[paynful]

...not that I am healthy enough right now to hold a job (severe depression/SAD), but I was... trying to taking baby steps. I got VERY DISCOURAGED, and almost dropped the whole thing to put off until next week... again. I've never had the opportunity to ask anyone before, because I don't know anyone who was in the same situation... but now.... YAY PC!!

I have to update my resume. I have HUGE gaps in my resume. As in.. I only work in the summer season. In the past, I had stretched the truth saying that I had to help family through crisis.... Not saying that that family member was me! lol or that I was house sitting, nannying, or jobs off the books type thing...

I don't want to lie, but I, also, do NOT want to disclose my medical situation. Is there a "professional" way to handle this? What do you do?

[Elektra_]

hi. after i read ur post i checked online and now im aware that european cv is not same as american cv lol. u can always put the year only. i have this huge gap in mine, caz i didnt work for years, and then i worked like a weekend and still put there the month. if anyone ask tell the truth but usually they dont. and did u do any course, training, volunteer work while unemployed? u should put it. that way u "explain" u were doing something. tc

Medical leave or sabbatical. That's all you need to say. If it were me and I got a good feeling about an employer I would tell them but that's the only time. If they ask if you are ok tell them yes I am cleared for work, in remission might work. Let them think it was cancer if they want. If they push say it is a private affair. If they push more it isn't going to be a good place to work anyway

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[live2ski66]

I leave the gap. If they ask me I tell them I had a condition that thank god is in remission. I used the Cancer example. Our mental health challenges are like a cancer. If we don't fight it, it beats us. We can also throw it into remission, which is what we do when we are stabilized.
Good luck!

[Hellion]

Hmm I hate to say this, but I don't think putting a mental disorder on your resume would necessarily help with getting a job. I mean on a resume they are looking for reasons to hire you, not reasons not to.

And unfortunately a lot of employers probably see that sort of thing as a reason not to hire someone. I could be mistaking though, I don't know what kind of job field this resume is for....it could vary depending on the job. I know there are laws about discrimination but there isn't a good way to prove if an employer didn't hire you over mental illness unless they outright say it.

This probably isn't very helpful, but its just the impression I get having talked to various mentally ill people who are working or trying to find work.

[Clara22]

IMO, just use years, as Elektra said. They do not need to know.

[Perna]

I don't "apologize" for gaps in my resume, merely put/answer that I was working on personal projects. I also made sure I was taking an online course now and then from my local university so I could say I was "taking classes"/pursuing personal interests. Act like the particular job is something you have deliberately decided you want to take for your reasons; they aren't doing you any "favors", you are helping them out and together maybe you both can get your needs met. I spent 10 years starting/quitting part-time jobs just to practice interviewing/getting hired and then quitting jobs because doing those things were difficult/scary for me and I wanted to get better at them. Figure out something you want to learn/do in your life and do it.

My cousin lived in Boston and had a stressful job and got burnt out and moved to Florida for many years to run a "kite shop" on the beach. Not a lot of money but worked (might work for someone with SAD :-) for him. Think of something you would like to do instead of what limits you and then figure out how to do it. A book I really like is Wishcraft, by Barbara Sher.

[Elektra_]

btw after i checked many i saw u guys use dif types too. use the functional cv that gives emphasis to the job and not the time. put the year between brackes after the description of the tasks. tc

Originally Posted by Elektra_

btw after i checked many i saw u guys use dif types too. use the functional cv that gives emphasis to the job and not the time. put the year between brackes after the description of the tasks. tc

Oh yes, good idea. Recently I sent my resume to a recruiter and agreed to let her change it for the client. I really regretted that because what she was really doing was fitting into some sort of application. She question every single gap even month long ones which may or may not be a month because I only use months. I am a contractor so those are kind of gaps are par for the course. Resumes are supposed to be marketing tools to get them interested. Applications have to be truthful. So the client never actually sees what I think is important.

Oh...side note of interest. "CV" has caught on in the US. At least in tech land where there are a lot of international interactions. I just haven't gotten used to it

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