Filling in personal history

[RISHIFERRARI20]

I received my ITA last week and I am in the process of filling up 'personal history' section and I had questions about how to fill this.
I quit my full time job in May 2015. After that I took a year off for travelling (intermittently, not a continuous period of travel) and in-between was looking for some projects or freelancing opportunities. After a year of doing this and not working, I tried setting up my own company. A start up which did not really go any where as I did not get clients as I had anticipated. This occupied me about 6 months or so when I was in the process of setting up/paperwork for the company but did not work or earn. Then after this, I started consulting on a freelance/project-by-project basis with a company. For eg. I would sign a contract, work 2-3 months (as long as the project lasted) and then I was free. These free times were basically 'unemployed' and occasionally included travel/backpacking in India and abroad. So, my recent personal history has included a lot of time when I was not employed, sometimes when I was not travelling, so just a period of waiting, looking for the next gig. How do I represent this under personal history? It will basically show lots of 'unemployed' sections. How do I explain what I did day-to-day? Sit at home and search for projects/jobs for 6 months, doing nothing in particular?
(note: this lifestyle was out of choice, as I like flexibility in work and travel freedom)

 

[zohebshaikh]

I received my ITA last week and I am in the process of filling up 'personal history' section and I had questions about how to fill this.
I quit my full time job in May 2015. After that I took a year off for travelling (intermittently, not a continuous period of travel) and in-between was looking for some projects or freelancing opportunities. After a year of doing this and not working, I tried setting up my own company. A start up which did not really go any where as I did not get clients as I had anticipated. This occupied me about 6 months or so when I was in the process of setting up/paperwork for the company but did not work or earn. Then after this, I started consulting on a freelance/project-by-project basis with a company. For eg. I would sign a contract, work 2-3 months (as long as the project lasted) and then I was free. These free times were basically 'unemployed' and occasionally included travel/backpacking in India and abroad. So, my recent personal history has included a lot of time when I was not employed, sometimes when I was not travelling, so just a period of waiting, looking for the next gig. How do I represent this under personal history? It will basically show lots of 'unemployed' sections. How do I explain what I did day-to-day? Sit at home and search for projects/jobs for 6 months, doing nothing in particular?
(note: this lifestyle was out of choice, as I like flexibility in work and travel freedom)

for the specific periods you were not working you can say 'sabbatical' and/or 'self employed' as the case may be.

you really don't need to worry much about anything you are not claiming CRS points for employment. they just want you to account for every phase of your life for the past ten years to do a background check from a security/criminality perspective. No subjective decision will be taken on your employability basis your response in your personal history. Only what you state in your employment section where you claim CRS points for will impact your eligibility from an employment perspective strictly basis the CRS points you score. Just be truthful and state facts as they are in your personal history ensuring there are NO gaps. Good Luck !

 

[RISHIFERRARI20]

for the specific periods you were not working you can say 'sabbatical' and/or 'self employed' as the csae may be.

you really don't need to worry much about anything you are not claiming CRS points for employment. they just want you to account for every phase of your life for the past ten years to do a background check from a security/criminality perspective. No subjective decision will be taken on your employability basis your response in your personal history. Only what you state in your employment section where you claim CRS points for will impact your eligibility from an employment perspective strictly basis the CRS points you score. Just be truthful and state facts as they are in your personal history ensuring there are NO gaps. Good Luck !

How granular should this be? For example, can i just block 12 months as 'unemployed' or do I specifically show three months as trying to start my company, three months of backpacking while being unemployed and 6 months of doing nothing but look for projects while staying home. Technically, I was unemployed the entire time and did not engage in any activity like study etc. What is the level of detail i need to go into?

 

[zohebshaikh]

How granular should this be? For example, can i just block 12 months as 'unemployed' or do I specifically show three months as trying to start my company, three months of backpacking while being unemployed and 6 months of doing nothing but look for projects while staying home. Technically, I was unemployed the entire time and did not engage in any activity like study etc. What is the level of detail i need to go into?

think of it as activities: 1. setting up my company (self employed), 2. backpacked to xyz (vacationing), 3. business development (self employed)

 

[RISHIFERRARI20]

think of it as activities: 1. setting up my company (self employed), 2. backpacked to xyz (vacationing), 3. business development (self employed)

Okay, makes sense. Thanks!

 

[zohebshaikh]

Okay, makes sense. Thanks!

remember this thumb rule: be truthful, more MAY help, less CAN hurt. Good Luck !

 

[RISHIFERRARI20]

think of it as activities: 1. setting up my company (self employed), 2. backpacked to xyz (vacationing), 3. business development (self employed)

Sorry, I have more questions. The personal history section does not allow details at the date level. It only has month/year to select. How do I include a scenario like the below, for example. Over the last two months (November and December 2018) I did the following:
1. From the beginning of November till 15 November, I was trekking in the Himalayas
2. From 16 November onwards, I was back home and reaching out to friends/colleagues and looking out for jobs/gigs
3. Between 11 December to 22 December I traveled to Thailand.

