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For nearly 11 years, I've been working online as a freelance writer. I like it very much, but I'm barely making enough money to scrape by, cannot do things I need to do for my family, and will not be able to afford to retire. Regular income taxes and self-employment taxes take a large bite out of my income. My main concern, though, is the reason for this situation, and I'm hoping someone here has information or advice.
I moved to a different region of the country, knowing nothing about it. My first priority was to obtain a job. Even as some hiring managers told me, my qualifications were 'excellent'- work history, skills, education. However, even managers who said I was an otherwise perfect fit for jobs said they would not hire me- what they claimed 'incompatible lifestyles' made me, in their viewpoint, 'unemployable by local standards.' Now, I do not have piercings hanging off my face, am not an ex-con, do not use drugs or alcohol; the 'lifestyle factor' I was told was the reason they would not hire me was I do not believe in daycare. An important point, though: when I arrived in this location and started applying for jobs, my youngest child was 13 years old and in the 8th grade. So the issue was not 'Who will look after your child when you work?' but the fact that I took care of my own kids and did not utilize daycare nearly a decade earlier. The local approach is after a person enters the workforce, there's no legitimate reason to leave it until you retire or die- and was told taking care of my kids when they were small disqualified me from employment.
The few points I know about employment law aren't helpful. First, I know there are questions hiring managers cannot legally ask- but refusing to answer, even politely, will probably come to mean they do not hire you. Second, all hiring managers had to do was notice the 'gaps in employment history' on my applications and resumes, ask for an explanation, and then basically say 'Thanks, but no thanks' when I explained. And this only includes the small percentage that granted me in-person interviews. I applied at virtually every employment agency and business in the city, as well as nearby areas that I could get to by bus. It included jobs in which I had prior experience, and even fast-food places. I could not even get hired on a less than part-time basis cleaning animal cages in a pet store. And, like others, the hiring manager was very clear on why she would not hire me.
This went on for more than four years; my savings ran out; it was more than discouraging. I was very fortunate to find online work, but pay is very low, work is not guaranteed, and while I've been hoping to find an outside job, I really do not want to go through the same mess again.
My work experience was in two fields: in the distant past, I had staff positions at local newspapers (different locations, of course), and I also had plenty of experience in elder care- first in a nursing home and then as a home health care aide. I'm open to various other types of work that I'm capable of doing, but I'm concerned I'd have the same kinds of experiences I had when I spent 4+ years job-hunting, plus there's the additional concern that hiring managers would not take my last 11 years of self-employment seriously. Around here, everyone has the idea that "self-employed" means a person works when they feel like it, they don't realize it's full time and often more than full time.
I apologize for the lengthiness of this, but wanted to explain the situation fully so you'd know why I'm asking for advice. The child who was 13 when this started is now a 28-year-old adult with college degrees and a successful career, and the oldest of my kids is middle-aged with a family of his own; if I were to go out job hunting and encounter the same situations I did before, how should I respond to questions about 'gaps in my employment history' without absolutely blowing my stack? Frankly, I believe refusing to hire me on that basis was illegal- but I didn't know how to handle it then, and don't now, either.
I moved to a different region of the country, knowing nothing about it. My first priority was to obtain a job. Even as some hiring managers told me, my qualifications were 'excellent'- work history, skills, education. However, even managers who said I was an otherwise perfect fit for jobs said they would not hire me- what they claimed 'incompatible lifestyles' made me, in their viewpoint, 'unemployable by local standards.' Now, I do not have piercings hanging off my face, am not an ex-con, do not use drugs or alcohol; the 'lifestyle factor' I was told was the reason they would not hire me was I do not believe in daycare. An important point, though: when I arrived in this location and started applying for jobs, my youngest child was 13 years old and in the 8th grade. So the issue was not 'Who will look after your child when you work?' but the fact that I took care of my own kids and did not utilize daycare nearly a decade earlier. The local approach is after a person enters the workforce, there's no legitimate reason to leave it until you retire or die- and was told taking care of my kids when they were small disqualified me from employment.
The few points I know about employment law aren't helpful. First, I know there are questions hiring managers cannot legally ask- but refusing to answer, even politely, will probably come to mean they do not hire you. Second, all hiring managers had to do was notice the 'gaps in employment history' on my applications and resumes, ask for an explanation, and then basically say 'Thanks, but no thanks' when I explained. And this only includes the small percentage that granted me in-person interviews. I applied at virtually every employment agency and business in the city, as well as nearby areas that I could get to by bus. It included jobs in which I had prior experience, and even fast-food places. I could not even get hired on a less than part-time basis cleaning animal cages in a pet store. And, like others, the hiring manager was very clear on why she would not hire me.
This went on for more than four years; my savings ran out; it was more than discouraging. I was very fortunate to find online work, but pay is very low, work is not guaranteed, and while I've been hoping to find an outside job, I really do not want to go through the same mess again.
My work experience was in two fields: in the distant past, I had staff positions at local newspapers (different locations, of course), and I also had plenty of experience in elder care- first in a nursing home and then as a home health care aide. I'm open to various other types of work that I'm capable of doing, but I'm concerned I'd have the same kinds of experiences I had when I spent 4+ years job-hunting, plus there's the additional concern that hiring managers would not take my last 11 years of self-employment seriously. Around here, everyone has the idea that "self-employed" means a person works when they feel like it, they don't realize it's full time and often more than full time.
I apologize for the lengthiness of this, but wanted to explain the situation fully so you'd know why I'm asking for advice. The child who was 13 when this started is now a 28-year-old adult with college degrees and a successful career, and the oldest of my kids is middle-aged with a family of his own; if I were to go out job hunting and encounter the same situations I did before, how should I respond to questions about 'gaps in my employment history' without absolutely blowing my stack? Frankly, I believe refusing to hire me on that basis was illegal- but I didn't know how to handle it then, and don't now, either.
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