Explaining Gaps in Employment History

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Wes Bucey

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#42
<snip> Once Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) told an aspiring public performer words to the effect,
"In any audience, there will be 20% who will love anything you present, no matter how poorly delivered, because the topic or you will touch a remembrance in them which erases all negatives. Similarly, there will be 20% who will hate anything you present, no matter how excellently delivered, because the topic or you will touch a remembrance in them which erases all positives. Therefore, it seems plain, you really only have to impress 60% of the audience because the other 40% already have formed their opinion."

I took that passage to heart and have always striven to be part of the 60% - it seems like good advice for many of us who tend to bring a lot of heavy baggage best left at home.
Actually, I thought the more cogent tag line had to do with "baggage."
 

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kgott

#45
Perhaps we need a new thread with a refresher course in what "networking" really is and what it is NOT. One thing it certainly is NOT is "cold calling."
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I think that's a great idea, I'm sure I'd find it illuminating as might many others and considering its an important aspect of work I think it would be well received.

perhaps peppered with hint and tips from the experience of others would add more value to it.
 

Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#46
I think that's a great idea, I'm sure I'd find it illuminating as might many others and considering its an important aspect of work I think it would be well received.

perhaps peppered with hint and tips from the experience of others would add more value to it.
Great! Start one and I may have something to contribute to the BOK on networking. (Note that networking is not just for unemployed. Employed people should be continually networking. It helps solidify a current position and opens up possibilities to progress to one with more pay, more perks, more intellectual stimulation.)
 
T

tomvehoski

#47
As for the OP, already mentioned, but just list years on your resume. If it ends up like my job search, you will get many requests from recruiters to provide the months of employment, so you send them an update at that point. If the rest of the content of your resume is good enough to pass muster, they WILL make the effort to request this from you - for the most part. Some probably won't, but there are also some that would disqualify you for a gap from Jan 2009 to Dec 2009 and not even call in the first place. In the US, most hiring managers understand the issues of 2008-2012. If they don't, you probably don't want to work there anyway.

As for the rest, there is no 100% correct answer - but my recent experience (four new jobs since 2009) tells me that your online electronic profile is the most important thing.

My last few years:

1/2009 - laid off from tier-1 auto supplier due to financial meltdown
5/2009 - contract to perm job with defense contractor
7/2009 - laid off from defense contractor when they didn't win project
5/2010 - hired as QM for family owned company. ~40% less than old salary
8/2011 - quit to take contract job closer to home, more money, better chance for advancement, back to my 2009 salary
7/2012 - laid off when all contract jobs eliminated and hiring freeze enacted due to poor cash flow
8/2012 - accepted current job, from three offers the same week - big pay increase, better benefits and back on track to where I would have been had the financial/automotive meltdown not hit.

In every case, the job found me online. Both of the good offers I had last summer were from headhunters that had good relationships with the HR departments at the companies. The third was an online job I had dumped a generic resume to - they low-balled the salary and did a bait and switch to a contract job after the interview. I still get a half dozen calls a week from my linked-in profile and old resumes floating out there that have not been updated in a year.
 

Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#48
<SNIP>

My last few years:

1/2009 - laid off from tier-1 auto supplier due to financial meltdown
5/2009 - contract to perm job with defense contractor
7/2009 - laid off from defense contractor when they didn't win project
5/2010 - hired as QM for family owned company. ~40% less than old salary
8/2011 - quit to take contract job closer to home, more money, better chance for advancement, back to my 2009 salary
7/2012 - laid off when all contract jobs eliminated and hiring freeze enacted due to poor cash flow
8/2012 - accepted current job, from three offers the same week - big pay increase, better benefits and back on track to where I would have been had the financial/automotive meltdown not hit.

In every case, the job found me online. Both of the good offers I had last summer were from headhunters that had good relationships with the HR departments at the companies. The third was an online job I had dumped a generic resume to - they low-balled the salary and did a bait and switch to a contract job after the interview. I still get a half dozen calls a week from my linked-in profile and old resumes floating out there that have not been updated in a year.
Great news for you!

Thanks for the input. It is heartening to know there ARE jobs out there. It's even more heartening to know there are are jobs in your state. If I interpret the timeline correctly, you did have a substantial gap in late 2009, early 2010. I'm unclear whether your sole job hunting during that period was on-line or whether it was a combination of strategies.

Was your only contact with headhunters an inbound one based on your on-line Profile. Were all the jobs through independent headhunters (agents) or did some come from in-house HR folk.

Is it your contention you never directly applied to any company except the one which lowballed you? Do you mean to imply that EVERY job you got in this 5 year recession has been from trolling your resume and not directly applying anywhere?
 
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tomvehoski

#49
5/09 - Contract house found my resume online (Dice IIRC) and got me in for the interview at the defense contractor. They did not yet have the contract from their customer for the project I was on, so they could not hire me direct yet. Agreement was that I would go direct as soon as they officially won the award (which they didn't).

5/10 - Owner of the company found my resume on Monster. The job was not advertised as they were replacing the current QM.

8/11 - Contract house found my resume online.

8/12A - Headhunter found my resume online, but job was also advertised on company website. He had actually placed my boss here six months earlier, so he was a great asset in informing me how to deal with the company.

8/12B - Headhunter found my resume online. Worked really hard to get me to accept, but A was a little better in terms of commute, minimal travel and benefits. Offered more money than I asked for actually.

8/13C - Pretty sure I did submit an online resume to them. Dealt directly with HR. Turned down after stalling since A and B were pending.

I probably had a dozen other face to face interviews in June-July 2012. All either found me or I spent a minute or two submitting through a job portal or their website. Never did I pick up a phone and call someone who had not already contacted me, attend a job fair or networking event, or do more than five minutes of research.
 
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