My life is, by every objective measurement, very very good.
And in spite of all of that, I struggle every day with my self esteem, my self worth, and my value not only as an actor and writer, but as a human being.
That’s because I live with Depression and Anxiety, the tag team champions of the World Wrestling With Mental Illness Federation.
CV tips.
Just lie. They rarely if ever check.
Also, you don’t have to go that far back so just put recent experience. If they ask then you can provide more information.
As for the lying, you can just extend how long you actually worked there. Or you could have a family member say you worked for them. They no longer have the business. Same for friends etc.
As a person who has done a lot of interviewing don’t lie. Good chance you’ll give yourself away and come across as dishonest. Do say something basically true but without detail and that is something the interviewer can’t follow up on. Examples:
“I had some savings built up and I took some time off to travel/hike/paint.” If you want to embellish: “I’m really thankful I had that opportunity and I’m looking forward to this next step/building my career/opportunity/blah blah”.
“I needed to take some time off to care for a family member.” (You’re a family member, right?)
etc. Make it something personal that they shouldn’t follow up on. As an interviewer I want to know your experience and you should come across as honest. I don’t want to know your personal life. If someone asks follow up questions about the sick family member you really want to avoid working there.
Personally I rarely ask about gaps, but some recruiters and interviewers will just do that to check the box.
So be honest but don’t share personal stuff.
Some good advice and appreciate adding another point of view.
I will say, subjective as it may be, that I had a lot of success when I was younger, admittedly not for great jobs.
I do know for a fact that Apple in the UK do not check references, I like to think it’s their arrogance thinking nobody is telling us anything.
I also believe (not sure though) that, at least in the UK, you can’t really give a bad reference as you’d better be on point or you’re subject to litigation so they tend to just confirm dates.
The craziest thing I did was when I’d been at a shit job for around four months they were hounding me for a reference and so I gave them the number to a burner and gave myself a reference.
Your mileage may vary of course. I’ve only hired in the US where corps like to fact-check any dates you give, but in a rare success for labor laws and precedent, no rational company will confirm anything other than dates of employment and if you are “eligible for rehire”. Meaning if you want to leave a company off your resume and say it was personal time it’s unlikely you’d be found out. For higher level jobs though I still recommend minimalist honesty.