You'd be better off adding an entry to honestly say, "Backpacked through Asia", or "Recuperated from significant physical health issue", or "Caregiver for unwell family member" or "Mental health break following death of partner" or "Citizen journalist and volunteer" or whatever. That at least shows, 1) you're not hiding something, 2) you may have broader horizons than your peer applicants. At least, it would kick off a conversation (which ideally, you're prepared to have) around this thing you've done. If you can highlight how it may have strengthened the qualities you bring to the role, then it may end up as a net positive.
Do hiring people (HR, managers, etc) tend to assume the worst of people?
I've hired a few people in my career, though never with any sort of restrictions placed upon me. I guess it would not have occurred to me that a resume lacking a perfectly recorded timeline of work-age experiences should be a disqualifier.
I suppose this idea that a gap in a resume is bad is pervasive in modern HR departments?
I'm sure it depends on industry, level of job, availability of candidates, etc, of course; but otherwise, this is the mainstream thought?
I have at times gone for years of just fucking around with nothing noteworthy to declare on my CV, and I've never had a difficult time getting hired. Maybe it's not as big of a deal in my fields. I guess the only jobs where I've worked for Faceless Megacorp are ones right after I earned various degrees, so a resume gap wouldn't have come up then. Still, I've never been questioned about my resume timeline in 25 years of working, so the idea just seems a little strange to me.
It makes me a little sad for people, in a way. Everybody should be able to fuck around for a while if they want to.
Also, if I was hiring someone in tech and they took a break for 4 years without coding in between, that would definitely be an issue since any skill, experience, knowledge, etc could be rendered useless if not consistently practiced or used.
- Now I have 3 years continuous relevant work experience, I’m looking for a suitable job in New Zealand so I can get the Skilled Migrant Category visa. (Canada’s Express Entry and Australia are also options).
I'll install Skype if you have it.
PS. I'm not gonna ask for a resumé change and i can give you an introduction to a software development opportunity in Canada. I know they are looking hard for employees and experience with electronics could be a big +
mental illness
Yikes.
I didn't lose my job due to mental illness. I feel very discouraged because I've failed to find a job, and now I'm physically separated from my girlfriend and other friend groups. I'm trying to make new friends, but my parents keep moving me around (Geneva, now UK, next Germany). Instead of teaching me how to get a job, people just tell me my résumé is awful, as if that would help.
Hey full eempathy and encouragement for you, but you’re making a mistake here.
First, yes a resume is a small thing but unfortunately they can matter and can influence your succces so flip that bit in your thinking as soon as possible.
Secondly some could interpret the comment as attitude of being ungrateful or low motivation.
Forget whether or not you meant it, just think about how it can be heard.
Yes we’re all friends here and honesty is good. But still, however much it sucks for you now, still gotta lead with your best foot.
Sometimes a friendly community is also one with people who may offer help or offer suggestions, in proportion to how well your message comes acrosss.
For what it's worth, I was diagnosed with autism just over 10 years ago, and I perceive a lot of the areas I still trip over as having a strong emotional component and/or basis.
Autism is generally recognized as a cognitive (ie, logical) developmental disorder, but emotional processing is also heavily impacted too, and I don't think there's as much recognition or acceptance of that - which is very unfair, since good emotional equilibrium is fundamental to being able to manage things with happiness and confidence. Also, social skills such as communication have a strong emotional foundation, and trying to teach such skills as pure logic is unbelievably confusing :/
As a (kind of obvious, but still possibly useful) aside, I go completely emotionally off-kilter when my nervous system is overloaded, which happens all too easily for me due to thyroid issues. That's just me though. (Currently looking for alternatives to thyroxine, which once you start you can't safely stop!)
Improving your resume would definitely help, I see from your comment history that several people gave you the same kind of advice over and over (e.g. remove the pictures, remove or shorten the preamble). Of course it may be that everyone else is wrong and you are right, but maybe you could give it a go?
I'm from New Zealand myself (although I've now moved to Australia). I wish I could give you some positive advice on finding a job in New Zealand, but all I can say is don't be disheartened that you haven't had any success in finding a job applying from overseas.
Most recruiters in NZ will as a blanket rule just trash any resumes they receive from people not in New Zealand. A lot won't even take resumes from people in different cities. You really need to be in the country and ready to start work, most recruiters will require you to actually turn up in person for interviews, which isn't so bad if you only need to fly from one city to another for a day, but isn't practical if you're overseas.
