Gap in Employment

Updated on February 20, 2010
V.B. asks from Dallas, TX
22 answers

After spending the last 10 years as a SAHM, I went back to school 2 years ago, just graduated and at present looking for a full-time job. But how do I answer to the question related to the hugh gap in employment? Should I just talk about my role as mother or just ignore the gap?
Please share your experiences with me.
Thank you to all

Vava

1 mom found this helpful

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K.N.

answers from Houston on

I have seen it done on resumes, but you may want to find some counclor to help you with this, I have seen **Gap in employment for Child rearing years.

Tell the truth, it is always best. People have kids you are not the only mom who works. Good luck.

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K.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

I agree with putting something in your cover letter. You can say "After 10 years at home with my children, I finished my degree and am now ready to re-enter the workforce."

I am a former recruiter and I respectfully disagree with the posters who recommended leaving all dates off of your resume, as long as your work history prior to having kids was stable. It was critical for me, when viewing a resume, to see that people had stayed at their jobs for a significant amount of time and hadn't jumped around too much. leaving dates off was actually a red flag for me, as it made me wonder whether they had too much movement or what they were trying to hide. If the qualifications still fit, I would give a phone interview, but it was always hard to shake the feeling that there is something they didn't want me to know.

Good luck in your job search.
K.
http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/karenchao

4 moms found this helpful
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K.R.

answers from Dallas on

I spent 7 years as a stay at home mom before returning to the workforce. What I said was "I was fortunate to have the opportunity to be at home with my children and now it is time for me to be working outside the home again". I had no problem finding a job even though the first job I got was not with a family friendly company. I worked there for a year and got my feet wet again then went to work for my current employer which is a very family friendly company. Good luck!

2 moms found this helpful
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K.P.

answers from New York on

You have nothing to hide, so just list your employment and when asked explain that you were in a position to be able to stay at home and raise your children. Now that they are more independent, you are looking forward to focusing on your career and are excited to re-enter the work force.

*I recently interviewed a woman who gave this response and it was so honest and genuine that we felt confident in her ability to articulate her thoughts.*

2 moms found this helpful
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K.F.

answers from Dallas on

I agree with Wendy below. Think about what you did during those stay-at-home years. I'm at home with my kids right now and I do a mulitiude of things from volunteer work at my church (mostly Sunday mornings but some otherwise - either way it's experience) PTO work, volunteering at a weekly Bible study, creating and balancing a home budget so we can afford for me to stay home, taking care of my elderly grandmother, organize my home, etc. There is so much more than just "sitting on the couch eating bon-bons". Let your prospective employer know why the gap and fill in that time with what you were doing! Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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W.L.

answers from Dallas on

What have you done in the past 10 years? Did you work on PTA projects, volunteer at Church, balance the budget at home, time management of children and school? You have to think out of the box but I was a stay at home mom for 15 years so the largest segment on my resume is volunteer experience. Good luck, In an interview be proud that you sacrificed your time and career unselfishly to raise your children. It is not an easy choice but one I wish more women would make. You held the same job for 10 years, not many people do that anymore.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.M.

answers from Dallas on

I know employers can't ask if you have kids, but don't you want to work for a company that is family friendly? Don't you want them to understand that you have kids and that may effect your ability to work sometimes? I do! I don't want to work for a company that can't be compasionate when I say my kid has a play at school and I need to come in an hour late! So, I say be up front. Tell them that you stayed home to raise your kids and then completed your degree, etc. I would even tell them how old your kids are (employers are more likely to worry less if your kids are older and able to stay home by themselves). I'd also address the issue of child care since they can't ask, tell them what you have in place "my kids attend a wonderful after school program that is open over the summer and during school breaks. If that isn't available for some reason, or if someone is sick, my mother is able to watch them and help out" Whatever your situation is. I would also bump up your role as a mother and focus on the things you learned while at home. You can state that while working was hard, staying home made you wear many more hats! You learned how to multi-task and bettered your time management skills, etc. Be proud of the time you took at home and be honest about how that time will benefit this new employer...for instance, were you on the PTA? Room mom, all of takes committment, organization, and time management. Did you start a program at school? Help on any committies? Run the fall fest? All of that is work, you just didn't get paid for it! Again, I would stress that I would rather be up front with a company about my time constraints and know that they are family friendly than try to gloss over it and let them make assumptions, not to mention that if they aren't family friendly, I wouldn't want to work there!

