Sociology & Resume Gaps
If you were ever wondering what capitalism has to do with your resume gap
(because I know that's top-of-mind for every job-seeker 😆),
I gotchya ;)
But seriously, if there's one thing I will carry with me *always* from my
undergraduate sociology degree
(yes, that liberal arts degree that everyone says is useless),
it's this:
What appears to be your "personal issue" [aka resume gap]
is almost always inextricably linked
to a broader social and historical context
that locates your "issue" not as something that you need to personally solve on your own,
but within a structure [capitalist economy] that has framed this issue [resume gap] as a "fault" that you are responsible for.
(this way of viewing social reality is called “the sociological imagination”)
When we zoom out to see the broader context,
we find that the structure was designed to view work as valuable
only within the context of a labour-for-wages exchange.
Outside of this exchange, any/all work is deemed "lesser than."
It's devalued.
It's naturalized.
It's essentially invisible.
This "personal issue" then -- your caregiving resume gap / lack of "professional" experience -- isn't a "you" thing.
It's a structural thing.
With this knowledge, we can begin to shift our mindset:
Since when do we need to believe that unpaid work is value-less?
We don't.
Since when do we need to believe that any experience that isn't "professional" [paid] isn't "real" experience?
We don't.
Since when do we need to believe that caregiving isn't work (we use other terms like "second shift" / "mental load" / "emotional labour" ...)
nor is it deserving of acknowledgement of its value to the economy?
We don't.
We believe that unpaid work is valuable.
We believe that unpaid experience counts.
We believe that unpaid caregiving is deserving of acknowledgement for its value to the economy.
What, actually, is a resume gap?
It's the absence of wages.
Not (necessarily) the absence of work.
When we understand this, we can show up
in our networking conversations,
in our unique value proposition,
in our brand / presence,
knowing that wageless work
is real experience
is transferable
has value.
Food for thought.