In my experience, I spent nearly a year unemployed and it was the most depressed I’ve ever been. Part of it was I was also very poor at the time, but a significant part was having nothing meaningfull to do everyday. Now I’ve got the oposite problem where I work way too many hours in an average week and barely have time just for myself.
When your needs are met it leaves room to create your own goals without the constant pressure of survival.
Highly recommend.I have less money in the bank than when I was unemployed, but I’m more willing to spend it because I know there’s more coming in. It’s a lot easier for me to just buy whatever food I want or get decent beer and not worry about it.
I can’t meet my current needs without working, I can’t meet my long term needs without working overtime. At least with my current job and some overtime hours I should be able to afford a small house as a solo adult. Once that is paid off I would really like to consider working less than full time hours.
I spent 4 years half working on my pet project, half going around and visiting friends and family, part of which was helping my brother build his house.
This was after burning out after 4 years at my first career job, where I felt like I was living Office Space.
It was a bit of a (non-religious) pilgrimage of sorts. I struggled with self worth, pretty extreme social anxiety, and what was valuable to me in life. I wasn’t exactly broke, but I had to slow burn the ~$80k I had managed to save up before quitting.
I definitely value that time in my life and what that forged in myself. But it was pretty rough at times, mentally.
“Oh yes, that gap was when I wasn’t working.”
"Well, to begin, we live in a capitalist society that pits all levels of Labor against each other in an elaborate ruse by which Capital levers wages to their lowest point possible, while reaping the lion’s share of positive business outcomes and divesting itself of negative outcomes.
And in this charade of musical chairs, I lost my seat, because I mistakenly thought the Value of work comes from, ya know, work, and not being the Owner’s nephew. Next question?"
If i was a hiring manager I’d take that answer.
I once spent like 8 months doing nothing but playing WOW and fill out job apps that I never heard back on. It was the happiest and most fulfilled I’ve ever felt. I had a ton of friends and I rose through the ranks of my guild and was eventually elected as leader. It actually helped me get over a ton of my social anxiety and build up my confidence to come out of my shell.
I don’t tell people that in real life because they’ll think I’m a loser but I honestly don’t think I’d be where I’m at today if I’d have spent that time working dead end fast food jobs or something instead but I can also definitely see how people fall into video game addiction problems.
I managed to get 1950 hours playing eve online in a single year during covid, it was the best year of my life but fuck me did my grades suffer for it
It can be a pretty miserable cycle.
1: Have a job that barely keeps you financially above water, while consuming all of your time, energy, motivation, creativity, and capacity for joy.
2: Lose it.
3: Spend every moment not enjoying your newfound free time due to…in no particular order…struggling with poverty; struggling with guilt, depression, and general self-loathing; jumping through hoops fighting an unemployment system designed to make you give up (especially if you live somewhere extra shitty) ; spending countless hours revising resumes and mass applying to jobs to no avail; being too poor to do anything and barely seeing your friends; trying to keep food in your kitchen…and so on.
I’m so tired.
I hate that this is an acceptable interview question.
If it was any of your business I would have put that information in there. Or more diplomatic would be saying something like ‘I was caring for my dying relative, I left that information out because I wanted to include only the most relevant skills for this position.’
To play the devil’s advocate, if you are an employer you would want to find out why the person has been unemployed. Was he unreliable as a person before? Was he combative with his previous employer and colleagues? Was he actually in prison all this time? What if this guy is a corporate spy?
There is plenty of anti-work circlejerk in lemmy, and they are not completely wrong, but there are employers who do act in good faith. And certainly as an employer, they do not want to hire a person who was fired for stealing from their previous workplace. Which is why a huge employment gap is certainly a red flag from an employer’s perspective. And which is why it’s always important to leave a company on good terms. Because even if you left the previous job to genuinely care for a family member, you have someone to vouch for you to the prospective new employer.
Was he unreliable as a person before? Was he combative with his previous employer and colleagues? Was he actually in prison all this time? What if this guy is a corporate spy?
I’m not sure you will get that information by asking about a gap.
