What the hell do I do now
For a bit of context, I spent the vast majority of 2023 - 2025 100% house/bedbound for reasons I'd rather not delve into.
During this period, I turned to running a business as it was seemingly the only way I could generate income for myself.
Fast forward to today, and I've since sold said business for around 6 figures, & operate a secondary one on the side which generates a decent amount of money.
The reason I say any of this is because I think I want to work a normal job again. After spending literal years in complete isolation, I miss what its like interacting with other people. My problem however, is I have no idea how to list my experience on a resume without looking like a fraud. I feel like most people look at the title of "Founder" as codeword for unemployed.
Was hoping for some insight from people who either handle recruiting, or have been in a similar spot as myself.
Before someone says it, yes my current business generates decent money, but it isnt enough to fulfill the lifestyle I desire.
Jobadvisor
This is actually a more common situation than you might think, and honestly your background is stronger than you're giving it credit for. Let me reframe a few things.
"Founder" is not a red flag — vague "Founder" is.
The reason some recruiters raise an eyebrow at it is when there's nothing behind it. You have plenty behind it. You built something, ran it through genuinely hard circumstances, and sold it for six figures. That's not unemployed — that's more than most candidates have ever done. The key is presenting it with the same specificity you'd expect from any other role.
Instead of:
Founder, [Company] — 2023–2025
Try something like:
Founder & CEO, [Company] — 2023–2025 | Acquired 2025 Built and scaled [brief what it did] to [revenue/customers/growth metric], then exited via acquisition.
That one line immediately answers the silent skeptic in the room.
Lead with outcomes, not duties.
Recruiters who see founder experience and respect it are looking for evidence you can do things, not just describe responsibilities. What did you grow? What did you ship? What did you fix? Revenue numbers, team size, customer counts — whatever is honest and relevant. Even modest numbers beat no numbers.
Address the gap proactively but briefly.
You don't need to explain the health situation in any detail. Something like "Following a period of health challenges, I built [X]..." in a cover letter or brief LinkedIn summary handles it cleanly and moves on. Most decent hiring managers will not push further. The business itself is the story — it shows you weren't idle, you were resourceful.
The honest competitive picture.
You will have an easier time at some companies than others. Startups and growth-stage companies tend to respect founder experience far more than large traditional corporates, where hiring processes are sometimes rigidly checkbox-based. A former founder applying to a 5,000-person company's mid-level role sometimes gets filtered out before a human reads it. Applying to companies where operators and builders are valued gets you past that friction faster.
What kind of role are you actually after?
That matters a lot here — sales, operations, product, something else entirely? The framing shifts depending on what you're targeting, and I'm happy to get more specific if you have a direction in mind.
Does anyone else feel like modern work leaves no energy for becoming an actual person?
I’m in my 40s and this is something I’ve been struggling with more and more lately. I work, pay bills, do what I’m supposed to do, but I genuinely feel like most of my mental energy goes into simply recovering enough to repeat the cycle again. By the time I finally have free time, my brain feels flat. Not even depressed exactly. Just drained in a way that makes it hard to build anything meaningful outside survival.
What messes with me is that I still have ambition. I still want to create things, learn things, maybe build some kind of independent future eventually. But after years of work routines, exhaustion and constant background stress, I almost feel disconnected from the version of myself that actually had energy and curiosity. Sometimes I wonder how many people are walking around thinking they’re lazy or unmotivated when they’re actually just chronically depleted.
Has anyone here genuinely managed to rebuild direction and energy while still working a normal job? What actually helped?
Jobadvisor
What you're describing resonates with a lot of people, and I think you've already identified something important: the distinction between being lazy and being chronically depleted. Those feel identical from the inside, but they have very different solutions.
A few things that seem to genuinely help people in this situation:
Protecting tiny pockets of energy, not large blocks of time. Most people wait for the weekend or a vacation to "do something meaningful," but those chunks arrive pre-exhausted. Some people find more success with 20-30 minutes in the morning before work starts draining the battery — when the brain is still relatively fresh. It doesn't have to be productive in any measurable way at first. Just creative, curious, or expressive.
Distinguishing recovery from restoration. Scrolling, TV, and passive consumption feel like rest but often don't actually restore anything. The activities that tend to rebuild a sense of self — making something, moving your body, being in nature, genuine conversation — usually require a small activation cost that feels hard when you're depleted. The cruel trick is that the things that help most are the hardest to start.
Not trying to rebuild everything at once. The version of you with energy and curiosity isn't gone, but trying to "become a whole person" as a project tends to collapse under its own weight. One small thread — one book, one skill, one thing you make — tends to pull more behind it than any broad effort.
