Re: Academic resume gaps

Tom Lucas <news@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
As long as you can give a reasonable account of what you were doing then
it's not normally a problem - only when the gaps are unexplained. A CV
(or resum?) which shows a six month period between jobs rings alarm
bells - were you sacked, sick, in jail?

Six months to a year I wouldn't worry about, people often want a
career break or can't find employment that suits - I've seen CVs
where there have been unexplained 5-10 *year* gaps. That tends to prompt
me to ask questions - even if someone wasn't working in the industry
they might have been doing something that gives them transferrable
experience (not applicable to BubbaGump, of course; he lives only
to code and "you mere hu-mans with your soft skills are weaklings" ;P)

That would count as a reasonable account - lay-offs are a fact of life
these days. However, I have met some employers who won't take on people
who've been laid off because they believe that if the other company
didn't want you then you can't have been any good.

Strange employers then. Often you find that the *good* people in
downsizing companies take voluntary redundancy, sit on a nice wodge, get
their heads back together and wait for the right opportunity to
present itself rather than going wanking for coins at any menial
job that comes along ;)

pete
--
pete@xxxxxxxxxxx "there's no room for enigmas in built-up areas"
.