[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.
Good job in getting your life back in order OP! 💪👏
In my opinion you should leave the details out. It's good you want to be honest, but not everyone will see being in depression or using substance use in a positive light unfortunately. Especially not when you have told them as the thinking could be that if anything goes wrong during your tenure at the company, they could be called out. I wish that was not the case, but I have a friend who was not hired because she was pregnant. Yes... at the end it's a business.
I am not trying to say there are no good people, I myself had a gap of good 4 years when I interviewed to get a job, and I was honest about my reasons. But I have had my share of rejections and looking back I could have not missed some opportunities if I covered it up with some personal reasons.
I would suggest that you tell them that you were either pursuing something or maybe tell them you wanted to try the quizzing and similar competitions full time.
Prepare well and welcome back to Life :)
Good luck!
Thanks a lot for taking the time to write this Sir, it gave my morning a real boost. Plus, it is reassuring to know that someone else also did it despite an extended gap. Makes me feel less stupid.
Couple of questions for whenever you're free to respond :)
Ah.. replied directly. Missed it..
Happy to hear :)
We are all stupid at one time or another! You are getting back and good to know about it. Pat yourself for that!
-Yes it was Amazon, but I compromised on pay and skill. This is a customer support job and doesn't pay that well. My degree was in the technical field, and I did not have the courage and patience to continue studying. So I joined what I got. Just got lucky with my interviewer and really don't know what got me selected. It could be me being overqualified, or just luck. I did answer about the gap with honesty, but also mentioned my experience in teaching during this time.
-Sorry about it but yes I would stay anonymous. Please feel free to reach out in case of any more queries on comment or DMs. My grape count is low, so I can't reach out.
( About ghosting - I reached out to 15 - 20 jobs and got just 2 replies at that time. Am trying to switch and have already tried applying for 30+ applications and could not clear 3 interviews. Don't take it personally and try to repeat your mistakes)
Try *not to repeat
JS developer here. I used to be a decent student, public speaker and one of the best quizzers in the college scene (former National Champ). But I never addressed some traumatic events that took place in my life before I turned 16. My dep...
[TL;DR former National quizzing champ 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...
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