It's just not worth recruiters time to work with international candidates. Often they aren't actually serious about moving countries and are just fishing.
In China or anywhere?
Begin making decisions for yourself and following your own will. Don't be afraid of getting help from your parents or friends. You are a valuable individual in the world with a finite life. You are loved. Enjoy your life and do your best to make a living without harming others, but do what it takes to survive comfortably.
I have an academic mindset so resume advice of others who know your line of work would be better than mine.
I am not a psychologist. But I felt that you could have a hard time finding helpful criticism. If I am mistaken in the following, only take the bits that are right.
So it is a cognitive issue. If it is from stress, meditate. For me, I learnt meditation slowly, if that is actually what I am doing. If your issues are from mental health and medication, here's what may help. Your cognitive state is obvious from your resume. Whatever mindset led you to adding those images on the second page, that mindset is working against you in social matters. Even if perfect resume is sent out, you may give unwanted impressions willingly or unwillingly during your interview. Shutting down such thought processes is important.
As for looking for work, I am not the best person to give advice, but here's my two cents. Think of what categories of jobs you want. In your case pick just one or two categories given you must be under time constraint. Have a plan to land those jobs. Make your resume so it will help you in that plan. Remove unprofessional things, one or two could work, but couchsurfing is not something I could imagine, in my wildest dreams, on a technical resume. Adding your references to your resume is absolutely unnecessary. If they asked you for references, which is unlikely, provide.
Remove all those programming languages from your personal interests section. If you know them, add them somewhere else. Remove most personal matters, but one or two, if you wish. Ideally they'd show some skills, soft or hard, that are not seen or inferred from other parts of your resume. Remove religious matters unless you are applying for a religious organization. Adding religion can backfire in some scenarios, and will not help your resume stand out among other applicants. People reading your resume want to see relevant details.
Current extracurricular activities should be removed. Your language section is very impressive. If it can placed on first page, that's a big help. You speak and understand French, English and Asian languages. Look into job postings in Ottawa (bilingual requirements are common) and Montreal. More than a few companies in Montreal, not speaking of multinational companies, ideally want a French speaking candidate. So you're suddenly ahead of the curve. And the cost of living in Montreal is not high.
Your education section does not, whatsoever, convey what you have studied except your M Eng degree. Write the full degree name. Master of Engineering. Your education at Geneva doesn't seem right. You were there for 15 years? If there was a gap, write what is reasonable and not shocking. Perhaps only write your graduation year. Convey what you studied in Geneva and Santa Barbara. If it is irrelevant to your line of work and presentation of yourself, remove it all together. Do not use parathesis in your professional experience descriptions. Shorten your volunteer experience significantly. Use bullet points. Find some resume examples, from some university websites, or from people who work in your ideal field. Write it that way but convey what you have. Remove very short experiences unless they are very important to avoid looking like a job hopper. If you must include your GRE (I do not know if you should), put it in the same paragraph as your Master's degree. Remove your education from under your name. If you are capable as your resume suggests, you should be able of figure out a good part of what I have suggested, and add to it, and find a way to get a job.
Perhaps make a one page resume to have your languages be seen by the recruiters. Otherwise, seriously spend sometime and improve the professional experience section.
You are not entirely desperate at the moment if you are with your family, have food and shelter. But you are mentally desperate as you suggest. When expressing such levels of desperation, contradicting yourself can make it tough for others to want to spend the time to be helpful, such as this comment of yours that I am replying to. I am sorry if this sounds harsh but it seems true and it seems to me that I should state it nevertheless.
Good luck.
It was good! Afterwards I got a job in Shenzhen that paid, so I moved. But the Xingda workers were from all over China, each with fascinating stories, and very happy to meet a foreigner.
I wish I could go back there now. I just finished 4 years working at a microSD card company in Taiwan. I've been trying to find a job since March; unemployed since August. I've given up on my dreams, and I'll take anything. I don't even know how to apply for jobs now. The only two interviews I had were from people who already worked in the company telling their HR to talk to me. Recruiters are ignoring me. Prayer hasn't worked. Sharing side projects on HN hasn't worked. Please tell me the email address of someone who can give me food and shelter.