Someone help me with great excuses for career gaps

People who have had career breaks and joined back the work force. Share your stories

[TL;DR former National quiz champion(covered on TV and newspapers)dropped out of B. Tech in 2020 during peak of addiction and depression . Got over it and sober in Jan'23, resumed college and completed my B. Tech in Feb'24. Picked up coding again and feel ready for a job now Should I be honest or lie about the gap? Been ghosted my few recruiters whom I was honest with.] JS developer here. I used to be a decent student, public speaker and one of the best quizzers in the college scene. Made it to TV shows and featured in newspapers articles. But I never addressed some traumatic events that took place in my life before I turned 16. My depression took refuge in substance abuse and I abandoned all studies/career prospects during the pandemic. Eventually after 7 years of using, I got clean/sober in Jan'23 and resumed my studies. I earned my degree but on paper it took me 8 years to complete a 4 year B. Tech (2016-24). Reasonably I get asked about the gap in my academics by hr/recruiters whom I push my CV to. I've been dead honest to them about my struggles with mental health and addiction in the past. And I've been getting ghosted. (It could be because of skill reasons on my part but I'm not even getting a feedback). Should I not tell recruiters the truth about the gap? Should I leave the addiction bit out? How should I word it? I've never held a real coding job before but been slogging for the last 6 months to get better each day (my github and projects will reflect that). Please help me out with all your valuable suggestions. If you're a tech recruiter let me know how you would perceive my case.

I have 5+ years of total experience - 3+ years of BA (business analyst) + Sr BA experience and a year of Product Manager 2 experience. Then I started my own venture. I'm thinking about switching back to the product manager role as my firm is not working as per the expectations and product development & growth marketing is something I genuinely enjoy working on. I need some advice from you all - how can I justify my 'employment gap'? What should I tell (or rather hide) about start-up failure? What should be my approach while applying for PM openings? Where should I start? I have graduated from an IIT, how can I leverage that? I know some of these questions would sound noobish, but I really don't have much experience in switching careers. Your help is appreciated 🙂.

I am 26M with close to 3 years of work experience and a MBA from a tier 1 college. I make decent salary, however I am not really enjoying my job. I am also depressed from working very hard the past 5 years with graduation, Covid and job Etc. I just want to take a few months off and focus on my mental/physical health. I also want to prepare for Product roles and try out some business/freelancing ideas I have. My concern is how Career gaps are treated like a stigma in the industry. Like what was the use of working so hard and getting qualifications, if I cannot take a few months in between jobs to focus on myself. Can someone help me get some perspective?

I will go first, i have deleted my first company from my resume because even though i was very good at coding. They put me in a support project in graveyard shift. I faked illness to get out of shift, and later on was removed and put in angular project. I moved on 6 months later to a good company as backend engineer but i really regret joining my 1st company. When asked , I just say the work was not relevant to what i wanted. Please share your experience too.

I was working as Data Analyst but some personal I have to leave my job. Its been 3 years now. I want to come back.I have brush up my skills. But most of companies reject when they see the career gap. What I can do which make me good candidate and get a job.

I was recently laid off. I am applying for jobs. One question that has been a bother for me is on my unfortunate past short stints. Need help from folks on how to tackle these Q's. I am applying for product / strategy roles. 2015 - tier 1 engg 2019 - tier 1 MBA 1.5 yrs - did my own startup...fairly successful but later failed due to covid 11 months - worked in a fairly well known fast growing startup - left coz wanted to move to a product centric startup 14 months - worked in product based big unicorn startup - got laid off 10 months - joined an early stage startup - startup failed and laid off again What should be my interview strategy? How do I portray my story in a positive light?

I want to quit my job and take a break. I Have been contemplating to do the same for almost an year but decided not to do it. So many things have happened since then 1. Layoff wave started in india 2. Got married 3. Had to move back to bangalore from hometown Reason I want to quit is I don't feel like working , feeling bored and work doesn't interest me that much. I want to take a break chill for a bit but don't have guts to do the same considering market conditions ( what if I don't get a job when I am back in the market😅) Please give any advice on how to tackle this situation or if someone has gone through the same, would love to hear your experience. Also how is the product hiring currently in India? PS: I do have a good runway for 4-5 months considering all expenses but I am scared to take the step

It's been a year and a month since I've been unemployed. I had a chronic illness which lasted for 2.5 years ( yes I was working when I was sick - worst decision of my life ) . I recovered from it in September 2023, since then I've been looking for new jobs in frontend domain. In my previous role , I was working as a support engineer for a service based company but wanted to work in frontend. During my illness period I also joined a cohort and also did a certification in React development. Now, when I apply for jobs, I'm getting no calls, when I do get calls from recruiters, they ask about my career gap I tell them everything that happened. After the call they just ghost me. How am I supposed to justify my career gap so that I can proceed further with the interview? Do I lie about it and say that I did freelancing, I've heard most people do these kinds of things when they have to justify any kind of career gap.