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TIL a coworker's blunt feedback fixed my resume gap problem
I was nervous about a 6 month gap after I left a toxic office. A hiring manager friend said to just call it "career sabbatical" and list what I actually did during that time, like volunteering at a free dental clinic. Has anyone else used a creative name for a gap and had it work out?
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lindab491mo ago
My cousin Carl had a 10 month gap after he quit his warehouse job to try and fix vintage pinball machines out of his garage. He listed it as "Independent Electromechanical Restoration Specialist" on his resume and got called in for an interview at a tech support place. The hiring guy actually thought it was cool and asked him about the pinball stuff for like 15 minutes. He ended up getting the job because they said it showed he could learn weird technical stuff on his own. The gap never even came up after that first chat.
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... I mean is it really that serious though? Like a 6 month gap, who cares. I see people online acting like it's the end of the world but most hiring managers I've dealt with barely even look at your dates. They just want to know if you can do the job now. Calling it a "career sabbatical" sounds kinda try-hard to me honestly, just say you took some time off and moved on.
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the_joseph1mo ago
Yeah, "Independent Electromechanical Restoration Specialist" is funny but it worked for Carl so who am I to judge. I think the key is that you actually have to have done something during that time, not just make up a fancy title. The hiring guy asked real questions about it because he was genuinely curious, not because the name was clever. That's what made it land. So if you really did fix pinball machines or volunteer at a clinic, just lead with that instead of hiding it behind corporate speak. Calling it a "career sabbatical" sounds like you're trying to dress up nothing, but if you actually did stuff during that gap, own it.
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