How long can you stay unemployed without it being a problem?

Assuming money during your unemployed hiatus isn't an issue, how long can you stay in a state of unemployment without it being a problem for finding another job?

Do employers care if you take 6 months off to hike the Appalachian Trail? Or if you go on a 3 month bender watching Stargate SG-1 before responding to recruiters, is that an issue?

Asking for a friend.

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Comments

tpatt100

I've experienced a couple of periods of unemployment after a lay off and nobody seemed to care during interviews especially with one of the periods being close to six months. Employers are just slow as heck getting back to you so even if you are aggressively looking it sometimes take a while to find a job anyways (depending on the area you live).

I don't think employers will care if you took time to go on some outdoor adventure, they might look down on you if you said you took time off to play video games though. I guess as long as you come up with an intelligent sounding answer you would be ok.

volfkhat

Agreed with above; who freakin cares.

Worst case... just lie about it.
Say you were in school fulltime (for the semester).
Or taking care of an ailing family member.

Or, do what im going to do: Take the summer off; and tell you next employer that you were pretty burned out; but all better now :]

Who freakin cares!

DatabaseHead

I wouldn't give it much thought.

If you get so far out it will be an issue, but 3 - 6 months isn't an issue IMO.

N7Valiant

Don't know why it would take you 3 months to finish Stargate SG-1. Pretty sure I did all 10 Seasons in 2 weeks.

Basic85

Try nearly 2 years, it's not really a big problem unless you make it one. Just make something up like taking care of family member, school, certifications, vacation, personal matters, etc. Good luck!