Can I put case studies in my CV
I've been laid off for about 10+ months after a family office stint that just did not work out. I was spending most of my time jobhunting, networking, and learning about the AI tools that are replacing so many of our jobs, while spending my remaining free time on a few weeks of travel and starting a gym habit. My profile isn't the best (I previously worked in a regional IB which had brutal sector headwinds but thankfully managed to clock my 2 years, took a couple of months to relocate and travel abit, eventually went on to join a family office but it didn't work out as it was structurally very different, and that place had crazy turnover for non-family members which tbh I had no idea about before I joined). Personally I wasn't being super picky with jobs but I was just trying to stay on finance adjacent jobs if possible (even FP&A, or finance related jobs for a normal MNC), but I'm not hearing from these finance adjacent places that much. The only thing I am being picky about is I am ideally avoiding family-run shops which are not professional run if possible because I don't think I can afford another short stint. Thankfully as I had enough savings I didn't need to take another job in the meantime.
So far all the calls I got came from cold apps or recruiters rather than my network, so many of these companies have asked me to complete case studies, including smaller ones. Initially I saw this as practice and anw beggars can't be choosers, but after a certain point I feel like I'm just getting taken for a ride. I did receive very good feedback for some of the case studies, but tbh some of it felt like it was just free work for the companies who had zero intention to hire. Like the jobs postings are still up there a year later! Some have been up there for 2+ years lol.
However, the search has stretched on longer than I would have liked, and I am worried the gap is becoming a bigger and bigger concern to employers. I know the job market is tough and AI is driving alot of jobs away, but I really want to get back in the industry soon, even if it is an adjacent role. Honestly I don't feel like I have been staying very idle myself, the interview processes are just super long nowadays, and I have done a good number of case studies for several companies which can be very time consuming. It is better with the recent AI advances, but because I genuinely want to land a role I still find that I invest alot of time into each case study.
I am wondering if I should add some of these case studies to my CV to demonstrate how I have been learning and being active during this gap? So that at least the time isn't just wasted on whoever is asking me for free work. Or what should I put on my CV to describe the gap? Thanks everyone.
