Do people care about large career gaps?

New / Eng
shok35

New Eng

shok35
Feb 9, 2019 22 Comments

I have a 7 year gap on my resume where my mental health was in the toilet. I have two yrs experience since resuming.

Do people care? I have 2 yrs experience before the gap. Do I have 4 years experience or would most people only count the after? Trying to figure out where my TC should be is a pain. Especially as I work at a teeny startup as the first employee, i have no idea what % of share in the company I should consider reasonable.

Currently at 80 base and 1%

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TOP 22 Comments
  • Oath / Mgmt
    Atinlay

    Go to company page Oath Mgmt

    Atinlay
    You have 2 yoe then. Yes, a 7 year gap would be concerning
    Feb 9, 2019 6
  • VMware
    BobbleHat

    Go to company page VMware

    BobbleHat
    Yoe is not the way to measure your comp. look at what level of responsibility and impact you can make.
    Feb 9, 2019 4
    • VMware
      BobbleHat

      Go to company page VMware

      BobbleHat
      Why not. Find a couple partners to create a business and you will be the cto.
      Feb 9, 2019
    • New / Eng
      shok35

      New Eng

      shok35
      OP
      I took 7 years out, you think i have finances for that? I wish! My current ceo is aware of my agressive goals for myself though, one of the reasons he hired me
      Feb 9, 2019
  • Google / Other
    snidely

    Go to company page Google Other

    BIO
    Flagged by the community
    snidely
    Fill the gap with a fake job. Say you were self employed as a consultant. Nobody can prove you weren't. . Make up a believable story and practice it forward and backward until you believe it yourself. Put up a web site for your "services" if you want. Never mention anything about mental health issues or you'll never get hired.
    Feb 9, 2019 1
  • Four years. The two you had before the gap are still experience. And since you’ve been working two since I wouldn’t see it as a real issue.

    The most important point is that YOE is largely all an arbitrary number for the purposes of job descriptions.
    Feb 9, 2019 1
  • Capital One / Eng
    SnappleGuy

    Go to company page Capital One Eng

    SnappleGuy
    You have 4 YOE.

    Before somebody replies with “WRONG” hear me out...

    If you didn’t take the gap years, you would have 11 years of experience. Do people with 11 years of experience not count the early years because technology has changed so much? No, they count it because they likely still grew their skill set and soft skills during that time. Also, when you learn something once it’s much easier to brush up than it is to learn for the first time.

    Luckily, jobs usually ask for 3+ or 5+ years of experience and you definitely don’t have 5 so I say go for the mid level position. Good luck!
    Feb 9, 2019 0