How long before being out of work looks bad?
Discussion
Soon to be coming out of official employment I'm in a lucky position where I have no debts and money to see me through for a while but I'm conscious that being out of employment can look bad.
I'm actively looking but waiting for the right job to come along but how long would be too long from an employer's perspective?
Cheers
I'm actively looking but waiting for the right job to come along but how long would be too long from an employer's perspective?
Cheers
Depends.
If you can justify a period out of work as not being unemployed, but choosing to be, you can get away with some considerable time.
I've a friend who hasn't had a proper job in 3 years and yet gets offers regularly as he worked (successfully) in sales before and is currently idling away his savings!
What kind of work do you do? What kind of level are you? Do you have skills that are in demand?
All these will effect your appeal to employers and make the time out of work more or less important.
If you do a bit of temporary work or go off and have a 3 month holiday that looks better than having looked for 3 months and found nothing, I suspect.
M.
If you can justify a period out of work as not being unemployed, but choosing to be, you can get away with some considerable time.
I've a friend who hasn't had a proper job in 3 years and yet gets offers regularly as he worked (successfully) in sales before and is currently idling away his savings!
What kind of work do you do? What kind of level are you? Do you have skills that are in demand?
All these will effect your appeal to employers and make the time out of work more or less important.
If you do a bit of temporary work or go off and have a 3 month holiday that looks better than having looked for 3 months and found nothing, I suspect.
M.
I think it depends what you do with your time. Let's say you are out of work for a year...if you spend a year travelling round the world or doing a college course then I wouldn't think too badly of it. If you spent a year doing absolutely nothing then as an employer i'd want to know why.
I had a 9 month gap between leaving my last place and starting here, I managed to have a big accident on my Mountain Bike as was in a right state for most of it.
The gap came up in every interview I had and I felt if I didn't have my 'excuse' to hand it would have counted against me.
I guess a couple of weeks is normal, maybe a month or two if things are really bad in your industry.
Couple of guys who got the boot at the same time as me bummed around and 'took stock' for 6-12 months on their pay-out, they struggled at interview and felt they'd lost their edge, they also had a tough time getting back into things when they did get a job, I know I really did.
If I were you, I'd take a bit of a break then crack on, you'll go out of your mind after a couple of weeks at home, I would anyway.
The gap came up in every interview I had and I felt if I didn't have my 'excuse' to hand it would have counted against me.
I guess a couple of weeks is normal, maybe a month or two if things are really bad in your industry.
Couple of guys who got the boot at the same time as me bummed around and 'took stock' for 6-12 months on their pay-out, they struggled at interview and felt they'd lost their edge, they also had a tough time getting back into things when they did get a job, I know I really did.
If I were you, I'd take a bit of a break then crack on, you'll go out of your mind after a couple of weeks at home, I would anyway.
marcosgt said:
Depends.
If you can justify a period out of work as not being unemployed, but choosing to be, you can get away with some considerable time.
I've a friend who hasn't had a proper job in 3 years and yet gets offers regularly as he worked (successfully) in sales before and is currently idling away his savings!
What kind of work do you do? What kind of level are you? Do you have skills that are in demand?
All these will effect your appeal to employers and make the time out of work more or less important.
If you do a bit of temporary work or go off and have a 3 month holiday that looks better than having looked for 3 months and found nothing, I suspect.
M.
I'm a Senior QS and, I think, have a great looking CV in terms of experience. I'm looking at getting more into the legal / disputes side of things now but want to travel with it. I'd again be looking at a senior / managing role. If you can justify a period out of work as not being unemployed, but choosing to be, you can get away with some considerable time.
I've a friend who hasn't had a proper job in 3 years and yet gets offers regularly as he worked (successfully) in sales before and is currently idling away his savings!
What kind of work do you do? What kind of level are you? Do you have skills that are in demand?
All these will effect your appeal to employers and make the time out of work more or less important.
If you do a bit of temporary work or go off and have a 3 month holiday that looks better than having looked for 3 months and found nothing, I suspect.
M.
I've moved back from working abroad but I'm currently still employed (for the next few weeks at least).
I'm planning on taking just a few months off as I've a few holidays / trips away booked so I figured it would be better to get these out of the way rather than apply for a job and say "I can start immediately but I'll be going away for most of the summer".
I'm certainly not thinking of taking any more than 3 or 4 months off but yes I guess it's to just take a stock of things until the perfect job comes along.
3-4 months isn't too bad, and there are some tricks to presenting even that in a positive light. In addition, keeping up to date with CPD such as keeping any professional memberships going, reading the odd journal and attending the occasional relevant networking event would look good in my books while you have that 'once in a working lifetime opportunity to travel widely and see countries and cultures you have yet to experience'. Good luck!
I wouldn't say there is a time scale on it really. If you have the experience prior to your absence then I wouldn't say it makes a difference.
A friend of mine left his job as he 'hit a ceiling' in terms of progression at the company and was looking for 'the right job' for about 6 months.
After 2 months he did some voluntary work and said his current employer was intrigued with the volunteering and commented on how most people are too selfish to work for free (as they should be!
