly care and just approved me anyway. |
| /u/hufflepuph I've had that happen too. But it's a hell of a risk to take. |
| /u/jabber1990 the problem is what if your real job doesn't vouch for you? (that's happened to me before) |
| /u/MacrotonicWave I think making stuff up is fine but it needs to be incredibly difficult or impossible to follow up on. Businesses that have been closed down for a little while are a good place to start. Friends that will lie for you are better if you can swing it though |
| /u/LiveLaughBruv Companies check that during the background check if you get hired. NEVER make up a job unless you have financial receipts to prove it. you don't know wtf you're talking about. How exactly is that going to be verified in a background check? And how exactly do you see "financial receipts" coming into play? |
| /u/ThalliumSassafras Yeah this is bullshit, people lie about previous jobs on resumes all the time. |
| /u/SleepComfortable9913 Lol, maaaaaybe if you apply at the CIA they will check this stuff. |
| /u/SnooDoggos5226 So here's the thing: I actually did a little consulting so I formed an LLC. Costs very little to file one. Employers aren't calling places and having long conversations. My client list is private. I worked for myself. I'm the place to call for a reference. Don't over explain. You can say you picked up small projects. Also got my realtor license so I can say I do that as well. They don't dig deep. If they want to hire you they'll hire you regardless. Quit making excuses or having arguments with yourself. You can also say you did some investing and made money off of a booming economy. But now you need benefits and the market is too unstable. Seriously, they're not the FBI or IRS running background checks and audits. I don't know what fields yall are in but it didn't hurt me to take a year off. Got one of the first jobs I applied for and got a salary far higher than what was listed. |
| /u/wcharoes You see I wasn't working. |
| /u/TheOmegaKid Have you considered I saved up some money then took some time to figure out what I actually wanted to do, then when I came back, the world job market had imploded? |
| /u/mlmcmillion No, see, you're not allowed to do that. You have to be a slave to the machine all the time for the whole time. |
| /u/vector_o But that is forbidden! You're supposed to be a good dog that only wants to work! |
| /u/VistaCa "Can you explain why you are hiring and have unfilled positions?" |
| /u/DrSlurp- We are growing as a company and need new talents to help our activity expand. Can we please come back to that layoff situation? Why would you say were you specifically part of the laid off employees? Were you underperforming? |
| /u/blazze_eternal I legit always ask why the position is open and what happened to the last employee. |
| /u/Solid_Tomorrow5743 "Yeah I was banging your mom" |
| /u/Cecil_McCrackshell I was GapMaxxing, gotta a problem with that? |
| /u/PigglyWigglyDeluxe That's what she said |
| /u/Chefpief I've spent the last several years living in Canada on an extended visitors visa with my partner, waiting on an open work permit and/or permanent residency. I finally got a work permit... and my resume is pretty barren. Nobodies gonna want to even bring me in for an interview, let alone hire me. My last two jobs I worked for less than three months each, in 2019 and in 2025 when I briefly re-entered the US. I'm 35 and will need job training for just about any position. I'm fucked by my own choices. |
| /u/bumbletowne You did zero volunteer projects, networking or charity work while waiting on a work visa? Did you grow up in the 70s in a white American suburb hoping to walk into a job after? |
| /u/The_Real_63 growing up in the 70s would make you a 50 year old :( |
| /u/Chefpief I did, just never considered putting volunteer stuff on the resume. Most of what I did was one day stuff for local health centres, cleaning projects. Stuff I figure ai would read as filler. |
| /u/Talisaint Experience is experience. There may be long-term volunteer opportunities (3-6mo) available if you look into city websites; some come with training and would be great to put on a resume. If you're applying for labor jobs, any volunteer experience where you're packing boxes, moving stuff, cleaning things is good for a resume. Consistently volunteering at a soup kitchen is good, too. |
| /u/ytuux Just don't list any gaps. You think that'd be suspicious but it it works |
| /u/jabber1990 ....they're going to notice them |
| /u/ytuux As in just fudge the ranges |
| /u/jabber1990 ....so fake information hat can easily be verified? |
| /u/Ehcksit Yes. Everyone lies on applications and during interviews. You have to. |
| /u/jabber1990 i've never lied on an application or during an interview..... I take that back, I lied once and they caught me on it.....and put me in a position where I was setup to fail....and did |
| /u/ParticularFew4023 I lied on my resume at my last 2 positions, both of which did a background check (you'd think I would've learned after the first time), the most recent one being extremely thorough and verifying jobs, dates, contacting company, checking tax records. I'm terrible at BSing and lying, and thought they were going to rescind, but I somehow BSed my way through both of them. I guess it helps that I can do the work |
| /u/TrippleDamage Just stretch the employments here and there if needed. No one will go out of their way to verify that dilligently and specifically ask your past employee about the exact employment range. |
| /u/jabber1990 at first I thought you were quoting bible verses this is all easily verifiable |
| /u/Amazing-Spinach5693 You are assuming they are going to verify it. Most companies dont. |
| /u/Uncommented-Code You think you're very smart while every resumee screener ever is going to notice the lack of month lmao. |
| /u/Successful-Test-5590 The last job I did contract work for went out of business the following month :l |
