Has anyone consulted a careers coach?

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TeaLeaf

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#306522 31-Jul-2023 18:43

I have a huge hole in my resume due to family illness, Im not really sure if I should put it on my resume and linkedin as it was quite lengthy and mentally tough, but it built resilience which I can see being useful in the worforce. But its very personal so Im not sure if I should just be frank about it or not.

mentalinc

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#3110203 31-Jul-2023 19:06

How huge is huge?

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Tinkerisk

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#3110211 31-Jul-2023 19:35

mentalinc:

How huge is huge?

And how frank is frank? 😎

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nzkc

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#3110213 31-Jul-2023 19:50

Tough one this.

I can only give you my perspective as some one who reads CVs and conducts interviews.

If I saw a gap with no mention of anything I might ask about it. Especially if it was a long gap (month or two I wouldnt worry about). So if you're prepared to put you were caring for a sick family member or dealing with an illness I can tell you I'd be glad you put it on the CV. Dont need detail, just "here's why there's an employment gap"

I personally wouldnt ask about further about it either. Depending on the length of time I might ask how you prepared yourself to get back into the workforce or re-skill (really depends on the skill set and duration). If, on the other hand, you are asked my advice would be to cut it off quickly. Say what you're prepared to say and thats it. E.g: "I was recovering from a severe illness." No need to say anymore. There are laws that protect you here - so dont feel you have to disclose anything you're not comfortable disclosing.

TeaLeaf

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#3110224 31-Jul-2023 21:03

nzkc:

TEspecially if it was a long gap (month or two I wouldnt worry about). So if you're prepared to put you were caring for a sick family member or dealing with an illness I can tell you I'd be glad you put it on the CV. Dont need detail, just "here's why there's an employment gap"

Exactly this. Its deeply personal and was extremely protracted start to finish (8yrs) with harrowing components (comas etc). It just sapped me. But I came out more resilient.

Ive been redoing my PM certs and doing one of the capable degrees as I did half Bach Commerce 30yrs ago but got offered a full time job role that took me away from study. I know they not worth much, but feels better showing Im trying to reeducate. I was largely managing .net builds after leaving telco, so I decided to try some azure and azure ai and Im enjoying it a lot.

(my KB is flapped).

mentalinc

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#3110226 31-Jul-2023 21:09

If it's 8 years, then yeah go with nzkc approach.

Note/acknowledge it, and set up that an interviewer is likely to touch it very lightly (as noted above, a what makes now the right time to return to work), and if they dig further, you probably don't want to work there, and if required just stand up and leave - no need to retraumatise yourself for somewhere you're not likely to accept an offer

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Handle9

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#3110228 31-Jul-2023 21:49

nzkc:

I personally wouldnt ask about further about it either. Depending on the length of time I might ask how you prepared yourself to get back into the workforce or re-skill (really depends on the skill set and duration). If, on the other hand, you are asked my advice would be to cut it off quickly. Say what you're prepared to say and thats it. E.g: "I was recovering from a severe illness." No need to say anymore. There are laws that protect you here - so dont feel you have to disclose anything you're not comfortable disclosing.

There's a practical aspect here. As an employer I would hesitate to be the first to employ someone who has had an extended break without some assurance that the candidate was ready to return to work. I'm not at all interested in knowing what I don't need to know but I do need to have confidence that a candidate can do the job and I'm not creating a problem for the organisation.

If OP can get some part time or contract roles that will help a lot. Upskilling is all well and good but the best way to show you're ready to work is to progress in returning to work. Saying to an employer "I had some challenges which meant I was unable to work but over the last 6 months I have gradually progressed and gone from 8 hours a week to 24 hours a week" is far more convincing than certifications.

I wouldn't care too much what the job was, just that OP was working there was progress.

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MikeB4

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#3110244 1-Aug-2023 07:16

I have over the years hired probably more than 100 folks. Seeing a gap in a CV would cause me to question. Seeing honesty would be a big tick in the box. An employer who wont employ purely on health/disablility is not going to be a good employer and would be a bullet dodged. I would get your medical support to give a letter confirming that you are ready for work but only present it to a genuine employer depending on the tone of the questioning. If their tone is not supportive terminate the interview.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

gehenna

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#3110271 1-Aug-2023 08:04

Then there's the issue of algorithmically filtered CVs before they even reach a human working on the shortlist. Depending on how the system is set up to recognise content in the CV, a gap may trip it up so your CV never gets past the front door.

I have life context that I need to be transparent about with my employer, and I usually do that from the point of interviewing through my tenure with the company depending on what I need at the time. Much easier for me to ask for a new orthopaedic chair 6 months into the role if I've already disclosed my health situation. I hire a lot of people and generally try to accommodate people's lives around the role, but it requires transparency to work. So if your CV got to me it would be a question, I'd want to ask you about, but if the rest of the info in the CV is relevant, I would still talk to you to find out more.

