Quote: (04-19-2018 10:47 PM)Tiger Man Wrote:
Quote: (04-16-2018 04:27 PM)zatara Wrote:
Quote: (04-16-2018 03:38 PM)SlickyBoy Wrote:
I understand the desire to cover up large gaps, but flat out lying on the resume in this day and age especially is extremely bad advice. A) it starts a pattern of unethical behavior you will start to rationalize and B) it's easier than ever to get nailed.
The problem the OP is going to face is lots of corporate HR will instantly bin a low level CV if they see a 6month+/12month+ recent employment gap on it, regardless of whats underneath it, if there is no good reason for it. As such "ethics" don't really come into it, it becomes a simple risk/reward equation. Option 1: tell the truth, get screened out before any interview stage, don't get hired. Option 2: lie, then either a) get found out and don't get hired, or b) pull it off and get the job. 1 and 2a are exactly the same end result. And 2a is very unlikely with the application of any sort of intelligence to the problem.
(There is also Option 1a - tell the truth, but never volunteer a deficiency. This does not have to amount to a lie, just avoid providing unnecessary reasons for rejection.)
Its one thing (though also surprisingly common, in my professional experience) to falsify entire jobs and employment history on your CV - its quite hard to pull that off without lots of prep and background work. Making a fake company website, having a fake landline set-up, fake references, really knowing your fake role inside-out etc. (Yep. This would inevitably result in option 3 - get found out, and be fired). But its an entirely easier matter to lie about taking a 12 month gap year to travel. Thats a lie both extremely common, and very easy to talk about at length if you've done any reasonable amount of travel in your life. And completely believable, since large numbers of people legitimately do it in their 20s these days anyway.
This obviously doesn't apply to every job and every situation, lying is more likely to lead to professional damage in a small industry in a regional town. Or if the OP was applying to creative industry roles where arbitrary strict recruitment standards aren't applied as much it wouldn't be necessary. But when applying to large MNCs in a big city its pretty standard.
If the gap on his CV continues to grow its something he'll definitely have to consider.
What about not outright lying. OP could actually start a small company. In the states, an LLC, website, enumber, business cards, and email can run under $200. He has an undergrad degree in Political Science, so he could, for example, start a political consulting company. Then, offer services to local (and I mean really local) political campaigns. Do it low key, almost part-time, while you continue your job search.
You wouldn't need to do much to acquire a few references. And, operating a consulting businesses for a year or two and then deciding to go corporate isn't that unheard of. Even moreso for those doing a pivot in industry. So, if he was looking to go in to an econ related field, it may work even better. Just a thought.
That wouldn't be lying and is a great way to skin the cat. It sounds a lot better than taking a "gap year to travel" which to anyone over 35 in the work force sounds like a fuck off year because, well, it usually is. On a related note, ask someone who's been busting their ass for more than a decade what they think when a 20 something fresh out of college (or back from their "gap year") asks about "work life balance" in an interview. Avoid that expression like the plague. As a young job seeker, chances are you're communicating with someone up to their own ass in debt, mortgage, family, child support payments, alimony, not enough money for retirement, etc. The last thing they want to hear is some young kid fresh out of diapers talking about work life balance in his first big-boy job. Not saying OP ever mentioned that, but just a heads up - that's a terrible expression to pick up.
The small business/consulting/LLC idea is way better, even if it fails. In addition, if OP doesn't have enough contacts in his chosen industry, that could be a way to build some. If it still doesn't work out and OP can't find something entry-level to build his skills or there just flat out are not any jobs regardless of the experience level, it may be time to consider a different tack. Winners never quit, and quitters never win, but at some point if you never quit and you never win, that's just stupid.
As to this:
Quote: (04-16-2018 05:58 PM)polar Wrote:
Quote: (04-16-2018 03:38 PM)SlickyBoy Wrote:
I would also be careful of gifts to recruiters - they're probably not allowed to accept them anyway.
Allowed, no. But if you ask them for advice when you meet em, and then word it as "I appreciate all of the [bullshit] advice and guidance you've given me about my career"...they're a lot more likely to take it than if you say "there's more where this came from." Game 101.
Recruiter makes coin off placing you, assuming you stick around. If a client is deciding between two candidates, recruiter can often serve as a tiebreaker. In that sense, it's a call option - limited outlay for asymmetric upside.
No matter how it's phrased, Game 101 has nothing to do with buying strangers gifts to get information or leads about jobs. Game is the ability to do that without the bribe. Gift cards to an HR person isn't game, it reeks of desperation and is awkward at best, career suicide at worst. Depending upon whether you are in a regulated industry (e.g., law, finance), that kind of thing may get you virtually blackballed.
Regardless, the analogy is imperfect - any (honest) option trader can tell you it's quite easy to lose your shirt in the options market in spite of so-called limited outlays.
if an applicant has the goods in the resume that the market demands, the recruiter will gladly place you and profit from it, yes. While we may suspect routine occurrences of 24 year old HR cunts throwing resumes in the trash can whenever they find out an applicant is a closet Trump supporter, I suspect this is not as wide spread with external recruiters placing applicants into client companies. As you mention, they get paid for placing people, not ignoring a resume that could be pay dirt for them. That said I wouldn't be passing gifts of any kind to an American female in this position - the cultural stage already makes social interaction a political hot potato.