Some creative advice...?

ElvisP

Was employed in IT for a number of years. Took a couple of years out and am now finding HR peeps not looking too fondly on that career break. Am looking for some creative boardies' suggestions to fill that 'CV gap'. Have already considered 'International Man Of Mystery', 'Member of Recent Chinese Space Mission' & 'Muslim Convert'.
Many thanks
EP

Dagon

This is a good question, because at the moment I have been employed in IT for a number of years... and yup, I'm considering doing exactly what you've done, and taking a couple of years out

I want to do music, acting... anything creative. Maybe a 2 year course in music. Just a break for computers for a while.

It is really such a sin? Does it mess up your career to have "breaks"?

Life is too short to be wasted worrying about a bloody CV imo. All the years are just passing by and I feel like I'm not fulfilling my potential in other areas...

But still, I'm interested in hearing the answers to this one...

delop

Try to find a job yourself, thoses agencies, IMO they seem greedy and shortsighted

I spent 2 months looking for a IT job in a particular area that I had experence in, and agencies told me tough luck mate nothing doing at the moment, I went and asked mates in other companies and basically knocked on doors myself, once I got the Job, the company told me that they were trying to fill the position for 3 months and used agencies and only got 3 C.V's they had begun to think that there were no IT ppl left in the country...

If Agencies were asked by Nasa to find candidits for a trip to Mars, they wouldnt get any CV's no Mars experence sorry...

Re your missing time, just tell the truth in an interview, such truths like, 'decided to get the travel bug outta my system while the IT market was a bit slack

ElvisP

thanks for the replys. i'm quite employable in IT, as in, i'm not the generic 'that IT guy'. fully agree that most recruitment people are wastes of space with no idea of what they're up to. when i was hiring staff back in the day i would've looked well upon a career break. i'm just now back looking for a job so before i circulate my cv i want to make sure i don't ruin my chances as i won't able to re-circulate it (if you know what i mean) and re-invent myself. a friend has offered to fill those two years in by pretending he and i were pursuing a business venture together. i'm not a liar and wouldn't feel good building a relationship on a falsehood but i also need a job and an income and soon.

ElvisP

am hearing that mars idea. total sense

Eoin

delop wrote: »

Try to find a job yourself, thoses agencies, IMO they seem greedy and shortsighted

It's very likely to come up in an interview as well - it's a natural question to ask. Also, as is mentioned many times here - there's a lot of companies out there that will only deal with agencies.

delop wrote: »

If Agencies were asked by Nasa to find candidits for a trip to Mars, they wouldnt get any CV's no Mars experence sorry...

He's not saying he doesn't have the experience, he's saying that he has 2 years to explain.

ElvisP wrote:

a friend has offered to fill those two years in by pretending he and i were pursuing a business venture together

Why over-complicate it? Just say you looked after his IT as a contractor.

ElvisP

i only sent my cv to one agency and the response wasn't great and ireland, being the small place that it is, i'm very wary of sending it to anyone else. i have no problem and am in no way whatsoever embarrassed about what i've being doing for two years but, as above, i need a job

Eoin

ElvisP wrote: »

i only sent my cv to one agency and the response wasn't great and ireland, being the small place that it is, i'm very wary of sending it to anyone else.

Well, my experience is that you have to contact a good few agencies, you are obviously limiting your options if you don't.

ElvisP wrote: »

i have no problem and am in no way whatsoever embarrassed about what i've being doing for two years but, as above, i need a job

I'm not suggesting you are, or should be, embarrassed, but I thought you were asking how to explain away the gap in your CV?

You said that a friend said would say you and he had a venture together, and I suggested to keep it simpler (and more relevant) by just saying you looked after his IT.

ElvisP

eoin_s wrote: »

Well, my experience is that you have to contact a good few agencies, you are obviously limiting your options if you don't.



I'm not suggesting you are, or should be, embarrassed, but I thought you were asking how to explain away the gap in your CV?

You said that a friend said would say you and he had a venture together, and I suggested to keep it simpler (and more relevant) by just saying you looked after his IT.

prob is when they see my p60 and there's no history beyond 2006. thats where i need the creativity

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Tell them you were self-employed. I have a 15-month gap on a CV that was used to put a protfolio together and start up my own business.

'Officially' *cough* it's still going well, but just not enough to live off.

