Free Career and Job Search Advice

mdb31483 · Newbie Joined: 23 Jun 2007 Posts: 2 Career Advice: +0/-0

Hello,

I worked at my last job for 3 years. I started to get sick (ended up being Crohn's disease) and after calling in 5 times sick over a 3 month period was fired for accumulating 10 points which is the limit before termination. It has now been about 11 months since I have had a job. I have basically used all the money I saved at that job to travel around and have sold some things on eBay to also survive. I am now going to start looking for a job. I am terrified that I will have too much trouble getting a job with a 2 Year gap since I last was employed. Not to mention I was fired from my last job. Should I mention that I traveled/sold items on eBay? Could anyone reading this please offer me any advice or input as to how I should approach applying for jobs and submitting resumes as well as what to say in interviews about the gap of employment? THanks so much!

lexa10881 · Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 4:24 am Post subject:

Some people do make ebay their sole income and are quite good at it. I guess it would reflect on how much you did it and in what relation it has to your job history. If you did it for a long time and did well at it, you might put it on the resume. If the topic comes up, then mention during the interview that you did some freelance work.
Whatever your choice, honesty is better than lying. Keep that in mind.

http://www.cvtips.com/resume_mistakes.html

yanna · Expert Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 102 Career Advice: +0/-0

Yeah well you weren't fired for bad behavior or lack of efficiency if you say you were laid off after accumulating 10 point...but you were sick so...this is not really something to be terrified of when trying to explain it to the prospective employer.
Also...a gap of two years might seem long, but it can be covered if you invoke a sum of motives. Here's help:

http://www.cvtips.com/gap_history_CV.html

CoachMary · Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 12:11 pm Post subject:

I would advise handling the gap in this way on your resume: (after your most current work situation): Example...

3/05-present: Self employed in retail marketing. Products ranged from .......
Managing all aspects of operation, from bookkeeping to sales and distribution.

Word it simply but accurately, without a lot of detail. You can explain a little more if you'd like your cover letter, but I would concentrate on your previous work contributions. In fact, I'd make those so powerful, that those alone sell you. By work contributions, I mean include lots of measurable things you've done with previous work to solve problems, add to their income or save them money--any extraordinary projects you've worked on that added to the company product-line or operations. Give facts and figures, percentages -- whatever, but show that you are a worthy candidate. As for the interview -- don't offer unless asked about your two-year gap. While I'm sure you spent some of that time recovering or managing your disease, should you spend time talking about that in an interview, it's going to lead to other questions and concerns from an employer. If you get asked about why the departure from the previous job -- indicate that you had a physical illness that took priority to address and caused your departure. This is what prompted your entering self-employment, and now, you are looking to get back into the marketplace of your preferred working environment. Once you get the resume fixed -- start working your network. Good luck.

julian · Expert Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 255 Career Advice: +2/-0

Oh yes....self employed on a home based small business of your own. How about freelancing? Or e-commercing....It is somewhat related to what Coach Mary said in her post.
In this way you can show you were active during these past two years. You can also choose to say you activated in a relative's small business on a position chosen by both of you ahead.
But the self employed option might be the best because it is not necessary to obtain a recommendation or something.

erathwomen · Newbie Joined: 05 Jul 2007 Posts: 2 Career Advice: +0/-0

Hi. You say it's been 11 months since you were fired and then say it's been 2 years so I'm a bit confused. My question for you is why were you fired? Were you not able to get a note from your doctor saying you couldn't work due to the illness? I think you need to be prepared to explain this to a potential employer unless you're planning on not mentioning that job at all and that's why you're saying you've got a 2-year gap...?

The important thing is not to lie but I like what someone said above about calling yourself self-employed. You need to be very sure about what you put down and how you will discuss it since it will come up in an interview and they will ask you to explain what you were doing. If you've been selling on ebay for a while now, you could certainly say that you were trying to develop an ebay business but it hasn't panned out well enough to support you full-time or something like that.

Good luck!

careerpro · New User Joined: 08 Jul 2007 Posts: 9 Career Advice: +0/-0

If you were selling things on eBay, you weren't really unemployed. You were self-employed.

You should include this on your resume. "Online Retailer" is a job.

What were your responsibilities .... hmmm... inventory management, shipping, product promotion, customer service, handling financial transactions ....

sounds like a job to me!

careerpro · New User Joined: 08 Jul 2007 Posts: 9 Career Advice: +0/-0

... but don't say "it hasn't panned out..."

Make sure to phrase things in a postive light.

Maybe something like ... I have enjoyed working as an online retailer, but am really ready to get back into a office environment, where I can become part of a team."

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