I've been out of work for over a year, and I'm worried it's hurting my chances at landing interviews. I've noticed recruiters checking my profile but then I either hear nothing or get flat-out rejections. I left my last job due to a toxic work environment, and during my time off, I worked on some personal projects like an art passion project, volunteered at a crisis line, and even created a small productivity tracking app in Python. I've included these on my resume but it's not helping. I used to get frequent messages on LinkedIn from recruiters, but now it seems like they're not interested in my profile, even after they contact me. I'm considering looking for jobs outside of IT since I have about 10 years of experience in cloud and virtualization. I'd love to hear any advice on how to address this gap in a way that won't raise any flags with potential employers.
1 Answer
Switching to a dateless resume format worked wonders for me! Just list your job durations without mentioning any gaps. You can casually share your background without fixating on the gap; for instance, just say you moved on from your last role to pursue something else. When asked about your start date, confidently say you can start right away but maybe want to wrap up a couple of things first.
That's a clever approach! Did you notice a big difference in how recruiters responded after making that change?