Dulouz

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#3110273 1-Aug-2023 08:18

Maybe there are some 'good' career coaches out there, but I tend to group them alongside life coaches, where most are batshit crazy.

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TeaLeaf

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#3110799 1-Aug-2023 19:17

Handle9:

There's a practical aspect here. As an employer I would hesitate to be the first to employ someone who has had an extended break without some assurance that the candidate was ready to return to work.

100% agree. as someone who has been in the hiring chair Ive only come across extended breaks due to child care.

Yes I think its important that I can show Im ready to do the basics like being punctual, getting out of bed on cold mornings at 5:30am, showering, putting on some professional clothes and commuting to work. I think even if its voluntary, its a good thing to do. So I did some of this.

During the good and the bad periods I volunteered with ecology, week long field work which was hard yacka, attending 3 day weekend conferences, being involved in GIS conferences as the technology side of it really interested me.

So I was very very nervous talking to you guys about this, Im essentially opening up and its really scary, I expected the worst of the internet. It takes courage to face the world alone and have faith in yourself, so its daunting discussing it on a forum. However what Ive taken from it that I know I can use in the IT workforce is resilience. Being brave and moving on without family, keeping my positive attitude and my friendly but professional Dimenna.

So Im facing three problems.

1. How much do I put on my CV and linkedin?
2. How detailed should I be when questioned about it, as I obviously will be?
3. Lastly, who can I use for a reference, most of my old bosses have moved on. Im still friendly with some old colleagues who are all in much higher places than I, which is a little embarrassing.

Im just looking for a short project to show my commitment to working hard and potential long hours, along with obtaining a reference. Once underway there will be no looking back as Ive learnt a lot about working hard. Im likely to return to contract work in Aus, where most of my close friends reside.

As somebody else said, Career coaches tend to lean toward life coaching. Im wondering if some of the Govt return to work programs are worth checking out? Conversely in Aus as well, as Im likely to return there for a period.

So what Im hearing is, carer work, health and bereavement should not exclude people from returning to work.... I had a mini side career and spent time travelling NZ with that, which I enjoyed very much. But Im reinvigeorated toward resuming my IT career.

Thanks everybody, this has been a much less daunting conversation than I expected, and everybody was helpful with constructive advice.

TeaLeaf

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#3110813 1-Aug-2023 21:16

I tried an ai resume builder, but it totally removed all the dates and just listed my work experience in the resume. Im not sure if this is a good thing or not, but it links back to linkedin where people can obtain further data.....

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deadlyllama

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#3110821 1-Aug-2023 21:44

I was out of the IT workforce for 4 1/2 years while trying a career change. During last year's job search, I'm sure some employers rejected my resume out of hand due to my last job being very non-IT...

Happily during this process a friend was designing a kickstarter-ed ergo keyboard and I did some software development for him in return for a few keyboards. (they're good keyboards - lookup the MoErgo Glove80. Designed in Lower Hutt & Japan).

This gave me a story to tell, during interviews, about recent IT work. Demonstrating that I hadn't suddenly forgotten how to code. I think that helped.

The other thing that helped is my network - people I used to work with. Is there anyone in the industry you personally know, who you've kept somewhat in touch with? Someone who could act as a good reference, or even recommend you to their current employer?

TeaLeaf

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#3110833 1-Aug-2023 22:08

deadlyllama:

Is there anyone in the industry you personally know, who you've kept somewhat in touch with? Someone who could act as a good reference, or even recommend you to their current employer?

Yeah I have a few on FB and Linkedin, but they were never my boss as such, most are high flyers now (oh thats depressing). I had references after leaving my job but I ended up turning the jobs down as just werent a good fit and I decided to move to Europe, which was great until my parent got sick. But I tried to stay in touch with the projects I use to manage, the difference now is they sit in the azure cloud, whilst Im not a coder anymore, I understand the architecture side of things.

TeaLeaf

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#3110928 2-Aug-2023 09:23

deadlyllama:

Is there anyone in the industry you personally know, who you've kept somewhat in touch with?

Are you thinking, use them as a reference? I don't think that would be a problem. But usually Contracting Agencies in Aussie want one colleague and one boss.

The only bosses Im in contact with are from 20yrs ago while still working in Internetworking (Cisco environments). I suppose given this very drawn out passing of my parent took so long, they may well be suitable. Im doing more education so as a PM Im not totally coding illiterate etc, but most of the skills used then are very similar to now. Instead of calling it "Hosted" we call it the "Cloud" ha, I know its not like for like, but yeah, if thats what you are thinking, that could work for me........

(sorry I need to repair this lappy KB).