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If a company you were interviewing with were to give you a hard time for taking a career break to be a parent you are much better off not working for them at all.
My thoughts exactly!!
It won't influence your ability to get a job if you are applying to work at a company with decent culture & management. Many companies are slowing up on hiring at the moment, but be confident in your search & remember that your time off as a full-time parent has helped you develop many skills too. Best of luck to you on your job search!
I know your comment means well and parents certainly do develop new skills (I know I do everyday) but it’s also so crucial to remember when you take time off from a career to be a parent, you don’t need to develop new skills or make everything you do transferable to the corporate world. It’s okay to just exist and enjoy your life.
I recently had someone in a similar situation apply for a role within our company, after speaking with her I recommended we move forward with her and after 1 zoom interview and 1 in person interview, we made her an offer.
For her gap time she had written “chief home officer” for a title and listed all the things she did on a day to day basis for her family, including scheduling, planning, transportation, etc. She had been a stay at home mom for the last 6 years. When I read this, I actually laughed and thought it was very clever.
The second thing she did was put the most relevant experience to the role she was applying for, at the top of her resume instead of the middle or the bottom. Granted, this is unconventional, but it worked. It was the first thing I saw on the resume. It was for a like brand doing exactly what we need her to do and she held that role for 5 years.
Her kids are still young so I knew she would need to have a hard stop around 5pm every day (we are in office everyday except Fridays) I knew our work culture could accommodate a 5pm stop with no problem.
Don't think it should matter. There are so many people nowadays that have gaps in the work history due to COVID/recession layoffs. As long as you have the experience, it shouldn't hinder you. As a HR Director now, when I review applicants I don't even pay attention to those gaps if the experience is there.
Before i went back to work, i was a stay at home mom. My husband actually called me "The COO" of the house. because a mom does everything so like the above said you will get a job no matter what even with the gap in employment. Every employer knows that you took time off to care for your children and they will not hold that against you. Good luck!
How long of a gap? I consider a gap to be less than a year. If it’s longer than that, it may require some explanation but it’s not insurmountable
I just read a post on LI re: coming back from a break that I really enjoyed the insight and agreed. It doesn’t matter why you took time off, it’s more important that you can do the job. If they were interested enough in the resume, they shouldn’t hold the gap against you.
My objective is to see if the position you are interviewing for is a fit for you and the job. What are your career aspirations? What would make you happy in your new job?
I do understand not everyone thinks the way I do.
I took a decade off to raise kids. Interviewed with JP Morgan and they were hesitant bc of my gap. Even though I earned an additional MS during that time. IMO from my experience it does hurt.
At the end of the day, every job is a competition. If a company is getting people with 10+ years of strong consistent work experience and then you have a gap, yeah it’s not ideal.
But here’s the thing, you can control what you can control. You can control how you sell yourself and the gap. Don’t be embarrassed of it. Don’t run from it. Own it and let them know it’s not an impediment to you doing future work!
I have never looked at gaps as big deals though so many do. I have my own gap now and I just needed a break. I was burnt out. Why do people have to explain? I don't think potential employers want to hear this though. Lucky for me I moved across the country during my gap so I didn't have explain too much.
The only reason why people have to “explain” is because you’re not applying for a job in a vacuum… there is competition. And if one person has a gap and the other person doesn’t, the employer wants an explanation so that they can make an educated hiring decision.
I think we're slowly moving beyond a resume gap being too much of a concern. For example, I've been contracting for a few years and have gaps between assignments. If you can, discretely provide a simple reason for the gap: Returned to school/training program, caregiver, parenting, traveling, gap year. Keep it brief for those protected issues (family, health, caregiver, etc.) and a professional Recruiter should have all they need; remember, prohibited questions during an interview are always a red flag.
Perhaps the bigger issue: How current are your knowledge and skills as you return? I would suggest demonstrating how you've kept current with laws and practices as you return, especially in our field. Note the resources, frequency of updates, quality of sources, examples for workplace application, and how this helps you stay sharp.
Also, keep technology in mind. We've become users of Zoom/Google Teams, Slack, Asana, and HR automation systems. Most of these have free accounts that will help your "fluency" in modern office tech.
Best of luck!
I actually did the same. 10 years off interviewed with JP Morgan and they made an issue of my gap.
Not the kind of company I wanna work with anyway. I earned an additional MS during that time too.
It really shouldn't be, but sadly that isn't the case for most companies. They take gaps very seriously no matter how reasonable it may be. I think you could find better luck with companies that have better work cultures. How long of a gap did you take?
Yes be creative. being a parents hard. You do a lot of things for your child that you would do as a supervisor for an employee or vp to manager. Use that like your job responsibilities and come up with bullets on what you did in this gap.
A lot of hiring managers really like when people take some thing they did & play it like it’s a position job at a company. College kids do the same thing they use any groups they have joined for responsibilities and sorority their part of for leadership
It shouldn't but employment gaps somehow affect the value of one's resume. But don't worry too much about it. It all lies with the way you state your reason. You must be very careful with your language and must imply that staying at home with the kids was entirely your decision. Say it as it is.
Nope. That would not be a serious problem. You might find it hard to get an interview but you'll surely land a job.
I actually did the same. 10 years off interviewed with JP Morgan and they made an issue of my gap.
Not the kind of company I wanna work with anyway. I earned an additional MS during that time too.