Many years since the last job..what to say to a job interview?

Hi,

I would go back to look for a jpb, so interviews etc. My problem is that I'm afraid they ask me what I did from the last work (4 years ago) until today.
The problem is that I have not done anything I tell I worked on small jobs (lie, never made)? I say that I only worked on my site (but it's nothing that, indeed ..)? I'm stucked

Someone has / had this problem?

Thanks

Deb, what *did* you do? Can you give *us* a reason why you didn't work? Maybe you're too close to the issue to see any redeeming factors that speak in your favor. Maybe you were busy with something that was more important, something that made it possible for you to finally get to work again. Maybe with a little rephrase we can make your reasons reasonable to the interviewer.

That's a difficult one, Deb. Because they do want to know what you've been up to. But don't sell yourself short!! Anything you've done is 'work experience'. If you've been doing work on your website, then you've spent the last few years doing web design. If you've been rating websites and stuff, then you've been doing marketing and/or product research. If you've been doing anything socially, perhaps that could be considered community involvement. Work comes in many forms, and just because you haven't been collecting a paycheck doesn't mean you weren't working. Unpaid interns don't collect a paycheck, but they still work, don't they? =) Be creative! Change your perspective, and think about how the things you have been doing have provided you with work experience. Cuz chances are, whatever you've been up to, someone, somewhere is getting paid to do the same thing.

Good luck!!


-gE
>=)

It is very difficult to know what to say. But, you could try the truth

The crisis hit in Italy and you had problems getting a job, like so many other people of your age and qualifications. So you did some research and set up a website where you sold advertising space and negotiated for rates and basically did the best you could to make an income.

However, the website market is getting tougher and you are struggling to make a decent income in proportion to your time investment, and you hope that an employer will see that you do have drive and dedication and are a self starter and that they will see the time you have spent as productive.

Remember, a LOT of people cannot motivate themselves; you can, that is your strength, and you should sell that side of you.

What Lee said, right there.

Also, even in this day and age, many people seem to think that things you do on the computer aren't "real" and don't require any skills or take any time. (I remember when I was in physical rehabilitation for my MS a few years ago and the occupational therapist asked me about my hobbies, and then cut me off with a snappy "the computer doesn't count!" before I even got two words out when I began to tell her my main hobby was making stuff for TS2. How about you let me explain what it is I actually do before you decide it "doesn't count?" ) Put them straight if they try that, and let them know how much work and skill it actually takes to maintain your site.

Edit: In addition to what Lee said, remember, you could have chosen to spend your unemployed years doing nothing but sitting around, watching tv or playing computer games (other computer games, I mean ), but you didn't: You set up your site instead and did something with your time. This, too, is something you should point out to employers.

I agree with all that has been said above, deb. You have been very busy designing, setting up and running a website. You've also taught yourself to speak/write English whilst doing it. Sell yourself, I had to when I went back to work after having my children. Goodluck, deb.

Oh yes, don't forget the English! You do write English well, and you keep getting better at it, too. I don't know how well you speak it (I know as a fellow foreign learner that speaking a foreign language is harder than writing it), but your written English is good. And not just that, you're using it almost every day to communicate with people from all over the world (all from different cultures and with different sensibilities). I mean, just look at this thread - you've got four other nationalities talking to you right here. How many people can say they do that?

I concur with all the above. You're doing very well with a foreign language. You have nothing to be ashamed of.

Hi all,
sorry for reply so late. I wanted to thank everyone for the answers. You're right, I should just try to say what I did in those years, with website etc then if they want me ok, otherwise patience, sooner or later I'll find a small place also for me. Then I think the most important thing is how a person looks, how she is and so, if they don't want me because I have no experience patience, I will invent something else

A question about English CV (yeah, I try also this..99,999% impossible but I try ): at the end of the resume you put a sentence about the privacy / laws / other? or the curriculum ends only with the date and signature? thank you