Hide huge gap on CV

[longgone]

bored now and decided i need to re enter the work place. 

would it be wise to fill a huge gap on the cv with made up employment at a defunct company that can no longer be contacted about employees say carillon or someone like that ?

My self employment reason does not seem to be fruitful in obtaining even an interview. 

[Mikhail Liebenstein]

5 hours ago, longgone said:

bored now and decided i need to re enter the work place. 

would it be wise to fill a huge gap on the cv with made up employment at a defunct company that can no longer be contacted about employees say carillon or someone like that ?

My self employment reason does not seem to be fruitful in obtaining even an interview. 

Sabbatical? Time helping Ophan Baby Cheetahs in Kenya.

[longgone]

1 hour ago, Mikhail Liebenstein said:

Sabbatical? Time helping Ophan Baby Cheetahs in Kenya.

i was vying towards and unplanned coma or impromptu reincarnation. 

[poppie]

7 hours ago, longgone said:

My self employment reason does not seem to be fruitful in obtaining even an interview. 

You have any skill that market wants from past job?

[Captain Kirk]

15 hours ago, longgone said:

bored now and decided i need to re enter the work place. 

would it be wise to fill a huge gap on the cv with made up employment at a defunct company that can no longer be contacted about employees say carillon or someone like that ?

My self employment reason does not seem to be fruitful in obtaining even an interview. 

Can you not put what were you actually doing during that period, or were you just on this forum the whole time?

[longgone]

9 hours ago, poppie said:

You have any skill that market wants from past job?

dated IT system support 

 

2 hours ago, Captain Kirk said:

Can you not put what were you actually doing during that period, or were you just on this forum the whole time?

fixing and reselling 100`s of laptops is of no interest to anyone in a corporate environment.  although i suppose it would constitute basic business skills however they have no credible value in the work place.  hence my interest in making a **** and bull story up or just extend the time by years in my previous work place. 

being honest gets you no where sadly. 

[Captain Kirk]

17 minutes ago, longgone said:

dated IT system support 

 

fixing and reselling 100`s of laptops is of no interest to anyone in a corporate environment.  although i suppose it would constitute basic business skills however they have no credible value in the work place.  hence my interest in making a **** and bull story up or just extend the time by years in my previous work place. 

being honest gets you no where sadly. 

I wouldn't extend the dates of prior jobs, unless there is no way of checking, but instead try and spin it bit better.

[longgone]

31 minutes ago, Captain Kirk said:

I wouldn't extend the dates of prior jobs, unless there is no way of checking, but instead try and spin it bit better.

well if you cannot get anywhere without extending dates what other choice is there.  you will not get anywhere anyway so there is nothing to lose. 

[Captain Kirk]

34 minutes ago, longgone said:

well if you cannot get anywhere without extending dates what other choice is there.  you will not get anywhere anyway so there is nothing to lose. 

Good point. If you've nothing to lose you may as well give it a go.

[longgone]

20 minutes ago, Captain Kirk said:

Good point. If you've nothing to lose you may as well give it a go.

only issue i see is if an employer finds out after employment has commenced probably instant dismissal. 

[Captain Kirk]

2 minutes ago, longgone said:

only issue i see is if an employer finds out after employment has commenced probably instant dismissal. 

If it's not a SC job you should be OK. Most jobs require 2 references, one being from your last role. HR rarely look into anything else you've done (unless you fall out with them). That would involve work.

[longgone]

2 minutes ago, Captain Kirk said:

If it's not a SC job you should be OK. Most jobs require 2 references, one being from your last role. HR rarely look into anything else you've done (unless you fall out with them). That would involve work.

i won`t be going for SC jobs as the process is too invasive even if its the lowest clearance level. DV is ridiculously intrusive, Although with the snoopers charter they probably already know most things ? 

 

 

[frankief]

delete

[longgone]

1 hour ago, Ghostly said:

It would be of interest if you were applying for IT jobs. I personally would be honest and say I ran my own business for the period concerned.  Then talk about skills involved, dealing with customers, problem solving, managing finances. Depends what job you're applying for really.

well i have been since january, i mostly try to apply directly at companies as i cannot stand agencies. initial reply is always a rejection letter so i assume it is because of the time out of employed work.  agencies don`t even ring you at all  over two months not even one phone call from any agency. 

[Mikhail Liebenstein]

10 hours ago, longgone said:

dated IT system support 

 

fixing and reselling 100`s of laptops is of no interest to anyone in a corporate environment.  although i suppose it would constitute basic business skills however they have no credible value in the work place.  hence my interest in making a **** and bull story up or just extend the time by years in my previous work place. 

being honest gets you no where sadly. 

How much do you need to earn?

An IT Distributor or reseller might want your skills. Not saying it is the best paid, but can be ok.

[longgone]

21 minutes ago, Mikhail Liebenstein said:

How much do you need to earn?

An IT Distributor or reseller might want your skills. Not saying it is the best paid, but can be ok.

Those skills are what i was doing myself. before that i was system support/data centre support for 10+ years. 

was just looking at basic 2nd line stuff to get back into work.  local 35k  london 40k would do to start with. 

[longgone]

lie about leaving date and instantly you get asked to call HR.

 

nice to see equal opportunities is adhered to. 

