Hi chapo, How the fuck do you find work when you have major gaps in your resume?

Short story: I went through a long fucked up period dealing with addiction and mental health issues. I'm fairly okay now mentally/psychically. But I'm having a real hard time finding work. Last time I had a "real" job was over five years ago, also around the time I graduated college. But I have nothing to put on my resume since then. I have zero networking connects, no one to put as a reference.

I need a job real bad but I don't know what to do. With no experience and no connects I feel like no one wants to hire me, but I can't fulfill those requirements without finding work that I can't get. I fucking hate it.

I'm also dogshit at doing interviews and I don't know how to explain long work absences without freaking out employers. What can I do?

P.S. I don't wanna say where I live for privacy reasons but I do not live in America.

  • throwawaylemmy2 [none/use name]
    ·
    4 years ago

    lack of experience

    Good luck with this one, I'm trying to figure it out myself. Despite having certifications that show I have knowledge for the industry I want to get into, the entry-level jobs balk because "lack of experience," and even if I do a portfolio, they balk at that.

    • ReaganYouth [comrade/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Same here... makes me wish I was in a place to do some sort of co-op or something while I was in school. It's a real catch-22, need experience to get a job but can't get a job to get that experience.

      • throwawaylemmy2 [none/use name]
        ·
        4 years ago

        It's like "motherfuckers, how the hell do I get experience if you won't let me get this ENTRY LEVEL job?" It's frustrating and makes me not really want to try to get higher certifications to try to up my chances.