If you’ve been out of work for awhile, you’ve probably already found that the longer you are out of work the harder it can be to get back into the workforce.

First off, the longer you’re out of work the easier it can be to get out of the routine of getting up and the same time each morning and going through your normal routine of getting ready for work and then actually going to work.

Secondly, the longer you’re out of work the more than hiring managers and recruiters wonder why you haven’t been working.

In this economy it’s easy for people to simply think that when they’re out of work for a long period of time, employers will understand and simply put it down to the economy. In some cases this might be true but in other cases, you might not get a sympathetic ear.

I recall back in 2000 when I started working as an IT recruiter that I used to meet with many job searchers who were out of work. Some had finished contracts after the Y2K frenzy ended, some had been laid off during the dot com implosion and even into 2001 particularly from September 11 onwards, many other people had been let go as the economy started tanking and many industries suffered as a result.

We got used to meeting good people who were out of work for a few months but when we met people who had been out of work for 1 year or longer – and didn’t seem to have done much during this time – a warning light went off in our heads. For employers that we were dealing with, it often seemed that they were willing to give some unemployed people the benefit of the doubt but the thing we always needed to remember was that not everyone was unemployed!

There were people interviewing for the same jobs who were currently employed so the unemployed people were competing with people who were actively working and so they immediately had one strike against them as a result.

That’s a simple fact.

The unemployed person was probably going to get asked at least one question that the employed person wouldn’t get asked: why have you been out of work so long? Depending on their answer, the fact that they were out of work was just another thing that could get held against them.

Just because all you read about in the papers is how “no one is hiring” and “everyone is laying people off” doesn’t mean this is actually true because it isn’t. Not all industries are suffering, not all companies are laying people off.

Not all hiring managers are used to interviewing people who have been unemployed for a long period of time so if you’re thinking that you’ll get a get out jail free card, that might not be the case.

In fact I can recall occasions when companies specifically asked our recruitment company to only send them resumes of candidates who were working at the time and hadn’t been out of work for a period of time. I recall these cases quite clearly.

Bottom line: While being out of work is a reality for many people, it can sometimes be used against you. If you’re out of work, use your time off work wisely whether it’s searching for jobs, working part time, taking courses or doing anything that you can point to and let potential hiring managers know you were keeping active and busy while out of work.

One of the difficult things to do is get back into the workforce after you’ve been out for awhile.

Whether you took time off to raise kids, took time off to travel or have a break, or were laid off or otherwise terminated and have found it difficult to find a new job, the longer you are out of work the harder it can be to get a new job.

Sometimes it’s because the longer you are out of work, the more potential employers wonder why you have been out of work for so long.

Hiring managers aren’t the only people who often wonder about this, either.

I recall meeting with a young guy who was just starting his career and had a very specific skillset, experience that I thought one of my clients would be interested in. The issue was that he’d been out of work for about 9 months and the job he lost (he’d be laid off) was the first job he’d ever held. He was a young guy with less than 2 years of work experience so in some respects he wasn’t the most ideal candidate for a recruiter to help since he had a bit of experience in a specific area but not enough experience to be considered for many positions that required skills that he simply didn’t have.

When I met with him following an initial telephone conversation, my first impression was that he wasn’t really that motivated and seemed to have no problem being out of work. He was still living at home and didn’t seem to be doing much in his spare time and the more I spoke with him, he gave me no impression that he was desperate or even willing to do much to get a new job.

I’m fairly certain that if I’d have been a hiring manager and he’d interviewed with me and acted the same way, I wouldn’t have bothered interviewing him a second time because I’d have been convinced he wasn’t really that motivated.

On the other hand, you have those people who are out of work and do the exact opposite. When you meet them, they give you the impression that they are so desperate for a job that they’d literally take anything you offered them.

I once interviewed a young guy for a specific job with one of my clients who told me that he’d take any job with the company and would gladly accept even a salary that would have literally amounted to less than minimum wage. And he was serious. I was actually nervous about putting him in front of the client because he came across as being just so desperate for a job that it was actually sad to see.

Neither impression is a very good one to give a hiring manager – or a recruiter – so if you’re out of work, think about the hints you give people that can influence your job search and ask yourself if you’re leaning too far one way or the other.

Remember that you’re always being watched and evaluated during interviews and when otherwise meeting with hiring authorities including recruiters so in addition to answering questions to the best of your ability, remember the non-verbal cues you’re giving out too.