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M.B.

answers from Dallas on

One thing to consider is not putting dates on past employment, but rather listing the number of years. Also, if you were doing specific volunteer work, you could also list that, in particular if you used some of the skills that are relevant to your career. While you want to find a family friendly employer, things are very competitive these days, so you really don't want your resume to emphasize any family commitments per se as that can distract from the fact that the focus should be only your ability to perform in the role rather than potential interferences with your ability to perform in the role due to family commitments. I know this isn't fair, but unfortunately, we moms are really scrutinized in this regard even though many of our male co-workers commit as much of their time outside of work to their families.

The goal of the resume is to get you an interview - not to get you the job. So, the focus of the resume should be entirely on your ability to do the job. You can and should discuss aspects of the job and benefits that do influence your family, but those discussions should almost always happen AFTER you have a job offer - i.e., you don't want to be discussing whether you can leave early on Thursday's to take Johnny to soccer practice during an interview.

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D.W.

answers from Indianapolis on

Absolutely - explain your decision to stay home with your family.That's an easy one to explain!

Most employers respect the decision to stay home and care for the family and the value of the abilities it takes to do it well.

If they don't - it's probably not an organization you want to work for. Though with the economy the way it is, most of us have less flexibility in choosing our employers than 10 years ago.

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H.F.

answers from Minneapolis on

Have you thought about self-employment? My husband and I are self-employed and love it. We are home with our 2 year old daughter and are here when our 8 year old son comes home from school. We also get to go on field trips when they ask for chaperones.
If you are interested, let me know.

Love it
H.

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A.T.

answers from Dallas on

I would talk about it. It's a respectable role. Some of our responsibilities as a SAHM transfer to the business world. I would say things... managing our home of # of children, etc. Besides if you mention this here proudly you can get a feel for if the employer is supportive of families. You want to work for someone who understands and respects having to tend to a family and sometimes accidents/emergencies occur that will adjust your work day.

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L.C.

answers from Orlando on

I agree that your resume is meant to get your foot in the door to get the interview, not to get you the job. Most employers don't hire you based on your resume, but based on how you do in the interview.

I do not have ANY dates on my resume and never have, including year you graduated high school and college because it gives them an idea of your age. There has honestly only been ONE interviewer who pointed out that he thought it was odd that the dates were missing, but during the interview he was able to ask whatever questions he wanted, so we were able to discuss how long I'd been in certain positions, and how long (and why) I had taken some time off. Depending on your position you are applying for, many employers will like that you have life experiences rather than hiring someone very young who is right out of school. You never know what they're looking for so it's best to just be yourself at the interview. Don't try to use silly words to talk up your "experiences" as a SAHM...it really is OK to be honest and say you took time off while your children were young.

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D.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I would list the jobs and dates as well as the dates of your education.
O. idea is to cover the gap in your cover letter, stating that you had a gap in employment from X to Y because you were doing your most challenging job of all!

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C.F.

answers from Dallas on

I wouldn't be the first to announce the gap, but if and when they bring it up in the interview, I would NOT shy away from proudly stating proudly that your most important job in that chapter of your life was raising a family. You can add the role was demanding, challenging and you've grown a lot from the experience. It is nothing to be ashamed of and if any company holds that against you, it may not want to be a company you want to work for anyway.

J.T.

answers from Dallas on

All you need to say is that you made a decision to stay home with your kids. Any good company will understand and respect that. Good Luck.

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S.M.

answers from Dallas on

Just tell the truth.

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C.P.

answers from Dallas on

Make sure you list your reason for your gap in employment. As someone who deals with human resources and has lost a lot of great potential employees for that very reason, please take my advice! Leaving off any vital information can sometimes void your application or cause an HR department to toss your application to the side. There is no shame or reason to not interview you for being a stay-at-home mom! I would certainly consider that a plus when looking at an application:) Best wishes!

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S.G.

answers from Albuquerque on

I would just list your previous employement. Your future employer will see the gap and ask you about it. At this point just be honest and tell them you stayed home with your children. Many women go back to work after many years. I don't think employers see this as a con, afterall, it takes a lot of skill to raise babies.

Good luck to you!

D.D.

answers from Dallas on

IF they ask simply tell them the truth. You chose to stay at home with your kids during that time because they needed you.

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K.S.

answers from Dallas on

I would proudly let them know about raising your kids. You might also put it into your resume so you don't have to explain it.

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M.S.

answers from Dallas on

If asked, explain your Stay at Home role. Use the opportunity to talk about the strengths you gained from the time in terms of time managment, organization, etc. Essentially, you have to speak of the role in terms of a job versus a gap in employment.

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L.I.

answers from Dallas on

Refer to yourself as a "Family Manager" and detail all the things you do - some of them certainly relate to the business world! Also think of any volunteer work or positions you may have held at the school. All transferable as job skills!

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