Hello you guys, I hope you're doing alright. Here's the problem:
-I live in Western Europe (in a “first world country”)
-32 years old, I'll turn 33 in August.
-got a bachelor's degree and a master's degree (finished the MA at 27 years old)
-was diagnosed with asperger's syndrom when I turned 30
-Was unemployed the last 5 years as it's tough to keep a job when you're an spie, I've tried 3 different jobs during that time but was only able to keep them for a couple months (each)
My resume has a giant gap, and let's be completely honest: being 33 years old with barely any experience is a big red flag, even more in a market where it's tough as hell to get a job. I finally get rid of my depression, but now that I've gotta start a career somehow, it would be extremely tough to get anywhere with this kind of resume (yes I know, 32-33 is still quite young compared to people who restart careers in their thirties, but it's still atypical).
My uncle who has his own business (I was in no situation to work there when I was doing poorly) tells me he'll get me out of this difficult situation by covering all of my gap, by giving me a job certificate signed by his hand, references, by being the one who would answer any calls in case background checks happen, and since asking for pay stubs are illegal where I leave it would be extremely tough to prove anything at all…so I'm covered if he does that for me, and my resume will be looking very good. I know his company quite well, we talked about it for hours and I know everything about the “job” and what I was supposed to do there, it also happens to be unrelated with the jobs I'm applying for (which are “master graduate level” jobs”.
Here's the dilemma: I usually hate lying, because that's not me, and because I'd rather create a trustful situation between my employer and me…on the other hand, I know that if I don't do this, EVERYONE will be looking at me like some kind of monster / weirdo / idiot for being 33 years old with very little work experience. In other words: it would be game over for me and for any attempt to have a well paid career if I told the truth. I'm much tougher than I was in the past so I think people's thoughts wouldn't hurt me as much, but it would still hurt a little.
I can't change what happened (and that's painful, I'll have to say it really is), so I'll always know that I'm “that guy who started in life when he was 33 which is completly abnormal”, but at least, it seems that there's still something I can do to do something with my life.
TLDR: should I go for it and accept my uncle's help, or should I tell the truth and face an almost certain impossibility to start a real career?
NB: I want to make something clear though, I've had a lot of good times these last years. I'm very active: I spent my time reading, going out to museums, theatres, partying, walking, relaxing, playing and so on…I know it feels like I've wasted my time but I've enjoyed the lifestyle, and I don't look defeated at all, I'm quite ok mentally and physically speaking…I'm just an anomaly with a big gap in his resume I guess (lol). I've got a great family and great friends, it's far from being all bad.
NB2: I also want to say that I hope you're doing ok, whoever you are, wherever you live. It's tough out there, and we all have our ways to fight, to cope, to overcome…I guess that's what life is about. I'm ok, frankly, I'm not in a bad spot at all mentally speaking, and I'm lucky enough to have a very loving family and great friends, plus all of them are healthy, so it's something. Anyways, do take care, and don't be too hard on yourselves. God knows I'm also trying to do that!