[longgone]

16 minutes ago, Ghostly said:

Isn't the risk that they check your references thoroughly and rescind your offer or find out at a later date and sack you?

Is the chance better than not having a job ? Because that is the alternative.

Changed CV and already have a phone interview next week. 

Not a job I particularly want but it will do to put something recent on the CV.

[anonguest]

Wasn't there a thread on this very topic/question a while back?

But I'll stick with my originally suggested use of more 'creative' (but not impossible scenarios) scenarios, to explain a 'gap'.

1)  In a coma.

2) 'Discovering yourself' in India/Tibet/etc

3) Serving in the Foreign Legion

4) Voluntary charity work with remote tribes in the Amazon

Go on.  Just a little imagination will likely solve your problem.

[longgone]

25 minutes ago, anonguest said:

Wasn't there a thread on this very topic/question a while back?

But I'll stick with my originally suggested use of more 'creative' (but not impossible scenarios) scenarios, to explain a 'gap'.

1)  In a coma.

2) 'Discovering yourself' in India/Tibet/etc

3) Serving in the Foreign Legion

4) Voluntary charity work with remote tribes in the Amazon

Go on.  Just a little imagination will likely solve your problem.

Nice dubious reasons. However i give less flucks now !

I lied about my leaving date, applied for a role went through two layers of HR monkeys, Then had a phone interview for 45 mins to 3 others, then they they don`t even have the politeness to give me a reply.  5 people before you have even seen anyone face to face. 

What a joke. 

 

 

[Si1]

Corporate companies may want more control of you than a big f#ck off gap suggests you'll give them. If you have an IT degree (?) you could teach it instead, leverage the wisdom that comes with age:

 

https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/funding-my-teacher-training/bursaries-and-scholarships-for-teacher-training

[longgone]

6 hours ago, Si1 said:

Corporate companies may want more control of you than a big f#ck off gap suggests you'll give them.

?

Hence the White lie about leaving date.  Will juts have to keep plodding on and hope no checks are made. 

[Gigantic Purple Slug]

i) Engage a recruitment consultant on your behalf and be honest with them. They will know how to spin it.

ii) You spent time as a hardware engineer. Assuming you have the paperwork to back it up.

iii) Lying is silly - docs like P45 may reveal all.

iv) Ask yourself the question why someone would not want to employ you - for example rather than start as an employee offer to start as a temp/contractor for a 2 month period so they can get to know you. Help mitigate the risk to them. Also insist on skills demonstration before interview. Say "I may have the x year gap but I have the skills and am willing to prove it".

v) Contracting is probably a good way of building the CV.

Bottom line is if your skills are in demand even if you have a big gap someone should take you on contract, after all if it doesn't work out after a month they can just not re-contract you  - low risk to them. If your skills are not in demand then probably it will be hard work.

[longgone]

3 hours ago, Gigantic Purple Slug said:

i) Engage a recruitment consultant on your behalf and be honest with them. They will know how to spin it.

ii) You spent time as a hardware engineer. Assuming you have the paperwork to back it up.

iii) Lying is silly - docs like P45 may reveal all.

iv) Ask yourself the question why someone would not want to employ you - for example rather than start as an employee offer to start as a temp/contractor for a 2 month period so they can get to know you. Help mitigate the risk to them. Also insist on skills demonstration before interview. Say "I may have the x year gap but I have the skills and am willing to prove it".

v) Contracting is probably a good way of building the CV.

Bottom line is if your skills are in demand even if you have a big gap someone should take you on contract, after all if it doesn't work out after a month they can just not re-contract you  - low risk to them. If your skills are not in demand then probably it will be hard work.

i have actually tried for contract work but even getting a phone call back after applying is difficult.  

The hardware stuff is what i was doing myself last 8 years bulk equipment purchase repair refurbish and resale. 

i was a 2nd 3rd line server guy in datacentres but that is now a worthless skill set apart from maybe the hardware server side but that is handled by the actual manufacturer these days. so of not much use either. 

i really don`t want to end up having to visit users again even before the terrible pay now being offered. 

 

 

[Gigantic Purple Slug]

3 hours ago, longgone said:

i have actually tried for contract work but even getting a phone call back after applying is difficult.  

The hardware stuff is what i was doing myself last 8 years bulk equipment purchase repair refurbish and resale. 

i was a 2nd 3rd line server guy in datacentres but that is now a worthless skill set apart from maybe the hardware server side but that is handled by the actual manufacturer these days. so of not much use either. 

i really don`t want to end up having to visit users again even before the terrible pay now being offered. 

 

 

Not wanting to cheer you up or anything but you do sound a bit ******ed.

Legacy skill sets can be very valuable in the right areas but if you're not convinced that yours have any applicability, then you've got a problem, because that's the only thing you have (had) going for you.

Maybe see what areas that are closest to your current skill set are that pay you the money you want and skill up.

Or go and work your butt off somewhere for no money for a couple of years to get some reputation points.

Have you considered an SME ? My guess is that a small business of 50-100 empolyees probably has enough going on with PCs to warrant someone maintaining the local infrastructure, although I guess these days a lot of it is outsourced. With the added advantage that the SME is likely to have a less aggressive HR department/recruitment policy.