Hello Mahua Biswas,
I do appreciate & empathize with the situation you mentioned.
However, looks like there are THREE issues that seem to have been mixed-up--quite understandable when it's YOU who faced the flak.
The issues are: (1) Background Checks (2) Break in career--leading to all sorts of queries from HR in the interviews & (3) how tough it is to get a job after a divorce.
Taking the First one--Background Checks--like (Cite Contribution) mentioned, they are 'primarily to validate the educational and employment data, as provided by the candidate'. As of today, any Employment BC in India does not include Criminal BC--which actually needs access to Police records [it's prevalent in other countries though].
Next the Second one--Career Break. Suggest look @ this aspect from the HR's perspective [like you put yourself in your friend's shoes, for a moment, think you are HR]. How would you be sure that the career-break is for logical & reasonably justifiable reasons unless you inquire pointedly--while watching the words being spoken along with the body-language?
If you go thru some of the threads in CiteHR, you would realize that there will be persons who resign for flimsy reasons & then when he/she finds it tough to get another job, come-out with all sorts of stories for the career gap. Hope you get the point.
Now coming to the Third--actual--reason for you posting this thread--Settling again in career after a divorce [with the associated career gap, mental agony & low psychological threshold]. This specific issue was discussed earlier in CiteHR [not sure when exactly, but would be over a year back I guess].
The key to handle such issues in interviews would be to PREEMPT the topic veering towards this issue at all. Since once this point comes on the table, there's no way one can avoid answering to any/all queries w.r.t. the divorce--if the reply is avoided, it COULD be perceived as 'avoiding' rather than a 'hesitation to revisit a painful past'.
Frankly, I know this is tough to accept--but that's the world we live in. So better to preempt than to give scope for the situation & then go about resolving/handling it.
I recollect having suggested in the earlier thread that the best response for a career gap due to this specific reason could be:
"My presence was absolutely needed @ home due to personal/family reasons. With personal commitments, didn't want to do a job half-heartedly--hence left the earlier job. Now that things have settled down @ the personal front, want to take up a job again".
Though the wordings can change, the jist is this.
There are 3 angles one would be covering by such a stand: (1) NOT lying--since a divorce too is a strictly personal matter (2) Usually no HR insists on discussing the issue further once the 'personal reason' stand is taken--preempting the topic to go in the direction you DON'T want to (3) Once things settle down [assuming the Offer is made] & depending on the one's comfort level, the details can be revealed later to whoever can be trusted to understand the situation, without adverse/cynical comments--thereby avoiding any unwanted attention from 'male chauvinists' (like Jacob mentioned).
And, I think, I had also mentioned in the earlier thread that you would ALSO be SUBTLY conveying the commitment to anything you take-up to do—you didn’t continue with the earlier job just for the sake of salary, even though you could have done it. Hope you get what I mean.
Hope I have understood & covered what you actually wanted to convey.
All the Best.
Rgds,
TS