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[–] 112 points 5 months ago* (62 children)

My answers to "Would you explain this gap in your resume?":

  1. Relevancy: "I only included relevant experience on the copy of my resume that you received." Hiking experience isn't relevant. Couch experience isn't relevant. Time spent as the forgotten pawn in the machinations of capitalism isn't relevant.
  2. Privacy: "I am not required to disclose medical information, and will not be discussing this matter any further."
  3. Fuck 'em: "No."
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  • [–] 70 points 5 months ago (56 children)

    No2 will make any interviewer exclude you as they don't want to hire a "lemon"

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  • [–] 59 points 5 months ago (54 children)

    Lemon is right...but not because they have medical problems. I'm left as hell but I'd get so annoyed if an interview candidate snapped back like that. I'd think "this person is going to escalate any minor inconvenience"

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  • [–] 21 points 5 months ago (35 children)

    Lemon is right…but not because they have medical problems.

    It's because they have boundaries.

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  • [–] 23 points 5 months ago (34 children)

    No, it's because of how they choose to respond to a tiny bit of friction.

    They're the type of person who wouldn't take 2 minutes to help you with something that's not explicitly outlined in their job description.

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  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago (13 children)

    It depends, I know people that would be glad to help on the work but will not tolerate out of work pondering. Gaps on the résumé are sort of more of the latter, imo

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  • [–] 18 points 5 months ago (12 children)

    You know what I do when someone casually asks me a question I don't want to answer? I keep it vague and give them a chance to pick up the hint. I don't give them a stone cold "I'm not going to answer that." like a defensive weirdo.

    Feels like a lot of people in this thread don't realize an interview is a conversation. Or they just don't know how to have a conversation...

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    Seems like they think conversations involve certain spells and invocations to force it to go the way they want. Like if you have a legal right, you must aggressively invoke it so your opponent realizes you're a legal mastermind and hands you the job to avoid lawsuits.

    Feels kinda like that advice for interacting with cops that sounded more like "how to be legally right while escalating interactions with the police". Or the sovereign citizen version that drops the "legally right" part entirely.

    It ignores the reality that anyone can judge you for any reason and that it's practically impossible to prove or even know why they reject you after an interview, so it doesn't even matter if they did it for an illegal reason as long as they didn't outright tell you (or each other in writing if you do try to sue, which btw if you sue someone over how a job interview goes, few will want to even interview you if they know about it, even if you're completely in the right).

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    Those "know your rights" videos are exactly what came to mind. Not only is it unnecessarily combative, you're showing your whole hand.

    Knowing your rights is important. Telling someone you know your rights when they're not pressing you to abandon them is something else.

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago

    Also displaying dominance when you don't have it just shows that you won't be a pleasant person to interact with regularly. And the people trying to argue this point with you are proving the point more than anything else by treating the pushback of "you don't need to state that so defensively" as "forget your worker rights and boundaries, you're going to be a slave!"

    While workers rights can be a trump card, you don't pull them out in an interview as most trump cards aren't in play yet.

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  • [–] 10 points 5 months ago (15 children)

    I would hate to be interviewed by you, asking for respect of medical privacy is "snapping back"? No wonder it sucks so fucking much to find a new job.

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  • [–] 45 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    Legalese style “I will not be discussing this matter any further” in an interview does give off future lawsuit vibes.

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  • [–] 45 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    Yeah, a much more normal way to say that is “I was dealing with a medical condition. It’s no longer an issue, but it’s a bit personal, so I’d prefer if we didn’t get into more than that.”

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago

    I mean, you asking to explain my medical history is lawsuit vibes.

    "I didn't know this gap was for medical reasons" Why the fuck are you asking about a gap in my work history in the first place? What I did 5 years ago is irrelevant to this interview today.

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  • [–] 10 points 5 months ago* (9 children)

    It's so weird to draw weapons in response to that. Do you really always assume the absolute worst intent when someone asks open-ended questions? If so, it's hard to feel bad for you. You are one of the worst kinds of coworkers to have.

    "Hey tocopherol, do anything fun this weekend?"

    "How I spend my weekends is none of your business and I'm offended that you even though asking was appropriate!"

    "Ok dude have fun sitting in your car at lunch"

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    Yeah it's much better to begin with a more polite "It was medical in nature and I'd prefer not to discuss it." And only pull out the "hey, legally you can't ask about my medical issues" if they continue.

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  • [–] 34 points 5 months ago*

    Another good one is to mention there being health issues in the family that necessitated you take time to help them with.

    Only a very nosy employer will question that further. If they give you grief for helping your loved ones in such a situation, they probably aren't worth working for

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago

    I am not required to disclose medical information, and will not be discussing this matter any further.

    Why the combative/legalese tone though? Why not just say "It was for medical reasons, I don't want to go into it" like a normal person? The interviewer would go "Oh ok fair enough" instead of thinking "What's wrong with this guy, did he get out bed with his left foot today?"

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