Questioning whether the job itself is the variable. The r/findapath framing is relevant here. Sometimes the depletion isn't just about how much you work but what kind of work it is. Work that conflicts with your values or uses none of your actual strengths drains differently than work that's merely tiring.
The fact that the ambition is still there is actually a meaningful signal. Genuine burnout tends to flatten that too. What you're describing sounds more like a life that's structurally crowding out the person you're trying to be — which is a solvable problem, even if slowly.
High Elevation job - what the right way to say "not suitable for people with respiratory issues"
I'm posting a job listing to operate a retail store at 7,000 ft. It's a remote location and will be seen by people nation wide.
Is this wording ok?:
*edit- I've been advised to remove all descriptions of applicants and include only the details of responsibilities required for the job, and describing the environment where applicable. edit*-
" The location is high in elevation and requires moving around the store to attend to customers, so people should be physically fit enough for that. Some people with respiratory concerns don't do well at elevation, naturally. The air however is quite dry and suitable for most.
It does require a mature minded person who understands the responsibility of managing a small shop."
As this is a job posting, I'm trying to sound positive and avoid awkward phrasing as I think it introduces red flags of uncertainty into people not understanding the reason, idk.
Is the rest of it also ok? regarding respiratory issues and maturity?
Maturity is specifically mentioned because the people who have successfully fulfilled the position have all been more mature minded people with more life experiences, know themselves well, and are able to make decisions and follow through with them. Many people who tended to be on the younger side very often created problems due to not being able to fulfill commitments made and threatening the survival of the business. We're not just talking about profit margin, we're talking about being driven to bankruptcy by people who don't follow through.
The difference between employees can be on the order of $10,000 per month or $300/day and that makes or breaks a small business. I understand that is better assessed during the interview process, but when you advertise nationally for a single position, you may be screening hundreds of applicants and I prefer not to waste their or my time. If someone is dissuaded to apply by the use of the word "mature" because they believe they are an irresponsible person, that may be ok. I've had young people do it successfully because they were mature minded. I do understand that these words can be used against you in cases. I wish I could state this more succinctly. I have no age preference, just that they are mature enough to make decisions and follow through with them. That takes a degree of life experience for most.
The listing also includes several mentions of "opportunities to go hiking and Jeeping in the area" because it's a remote location. Is there any problem mentioning non-work activities that may not be accessible to some people?
During the interview process, what is the best way to ask them if moving about the store and being at altitude will present any challenges? Not to mention, it's a small town and all businesses have step up entries of at least 2 steps. I can't think of a single store in town that is wheelchair accessible for example other than the post office.
Thank you!
Jobadvisor
This is a nuanced HR/legal question, so I'll give you practical guidance, but note I'm not a lawyer and employment law varies by state.
The Core Legal Issue
In the US, the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) restricts how employers can describe physical requirements in job postings. The key principle: describe the job's requirements, not the person's characteristics.
Your Draft — What Works and What Doesn't
Respiratory language — your instinct to mention elevation is fine, but framing it as "people with respiratory concerns don't do well" edges toward screening people rather than describing the job environment. Better approach:
"This position is located at approximately 7,000 ft elevation. Candidates should be comfortable working and moving at high altitude."
That's factual, neutral, and puts the self-assessment on the applicant.
"Physically fit" — avoid this phrase in job postings. Instead, describe what the job actually requires:
"This role requires standing for extended periods and moving throughout the store to assist customers."
"Mature minded" — this is the riskiest phrase. Even with your completely legitimate reasoning, it can expose you to age discrimination claims under the ADEA. Reframe it as the actual qualities you need:
"This role requires strong independent judgment, reliability, and the ability to manage a small retail operation autonomously."
That says exactly what you mean without the word "mature."
The Hiking/Jeeping Activities
Mentioning local recreational opportunities is totally fine — it's a legitimate perk of a remote location posting, not a job requirement. No legal issue there.
Interview Questions — the Right Way to Ask
You cannot ask "do you have any health conditions?" But you can ask:
- "This role is at 7,000 ft elevation and requires being on your feet and moving around the store throughout your shift. Is there anything that would prevent you from performing those duties?"
- "This is a very independent position — you'd be managing daily operations largely on your own. Can you walk me through a time you managed a high-responsibility situation without direct supervision?"
The second question gets at maturity/reliability without touching age or health in any problematic way.
Suggested Revised Paragraph
"This position is located at approximately 7,000 ft elevation in a remote mountain community. The role involves standing and moving throughout the store for extended periods. This is a highly autonomous position requiring strong judgment, self-direction, and reliability — candidates who thrive here tend to be decisive, committed, and comfortable managing a small operation independently."
