Why would you advertise the fact that you were unemployed for 6 months to a prospective employer?
"Unemployed" suggests that you spent 6 months sitting in your pyjamas watching TV. Why not simply say you were freelancing, even if all you actually ended up doing was a few data entry tasks from mechanical turk.
Startuplandia myopia is myopic. Even for software developers, if you apply for a bunch of BigCo jobs, you're going to find that a long stretch without formal employment is an obstacle.
The "I've been freelancing for the past year" trick probably does not work as well for med techs or paralegals.
Probably not. Something like "I've been volunteering down at the hospital" would be much better in those professions. Regardless of your profession, surely you can find something productive to do for 6 months, even if its part-time or without pay. Taking that sort of initiative will probably also get you the connections and referrals you need to get a job. Doing nothing but submitting applications for months on end is about the worst thing you can do. If you aren't getting hired, do something to make yourself more hirable.
I agree that networking, volunteering, and pursuing unconventional short-term employment opportunities in your field is likely to result in you outperforming people who rely on resume blitzes to find jobs.
I do not agree that any of those things will help you get past a resume screener.
Why would you advertise the fact that you were unemployed for 6 months to a prospective employer?
This. No one is unemployed any more. They are just "freelancing" or "self-employed" or "working on personal projects". Anybody can make up (and preferably actually do) some resume items that makes your non-working time look incredibly productive.
Probably a variation of "better to be thought a fool than to open up your mouth and remove all doubt". In this case you say something which is better than nothing.
In the case of a guy laid off from a factory job better to say you have been spending the time helping a friend doing handyman work then that you are at home watching TV, doing nothing, or just sending out resumes getting rejected. Even better if you imply that you liked the work and were making money. It's all in the story.
Even the BS shows at least you are attempting and know the downside of not having anything. You get a few points for that in my book.
And do you think the screeners won't start screening out "personal projects" if enough people start doing that? "Freelancing" for eight months after a career of working for other people, and suspiciously little to show for the freelancing... I wonder what that's about?
Last time I applied for a job was after just shy of two years of contract work full-time. They asked for a portfolio which I sent over. I was confused when they asked for more as I had already picked my best work. After supplying some more samples I asked the hiring manager why they had requested more and was essentially told they were looking at not only quality, but also quantity. They wanted to make sure I had been doing this for two years.
Personally, I think this is good. Saying you're freelancing when you're actually unemployed is no less dishonest than saying you have a degree you don't have or you worked at [X] BigCo for six months longer than you actually did.
I worked my ass off when I was a consultant and I'd be pretty upset if John Q. off the street has been resume blasting everyone for six months while drawing unemployment and saying he's been "consulting."
To be clear, I'm not suggesting somebody flat out lies and claims they were consulting when they were really playing xbox.
I'm suggesting making some actual effort, saying "part time freelancing whilst seeking other opportunities" sounds better than "collected unemployment"
Why are you so worried about what other people are doing? If John Q. has been unemployed for the last six months he deserves to starve because "SEO"ing his resume would make you upset? Get over yourself.
Why would they? Do companies have some kind of feel for how many people are long-term unemployed and how many of those apply for jobs with their companies?
Leaving aside data like macroeconomic statistics which do indeed tell companies how many people are long-term unemployed, companies have a pretty good "feel" about people that send them resumes if they read any of them. If three months ago 10% of resumes you were getting indicated long-term unemployment, and next month 2% of received resumes indicate long-term unemployment and 8% list freelancing for the first time in their careers with little details provided and a sample of candidates are unable to provide details in an interview, do you suspect a sudden explosion of entrepreneurial spirit?
"Unemployed" suggests that you spent 6 months sitting in your pyjamas watching TV. Why not simply say you were freelancing, even if all you actually ended up doing was a few data entry tasks from mechanical turk.