In my experience, I spent nearly a year unemployed and it was the most depressed I’ve ever been. Part of it was I was also very poor at the time, but a significant part was having nothing meaningfull to do everyday. Now I’ve got the oposite problem where I work way too many hours in an average week and barely have time just for myself.
When your needs are met it leaves room to create your own goals without the constant pressure of survival.
Highly recommend.
I can’t meet my current needs without working, I can’t meet my long term needs without working overtime. At least with my current job and some overtime hours I should be able to afford a small house as a solo adult. Once that is paid off I would really like to consider working less than full time hours.
I spent 4 years half working on my pet project, half going around and visiting friends and family, part of which was helping my brother build his house.
This was after burning out after 4 years at my first career job, where I felt like I was living Office Space.
It was a bit of a (non-religious) pilgrimage of sorts. I struggled with self worth, pretty extreme social anxiety, and what was valuable to me in life. I wasn’t exactly broke, but I had to slow burn the ~$80k I had managed to save up before quitting.
I definitely value that time in my life and what that forged in myself. But it was pretty rough at times, mentally.
“Oh yes, that gap was when I wasn’t working.”
"Well, to begin, we live in a capitalist society that pits all levels of Labor against each other in an elaborate ruse by which Capital levers wages to their lowest point possible, while reaping the lion’s share of positive business outcomes and divesting itself of negative outcomes.
And in this charade of musical chairs, I lost my seat, because I mistakenly thought the Value of work comes from, ya know, work, and not being the Owner’s nephew. Next question?"
I once spent like 8 months doing nothing but playing WOW and fill out job apps that I never heard back on. It was the happiest and most fulfilled I’ve ever felt. I had a ton of friends and I rose through the ranks of my guild and was eventually elected as leader. It actually helped me get over a ton of my social anxiety and build up my confidence to come out of my shell.
I don’t tell people that in real life because they’ll think I’m a loser but I honestly don’t think I’d be where I’m at today if I’d have spent that time working dead end fast food jobs or something instead but I can also definitely see how people fall into video game addiction problems.
It can be a pretty miserable cycle.
1: Have a job that barely keeps you financially above water, while consuming all of your time, energy, motivation, creativity, and capacity for joy.
2: Lose it.
3: Spend every moment not enjoying your newfound free time due to…in no particular order…struggling with poverty; struggling with guilt, depression, and general self-loathing; jumping through hoops fighting an unemployment system designed to make you give up (especially if you live somewhere extra shitty) ; spending countless hours revising resumes and mass applying to jobs to no avail; being too poor to do anything and barely seeing your friends; trying to keep food in your kitchen…and so on.
I’m so tired.
I hate that this is an acceptable interview question.
If it was any of your business I would have put that information in there. Or more diplomatic would be saying something like ‘I was caring for my dying relative, I left that information out because I wanted to include only the most relevant skills for this position.’
To play the devil’s advocate, if you are an employer you would want to find out why the person has been unemployed. Was he unreliable as a person before? Was he combative with his previous employer and colleagues? Was he actually in prison all this time? What if this guy is a corporate spy?
There is plenty of anti-work circlejerk in lemmy, and they are not completely wrong, but there are employers who do act in good faith. And certainly as an employer, they do not want to hire a person who was fired for stealing from their previous workplace. Which is why a huge employment gap is certainly a red flag from an employer’s perspective. And which is why it’s always important to leave a company on good terms. Because even if you left the previous job to genuinely care for a family member, you have someone to vouch for you to the prospective new employer.
Was he unreliable as a person before? Was he combative with his previous employer and colleagues? Was he actually in prison all this time? What if this guy is a corporate spy?
I’m not sure you will get that information by asking about a gap.
I believe it would be more acceptable to ask questions more specific to your concerns. “Can you tell me why you left x position?” Even then, you are not going to get the information you are so suspicious about, you will get a bullshit interview answer.