| /u/SandyTaintSweat What business? so I can add it to my resume. |
| /u/Successful-Test-5590 But you can search that they went bankrupt lol. Posigen |
| /u/SandyTaintSweat Hey, I was just working in customer service. It's not my fault they went bankrupt. |
| /u/StuD44 Dude, I've been rejected on over 100 jobs because a single company WHERE I WAS IN A DIFFERENT POSITION fired me after 1 month OF TRAINING stating I'm not as fast as my colleagues...NO SHIT, IS JUST LIKE IF I WAS NEW TO THIS AND THEY WEREN'T. |
| /u/larry-the-dream It's not a gap - I stood up my own business then gave it to my kids to run. |
| /u/Different-Fan-6991 Okay, were you one of them? |
| /u/Tybalt1307 I filled out a background check for a new job today and they wanted a reason I have a gap in June 2026. So I put in 'I have been focusing on getting the job I applied for' |
| /u/xpdx Fuck that question. They know what a gap means. It means I wasn't employed during that time. What else do they need to know that would be relevant to the position? Or am I supposed to feel bad about it for some reason? Are they accusing me of leaving a job off the resume? Just ask what you really want to know. |
| /u/LiveLaughBruv Fuck that question. They know what a gap means. It means I wasn't employed during that time. What else do they need to know that would be relevant to the position? Or am I supposed to feel bad about it for some reason? Are they accusing me of leaving a job off the resume? Just ask what you really want to know. Not only can you not figure it out, your best guess is that it's an accusation of having left a job off the resume? If you're truly this dense, then you're unqualified for the job on the simple grounds of being too fucking dumb. I'm apparently gonna rock your world with this, but no, they're not accusing you of leaving a job off the resume. I seriously can't believe that you don't know what they're trying to understand. They want to know if the gap is because you got fired, and if so, why you got fired. Do I need to spell out for you why they would want to know if you got canned from your last job for being a fuckup? aRe tHey aCCUsInG mE Of leAViNg a JOb oFF tHe reSUme? hahahahaha, fucking christ |
| /u/WareHouseCo I mean that a fair statement and is factual. If you're asking me a personal question; how come I can't respond with a public answer? I swear corporate culture is so cultish but westerns claim they don't have strange, bizarre belief systems. |
| /u/No1mami Why help humanity, when you have addition... |
| /u/Nitimur__In__Vetitum Can you explain the gap in your asshole? |
| /u/actingSmart Is my math right, that's about 244 ppl lost per company? I feel like some of the big guys have laid off a lot more than that. Curious about the ratio of cuts/employees for the companies that cut less than 244. |
| /u/meemoobox it's something else that HR--people who have always historically been at the cusp of high turnover--are people who still ask this dumb ass question. |
| /u/PigglyWigglyDeluxe Rather, instead of "explaining" the gap, just say "you don't want to add to my unemployment, do you? Do you want to explain to the next guy that you're part of the reason why I'm unemployed?" |
| /u/E_seven_20 If you weren't in jail...it's none of their fucking business. You didn't work there. It's such a normalized bullshit question. |
| /u/Luxalpa Ironically, noone has ever asked me about my gaps, and I have plenty of them and they are long :D |
| /u/Wise-Pay-8993 I would just lie and say I went on holiday/ backpacking or that a family member needed care |
| /u/xennial_key That was the free time I purchased with the money I earned by working |
| /u/Express-Pay2740 I hate this question because it's none of their business. Can they explain why the role is vacant? |
| /u/EveningDiscipline935 Thankfully with mass immigration, they have a near-infinite supply of labor to use keep wages nice and low. |
| /u/Lanky_Boat2276 This is a legit answer I would accept. I think it's perfectly OK to have gaps. Continuous employment that changes every 6 months to 1 year is typically more of a flight risk for me. |
| /u/PuzzledIngenuity4330 This is the exact reason I had to shelve my plans to do Uni again. I just don't trust the non-working gap to be taken seriously :/ |
| /u/Accomplished_Bag9153 Why do you guys keep gaps in your resume?? Just extend the period you worked at the last company lol |
| /u/hither2forlorn The 1500 companies would not be collectively worth $5 trillion if they hadn't laid off those 367000 workers |
| /u/Hyznor Just make up shit to fill the gaps |
| /u/Typical_Research_877 "Sorry, we don't do politics here" |
| /u/TheBSQ If this is about the U.S. as a whole is an insignificant amount. The US labor force is over 170 million people. 367k is a tiny fraction of a percent. To put it another way, imagine a 170 lb person lost 0.3 lbs over 18 months. It's a rounding error. Last month, just in May, about 5.1 million people were hired (and about 5 million people quit, were fired, or laid off with a net increase in new jobs of over 100k In the last 18 months tens of millions of people lost their jobs & tens of millions got hired. The job market is indeed really crappy right now, but unless this number is about one single particular industry, this would be just a tiny fraction of the amount of layoffs would see in a great economy over 18 months as in a country of 340+ million people, there's always millions losing and gaining jobs every month. |
| /u/LogothX Some fucking weenie hut junior MSP recruiter made a remark about me being freelance for 9 months as "me looking for work for 9 months" and I fucking scowled at his dumbass. |
| /u/SomeKindofTreeWizard I don't understand why though. Like you don't need a credit check, you don't need to know how much I worked in the last 18 months. I'm here now and I can do the job. Pay me. |
| /u/jabber1990 and there is a reason why you were on the layoff list.....and they know that |