Villain

Honest Creativty or will anything do?

Eoin

ElvisP wrote: »

prob is when they see my p60 and there's no history beyond 2006. thats where i need the creativity

I don't think they need your P60, I think you can provide them with some other similar form from the tax office.

If you were contracting and therefore self-employed, it may be even less of a problem. I'm sure someone with accountancy / tax experience can elaborate, but there have been some threads here from people who didn't get their P45 from their last employer, but were able to get something from the tax office that did the trick.

Just worry about pulling it off in the interview, not what happens after you get an offer and start the job.

skelliser

maybe say you went travelling around the world or you where suffering from a long-term illness but are in full health now

ElvisP

Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

Tell them you were self-employed. I have a 15-month gap on a CV that was used to put a protfolio together and start up my own business.

'Officially' *cough* it's still going well, but just not enough to live off.

think that's where i'm coming from ikky. any more creative ideas? not sure i can *cough* that well. how do i explain 30(ish) months of no employment. would appreciate your ideas

Stheno

ElvisP wrote: »

think that's where i'm coming from ikky. any more creative ideas? not sure i can *cough* that well. how do i explain 30(ish) months of no employment. would appreciate your ideas

Why not tell the truth? I.e., I took a career break?

One guy I work with took two years off to go travelling, and is back working in IT now. However as a result of the career break he had to move down a level to get back into IT, I wonder (no offence intended whatsoever) if perhaps you are aiming for a position that you may not be entirely suited to/up to date with given the gap?

Villain

I.T. can be the easiest or hardest area to bluff, if you know your stuff and do a bit of work you can bluff it easy enough.

Tell them you went travelling and worked in various I.T jobs during the time, pick a few areas and do a bit of work on them like virtualisation e.g. very easy to download demo's and get used to.

ElvisP

and here-in-lies the feckin problem. i'm under-experienced for half of advertised roles and over-experienced for the other half. how do i solve this?

Villain

Well I'd try and go for some of the tough roles and if you keep getting knocked back then take a lower role in a company that there is room to move up.

What area of I.T. do you work in?

Stheno

ElvisP wrote: »

and here-in-lies the feckin problem. i'm under-experienced for half of advertised roles and over-experienced for the other half. how do i solve this?

Ah, I was wondering if there was an issue like this there

First off, if I were you, I'd send my c.v. to as many agencies as possible, and clearly put in that you've had a career break/travel time/whatever, but don't leave it blank. Also don't just send in your c.v., but put in a good cover note, explaining your c.v. and the fact that you have had a career break and are now looking to get back into working in IT etc.

Secondly depending on the area you work in in IT, you could target companies who do outsourcing/resourcing and perhaps start with some short term contracts to build up your current c.v.?

Good luck!

ElvisP

don't want to give too much away but have been involved in most areas. started in programming and have advanced to management

Stheno

Villain wrote: »

Well I'd try and go for some of the tough roles and if you keep getting knocked back then take a lower role in a company that there is room to move up.

What area of I.T. do you work in?

ElvisP wrote: »

don't want to give too much away but have been involved in most areas. started in programming and have advanced to management

As per Villain, you could take the view that if you hit 75% of the requirements in management role then you should go for them.

In many cases, (imo) the job description/requirements/experience for IT Management roles can be a bit of a wishlist sometimes, a decent agency will look at your c.v. in relation to a role and match it realistically to the role and advise you (I've tended to have good experience of several recruitment agencies over the years, so tend not to see them particularly negatively)

Also have you had someone review your c.v. to ensure you are really showing all previous experience/roles in the best possible light?

I'd someone go through my c.v. a few years ago, the feedback wasn't pleasant to get, but the improvements as a result of his advice in terms of responses from employers and agencies was more than worth the five minutes of criticism.

Dagon

nouggatti wrote: »

Also have you had someone review your c.v. to ensure you are really showing all previous experience/roles in the best possible light?

This brings up another good question; who is the right person to review your CV?

I sure as heck would like to get mine reviewed and updated by someone who knows their stuff in the field. But most friends and family are simply not savvy enough in this area. Perhaps someone on boards could help?

Eoin

Dagon wrote: »

This brings up another good question; who is the right person to review your CV?

A recruitment agent is a good place to start. Tell them what you're looking for, and if your CV is appropriate. If nothing else, it's free advice.