Absence Can be an Asset when Reentering the Job Market

It's rather sad, when you think about it. Otherwise stellar professionals, problem-solvers, with much experience, think of something as a negative when it is only an excuse. I have not been working for a few years. Who's going to hire me? How will I get a job? But, you have been working.

Let's say I was stupid and wrote an article explaining how being a stay-at-home parent is not a "real job?" Or that having taken a year or two off to care for an elderly relative who was dying from Alzheimer's was the equivalent of a "staycation?" Or that recovering from a long illness or injury was just spending time in bed watching television or scrolling through social media?

Well, I'm not that stupid and but you are if that is your mindset. No, wait! That's not fair. You're not stupid, you're just scared. Don't be!!

Do you think that because you have not had a "job-job" for an extended period of time it means that employers will think that you were sitting on the sofa watching television and eating bon-bons?

One of the most important benefits good employers offer their employees is the right, when earned, to take a sabbatical, usually for a year. Why? It's a great way to gain new perspectives, new experiences, and new acquaintances, i.e., to expand one's network. That benefits both employer and employee.

Well, if you are forced not to go to work for any reason, especially those referenced above, instead of having the mindset that your time out of the office was a negative, think of it as a positive. You were on a personal sabbatical, an asset to an employer and to yourself.

You had to learn new things: Dealing with government. Dealing with the healthcare industry. Dealing with the school system. Patience dealing with all or any of the three. And then there are skills to deal with children and the elderly. And let's not forget overcoming adversity, especially if you had to repair your body. Having to interact with difficult processes, people and predicaments is an experience valued, I would hope, by all employers.

Of course, being away from work cannot mean deserting your profession. Just because you are out of the office, does not mean that you should ignore what is happening in your industry. That would be a legitimate reason for an employer to not interview or hire you. It's not that you are a certain age, it's that you have not done anything relevant to your profession for the past whatever period of time.

There is no excuse for that. It shows laziness. With all the on-line courses that are available, along with other resources, there is no excuse to be "behind." Not only is taking an hour or so a day to delve into your profession good for your future employment prospects, it's also good for your mental health. And everything you were doing, especially the skills you learned and your accomplishments, should appear on your resume. You only had an employment "gap" if you think you did.

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