I graduated with a bachelors in computer science around 4 years ago. Long story short, I was depressed, dysphoric, and suicidal throughout my college years and by the time I finished I didn’t want to do anything. I’ve been unemployed for the last 4 years but I’ve also transitioned, started taking better care of myself, and overall I feel much better.

Anyways, I need to get a job now. What kind of lies can I get away with on my resume to cover up the long period of unemployment? Should I pretend I started some sort of company and it failed? Pretend like I went on some backpacking journey in a foreign country? Do companies even check all this stuff?

I did do an internship at a big tech company several years ago, and I’m working on personal software projects so I can put that on my resume. Also, I’m in Amerikkka.

Sorry if this question has been asked here before obama-sad

  • zifnab25 [he/him, any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    18·
    1 year ago

    I would say you can lie about anything your employer isn’t going to bother to check. But those items aren’t what you really want to highlight anyway.

    I dropped out of college my senior year and fucked around for a few months. Ended up getting a job at a small IT firm, after shopping my resume with “4 years at University” and then a list of my more notable classes.

    But I also spent six months volunteering at an adult literacy non-profit and some time campaigning for a city councilman. These were the people I put as contacts on my resume, and they were the ones who gave me the glowing reviews that got me an entry level mediocre job.

    When I changed jobs five years later, I’d gone back and finished my degree. I put '06 as my graduation date, because I didn’t want to explain the gulf between when I started and finished. But, again, the thing that really sold me was testimonial from a few ex-coworkers and the “5 years experience” they could easily verify.

    Lie about whatever will get you into that first interview, but make sure you’ve got something shiny you can show off that’s real. That (plus looking professional and savvy at the actual face-to-face) is what ultimately gets you an offer.