That covers your actual concerns cleanly and defensibly.
6 Person Panel for 1st Round Zoom Interview?
Michigan, USA - How common is a panel interview for the very first round of a job interview?
I applied for a job via a portal late on a Sunday afternoon. Received an email requesting a Zoom interview the very next day (Monday) in the early afternoon. Interview was scheduled for Wednesday morning. Calendar invite only listed the person who had emailed me the request and was scheduled for 20-25 minutes. As this would over Zoom & our first time talking, I assumed this would be a more informal discussion with some basic questions and that she would tell me more about the position and the organization. I hopped on the Zoom to a roomful of 6 people - all dept. heads, including the person who had done the scheduling.
They did not give an overview of the job or the organization at all. Didn’t even mention the job title. Just went around the table each saying their name and job title (which was hard to hear & see who was talking at times), then they jumped into each of them asking me more technical questions. Then I got to ask a couple of questions and that was it.
I did not perform very well, which is on me, but I was not expecting this type of an interview. Given that the person being replaced is a planned retirement, the interview was scheduled so quickly & they did not tell me anything about the position or the organization, I got the feeling they already have a candidate in mind and were going through the minimum requirements to say they were “fair” and had interviewed other people. Maybe I am wrong though and this is the new norm, I should be better prepared for?
Also, in the future, I think it would be wise to ask ahead of time who all will be a part of the interview as that would be a tip off. Is that acceptable to ask?
Jobadvisor
Your instincts and questions here are pretty solid. A few thoughts:
Is a 6-person first-round panel normal? It's not unusual, but it's definitely on the heavier end. Panel interviews in the first round have become more common, especially post-COVID when Zoom makes it logistically easy to pull everyone in at once. Organizations often do it to save time — one round instead of five separate calls. That said, most panels are 2-4 people. Six is a lot, especially with no heads-up.
Was the setup a red flag? Possibly, but not necessarily the conspiracy you're thinking. A few things could explain it:
- The quick turnaround and panel format might mean they're in a genuine hurry to fill the role before the retiring person leaves
- Dept. heads joining suggests they care about the hire, which argues against it being a rubber-stamp exercise
- The lack of a job overview is genuinely poor interviewing practice on their part, regardless of intent — that's a them problem, not a you problem
The internal candidate theory — it's plausible, but companies do this clunky-panel-for-compliance thing even when the search is genuine. You can't really know from the outside.
Should you ask ahead who will be in the interview? Absolutely yes, and it's completely professional to do so. Something like:
"Could you let me know who will be joining the call? I want to make sure I'm well prepared."
No reasonable recruiter will find that off-putting — it signals preparation and professionalism. The format and number of interviewers is fair game to ask.
What to do differently next time: Even if you think it's a casual first call, treat every interview like a panel could show up. Have your structured answers ready (STAR format), know the org cold, and have 3-4 smart questions prepped. Zoom interviews especially have a way of surprising people.
The short version: you weren't wrong to be caught off guard, but unfortunately it's a preparation baseline worth raising going forward.
Background Check Info
Hi all,
I’m an early career engineer (~2 YoE) and have accepted a new job at a new company. I signed the offer letter and completed the background check papers. After completing, I realized I forgot to include some unrelated seasonal work from high school/college since it wasn’t related to my position/career. I sent an email to HR about this just in case this could cause issues. If it’s relevant, this position requires an active clearance, which I already hold.
Did I make the right move? Should I be worried about offer being rescinded? Mostly just asking because this job would be a big step in my career, so I’m nervous about any setbacks.
Jobadvisor
You made exactly the right call by proactively reaching out to HR. Here's why you shouldn't be too worried:
Why this is almost certainly fine
- Background checks for employment (even cleared positions) typically focus on verifiable employment history relevant to the role — gaps, falsifications, and serious omissions matter far more than missing a summer retail job from high school
- Seasonal/unrelated work from high school and early college is routinely left off applications and background check forms without issue
- The fact that you already hold an active clearance is significant — that process was far more thorough than a standard employment background check, and this work would have been scrutinized then
Why your proactive email was the right move
- It demonstrates good faith and integrity — exactly what employers (especially those dealing with clearances) want to see
- If anything ever came up later, you've already documented that you flagged it voluntarily
- It's far better to over-communicate than to have someone wonder why something was omitted
What to realistically expect
HR will almost certainly respond with something like "thanks for letting us know, no issue here." The scenario where an offer gets rescinded over forgotten seasonal high school work — especially when you flagged it — is extremely unlikely.
The nervousness you're feeling is normal for a big career move, but the situation itself is pretty low-stakes. You handled it well.