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This has been hashed out endlessly in various threads and there's no "one size fits all" answer. If your friend has been unemployed for three years and all she can say is that she's been looking for a job, the negative reaction from prospective employers is perfectly normal. Anyone who has been unemployed for six months plus should be doing some volunteer work, taking night or online classes to improve themselves - in other words demonstrating that they've been doing something other than sitting around. That stock response just doesn't cut it.
why do employers have to give a crap about what the job applicant has been doing while unemployed? why do they care if the person has been trying to improve themselves or not?
why do employers have to give a crap about what the job applicant has been doing while unemployed? why do they care if the person has been trying to improve themselves or not?
You've asked this same question over and over and over again on numerous threads on this forum and it's been answered over and over and over again. Poster move4ward quoted Einstein two posts ago, viz: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results." This quote's refrain echoes over and over again on this and other forums. Please reflect upon it.
You've asked this same question over and over and over again on numerous threads on this forum and it's been answered over and over and over again. Poster move4ward quoted Einstein two posts ago, viz: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results." This quote's refrain echoes over and over again on this and other forums. Please reflect upon it.
Great...now you have encouraged him to post on all sorts of threads that he is insane. j/k
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Many jobs require being up-to-date with technology. For example, I couldn't hire someone that doesn't have experience with Windows 7, along with the latest Outlook, Word, Adobe Professional, Sharepoint, and advanced Excel skills even if they had the required years of experience in our kind of business. Interviewing someone out of work over a year or two I would only seriously consider them if they made it clear they had spent some of their off
time keeping their skills fresh. The point is though, that there are almost always people with more recent experience that are already working or have not been out of work long that will beat out someone off the job 2-3 years, or even one.
I know a lady who was laid off from her job three years ago and has sent out nearly a thousand resumes and gone on a number of job interviews but just can't find work. No one will hire her! They ask her what she has been doing since she lost her job and she is honest and tells them she has been aggressively looking for a job but just hasn't found anything yet. My unemployed friend tells me they lower their eyebrow and seem to say under their breath, "well if no one else wants you, why should we?"
She thinks that because she has been unemployed for so long employers think there is something wrong with her and pass.
How long can a person be unemployed and still be employable? How long can you be unemployed before being considered unemployable by hiring managers?
Your friend needs to start lying and using friends whom she knows with businesses saying that she is currently working for them. It's time to get creative. If she gets caught later, so be it. Hopefully, she'll have saved enough money and began a side business of her own where it won't matter.
Employers are being unnecessary a-holes about this and employees need to do what they can to get a job. You can purchase fake tax returns (if requested) from staples or craigslist.
I think it kind of depends on the kind of job and the level of unemployment in that job and other factors. Employers know how many job openings there tend to be, and they know how many applications they get.
For some jobs, you'd really wonder why someone didn't work in over a month, for other jobs a gap of 16 weeks may be fine.
I have a year gap. I went to school, got a graduate certificate, and started a new career.
So, 12 months unemployment for me and it was never an issue.
I don't think prior employment gaps are really held against anyone. If someone has the current skills, experience and education for the job, I doubt an employment gap from 5 or 10 years ago is going to be an issue for anyone unless it was for being in the state pen.
Current employment gaps are a whole different matter.
why do employers have to give a crap about what the job applicant has been doing while unemployed? why do they care if the person has been trying to improve themselves or not?
I think the potential employee's actions and activities during their period of unemployment is a very interesting and important indicator of the applicant's mind set and work ethic.
Many jobs require being up-to-date with technology. For example, I couldn't hire someone that doesn't have experience with Windows 7, along with the latest Outlook, Word, Adobe Professional, Sharepoint, and advanced Excel skills even if they had the required years of experience in our kind of business. Interviewing someone out of work over a year or two I would only seriously consider them if they made it clear they had spent some of their off
time keeping their skills fresh. The point is though, that there are almost always people with more recent experience that are already working or have not been out of work long that will beat out someone off the job 2-3 years, or even one.
Those classes are expensive, and trying to teach yourself is not the best route. An outlook class is over$300, and powerpoint is over $400. The dept of labor is not helpful, they just direct you to expensive classes, there are no free classes for those skills-which do not take long to learn.
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