Now the activity section asks for the country and the region where the activity took place, so I am having to split the above into two blocks of "unemployment" activity. One for the Thailand travel and the second one showing unemployment phase in India. But there is no way to split the dates as they fall mid month. How do I fill this up accurately so they do not see any gaps?

Moreover, the section where the activity is to be described does not offer a lot of character length to explain anything in detail, just a few words!

 

[zohebshaikh]

Sorry, I have more questions. The personal history section does not allow details at the date level. It only has month/year to select. How do I include a scenario like the below, for example. Over the last two months (November and December 2018) I did the following:
1. From the beginning of November till 15 November, I was trekking in the Himalayas
2. From 16 November onwards, I was back home and reaching out to friends/colleagues and looking out for jobs/gigs
3. Between 11 December to 22 December I traveled to Thailand.

Now the activity section asks for the country and the region where the activity took place, so I am having to split the above into two blocks of "unemployment" activity. One for the Thailand travel and the second one showing unemployment phase in India. But there is no way to split the dates as they fall mid month. How do I fill this up accurately so they do not see any gaps?

Moreover, the section where the activity is to be described does not offer a lot of character length to explain anything in detail, just a few words!

on vacation, Nov - Dec 2018.

 

[RISHIFERRARI20]

on vacation, Nov - Dec 2018.

This is what I was initially trying to do, but like I mentioned above, it wants me to specify the country where the activity took place. In this case, the vacation is in two different countries and I can only enter one from the drop down. Hence the confusion about splitting.

 

[zohebshaikh]

This is what I was initially trying to do, but like I mentioned above, it wants me to specify the country where the activity took place. In this case, the vacation is in two different countries and I can only enter one from the drop down. Hence the confusion about splitting.

Business Development, Nov 2018 (ignore the trekking)
Vacation in Thailand, Dec 2018

 

[zohebshaikh]

This is what I was initially trying to do, but like I mentioned above, it wants me to specify the country where the activity took place. In this case, the vacation is in two different countries and I can only enter one from the drop down. Hence the confusion about splitting.

Alternately say:
Trekking in the Himalayas, Nov 2018 (ignore the job/project hunt)
Vacation in Thailand, Dec 2018

 

[RISHIFERRARI20]

Alternately say:
Trekking in the Himalayas, Nov 2018 (ignore the job/project hunt)
Vacation in Thailand, Dec 2018

And.... i am back with some more doubts. Sorry this has been nagging me.
When they say "no gaps", how literal are they? For eg. Last day of one of my jobs falls on a Saturday and the first day of the next one, the following Monday. Technically, the weekend was a gap. Should I create a separate entry for this or am I overthinking this and being paranoid?
Also, it just bugs me that there is no option to put date-wise events in personal history, only at the month/macro level. Because almost all the events start mid-month and not beginning or end. I have used the description field to enter the actual begin and end dates. Is this level of detail necessary?

 

[matteis]

I received my ITA last week and I am in the process of filling up 'personal history' section and I had questions about how to fill this.
I quit my full time job in May 2015. After that I took a year off for travelling (intermittently, not a continuous period of travel) and in-between was looking for some projects or freelancing opportunities. After a year of doing this and not working, I tried setting up my own company. A start up which did not really go any where as I did not get clients as I had anticipated. This occupied me about 6 months or so when I was in the process of setting up/paperwork for the company but did not work or earn. Then after this, I started consulting on a freelance/project-by-project basis with a company. For eg. I would sign a contract, work 2-3 months (as long as the project lasted) and then I was free. These free times were basically 'unemployed' and occasionally included travel/backpacking in India and abroad. So, my recent personal history has included a lot of time when I was not employed, sometimes when I was not travelling, so just a period of waiting, looking for the next gig. How do I represent this under personal history? It will basically show lots of 'unemployed' sections. How do I explain what I did day-to-day? Sit at home and search for projects/jobs for 6 months, doing nothing in particular?
(note: this lifestyle was out of choice, as I like flexibility in work and travel freedom)

Hey. How did you end up doing it?

 

[RISHIFERRARI20]

Hey. How did you end up doing it?

I ended up charting my entire history (for the relevant period) on an excel sheet and provided a start and end date to each event as accurately as I could. Just to be safe I was extra paranoid. I split up periods where I was working, then idle, then travelling, setting up my company etc. all separately, arranged in chronological order and ensured there were no date gaps between them even if it was the weekend. I then created as many line items (there were around 25) on the online application form to match the excel and transferred the same to the application form. It ended up becoming extremely detailed but comprehensive.

 

[matteis]

I ended up charting my entire history (for the relevant period) on an excel sheet and provided a start and end date to each event as accurately as I could. Just to be safe I was extra paranoid. I split up periods where I was working, then idle, then travelling, setting up my company etc. all separately, arranged in chronological order and ensured there were no date gaps between them even if it was the weekend. I then created as many line items (there were around 25) on the online application form to match the excel and transferred the same to the application form. It ended up becoming extremely detailed but comprehensive.

Tks for the feedback. I haven't received an ITA yet, but I believe I am very close to. Would you mind sharing a print screen of a small part of your personal history sheet (or form) just for me to see how I could organize mine? Can be in private, by pm.