I believe it would be more acceptable to ask questions more specific to your concerns. “Can you tell me why you left x position?” Even then, you are not going to get the information you are so suspicious about, you will get a bullshit interview answer.
Not just that but if there’s a gap of a couple years in a resume I would like to know how they kept up with the industry. You don’t remain sharp indefinitely without practicing
I do wonder how it could be. People always say that you need to work to be happy, but it’s not like they know it from experience. The few months you spend on the brink of starvation while searching for a job isn’t comparable to an indefinite vacation.
Just like permanent vs. temporary housing for the homeless. One helps them, the other pushes the problem along.
Needing to work to be happy, or to have a meaningful life, or to feel productive or fulfilled, or whatever - that’s been an alien concept to me my entire life.
People talk about their careers with pride, they look forward to going to work and … I don’t understand it. Is this supposed to be an achievement? There is no amount of money or perks that could fool me into believing I’m not selling my life away. It’s really fucking hard to pretend everything is fine, when sometimes I just want to disappear in the woods.
Doesn’t anyone else feel like this?
Might depend on the job. A woodworker perfecting their craft as a job might feel that way. Meanwhile I’m a paper pusher and wish I didn’t have to be at work, AND this is with my job not being terrible actually.
My job is all about providing and treating drinking water for people. Even though I’m underpaid, overworked, and have some issues with the boss, I really love it when I can make a customer happy. Some people have had stinky or orange water for years and when we come and fix it and they get good, clear, safe, high pressure water for the first time in their house they are ecstatic.
I worked for 25 years before becoming disabled 5 years ago. In my experience, the grass is always greener on the other side.
I just handed my notice in to a job I tried to quiet quit, but failed at. Turns out I have too much guilt to just not work, and intentionally becoming shit at my job seems to feed the imposter syndrome in my brain. Anyway, I decided just to cut ties, and we are parting on good terms. I am working my last month now, and will be officially unemployed as of December 1st.
I am FUCKING THRILLED! For the first time in 25 years I’ll be intentionally not working and not looking for work, and I’ll also not struggle financially because of it. I plan to find a job in early 2025, but I’m gonna enjoy a few months to myself first. I’m gonna indulge in my hobbies, enjoy my home, my yard, take walks, have coffee on the deck, sleep in. I’m going to use my office for my own personal endeavors and explore starting my own software project.
I’m already dreading looking back at this period and wishing I was still in it.
Enjoy it! I’m happy for you!
This decision takes some courage, so well done :)
Thank you!
I long for a gap in my employment history…
I historically long for employment at gap…
Same, but i just fill it with the previous or following employer in my resume.
Whichever was the better fit is the one who gets the “between jobs” added to my starting or end date.
It shut them up and i don’t have to make excuses for being in a time employers had zero interest in me, or tell them i was just happy eating up some savings for the oppertunity to gather my wits after years of only slaving away and sacrificing myself in the process.
“Nope. I was interesting to employers and recruiters for all of a month when I was suddenly not contacted at all months on end including being ghosted by a recruiter who really liked me and even had a position he thought I jive with super well.”
I have zero idea how I’ll explain this to anyone if I ever get an interview ever again.
I like to just say “That period isn’t relevant to my work history, is personal, and I won’t be discussing it further.”
I’ve learned through many shitty jobs that any company that brings it up is one I probably don’t want to work for anyway. If they feel they have a right to know what I’m doing with “non-productive” periods of time before I even work for them, what other boundaries will they want to cross if I don’t meet some unspoken arbitrary metric? But if they accept that answer and move on, I consider the question a yellow flag rather than red.
Fair enough, I’ll find some way to say if in my own words, then.
You could also just lie.
I haven’t had a recent gap in ages and haven’t been asked in a while but when it came up I would just say I was either a freelance property manager or a semi pro gamer trying to make it at the time. Non are complete lies and it could even make you seem more interesting.
Heck you could totally fill in the resume gap with freelance whatever so there isn’t a gap. Freelance photographer could work too, or freelance ‘insert your hobby here’ to make it easier to lie about it.
i try to always live as below my means as i possibly can. of course this depends on the salary i’m currently making, but i can afford some time to myself between jobs and its an awesome rest.
Sabbatical.