)...
Maybe if you feel you are out of work too long, just do some light voluntary work, can reflect well.
A friend of mine left his job as he 'hit a ceiling' in terms of progression at the company and was looking for 'the right job' for about 6 months.
After 2 months he did some voluntary work and said his current employer was intrigued with the volunteering and commented on how most people are too selfish to work for free (as they should be!
)...Maybe if you feel you are out of work too long, just do some light voluntary work, can reflect well.
Surely you can say that you took the break to recharge your batteries, to get yourself ready for new challenges and took the gap to avoid having to have issues with a new employer having to make allowances for your holidays? I cant see how that would look negative. Loads of people take breaks now, you dont have to be specific with where you've been/what you've done.
I gave up work three and a half years ago, to be a carer for my wife.
She is now recovered to the point where I can return to full time work, but all employers see is that I haven't worked for all that time, they don't care that been a carer is a full time job, they just want to see some history with a company.
They ask "what was your last job" I reply that I was caring for my wife, to which most say "when was your last real job" FFS been a carer is a real job.
It's like I'm been penalised for looking after my wife, instead of continuing working and letting a stranger care for her.
I am really struggling to find any job due to this.
She is now recovered to the point where I can return to full time work, but all employers see is that I haven't worked for all that time, they don't care that been a carer is a full time job, they just want to see some history with a company.
They ask "what was your last job" I reply that I was caring for my wife, to which most say "when was your last real job" FFS been a carer is a real job.
It's like I'm been penalised for looking after my wife, instead of continuing working and letting a stranger care for her.
I am really struggling to find any job due to this.
englisharcher said:
I gave up work three and a half years ago, to be a carer for my wife.
She is now recovered to the point where I can return to full time work, but all employers see is that I haven't worked for all that time, they don't care that been a carer is a full time job, they just want to see some history with a company.
They ask "what was your last job" I reply that I was caring for my wife, to which most say "when was your last real job" FFS been a carer is a real job.
It's like I'm been penalised for looking after my wife, instead of continuing working and letting a stranger care for her.
I am really struggling to find any job due to this.
That's disgusting. I hope you find employment soon with a company that actually thinks about these things. To be honest, and acknowledging it's easy to say, I'd not want to work for a company with that sort of attitude.She is now recovered to the point where I can return to full time work, but all employers see is that I haven't worked for all that time, they don't care that been a carer is a full time job, they just want to see some history with a company.
They ask "what was your last job" I reply that I was caring for my wife, to which most say "when was your last real job" FFS been a carer is a real job.
It's like I'm been penalised for looking after my wife, instead of continuing working and letting a stranger care for her.
I am really struggling to find any job due to this.
Good luck mate.
Obviously i'm not sure of your level of education or career, but if you are going to be out of work for a while it may be worth you doing something during that time that you could use to show that you didn't just sit at home watching Jeremy Kyle, you could for example do a college course (maybe learn a language) or volunteer for a charity a couple of days a week.
Having chatted with a potential employer I may be going on contract initially and until both parties are ready to give it a full go. I've explained that I have a few plans and that now is the only real opportunity to go and do these things before I get straight back into the daily grind. I think they're quite understanding so we'll see how it goes. I'm expecting another call next week.
Landlord said:
That's disgusting. I hope you find employment soon with a company that actually thinks about these things. To be honest, and acknowledging it's easy to say, I'd not want to work for a company with that sort of attitude.
Good luck mate.
Thanks.Good luck mate.
To make myself more employable, I've recently completed, Maths and English exams, gained my health and safety at work, and first aid certificates, and I'm waiting to do a counterbalance FLT test, but does that count for anything to employers? Apparently not.
englisharcher said:
I gave up work three and a half years ago, to be a carer for my wife.
She is now recovered to the point where I can return to full time work, but all employers see is that I haven't worked for all that time, they don't care that been a carer is a full time job, they just want to see some history with a company.
They ask "what was your last job" I reply that I was caring for my wife, to which most say "when was your last real job" FFS been a carer is a real job.
It's like I'm been penalised for looking after my wife, instead of continuing working and letting a stranger care for her.
I am really struggling to find any job due to this.
This is not an unusual position, and it's not too difficult to convert the experiences and skills you will have accrued in to a valid entry on to your CV that should be attractive to any quality employer. PM me if any further assistance would be helpful. Good luck!She is now recovered to the point where I can return to full time work, but all employers see is that I haven't worked for all that time, they don't care that been a carer is a full time job, they just want to see some history with a company.
They ask "what was your last job" I reply that I was caring for my wife, to which most say "when was your last real job" FFS been a carer is a real job.
It's like I'm been penalised for looking after my wife, instead of continuing working and letting a stranger care for her.
I am really struggling to find any job due to this.
rog007 said:
This is not an unusual position, and it's not too difficult to convert the experiences and skills you will have accrued in to a valid entry on to your CV that should be attractive to any quality employer. PM me if any further assistance would be helpful. Good luck!
I'll shoot you a pm tomorrow, thanks.Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff