First of all, running the house and working at the same time are nearly the same as being a juggler in a carnival. If you’re a new mother and you can’t just set aside your family to keep up with your career, you are not to blame if you take a sabbatical.
However, it won’t be a good idea to tell the circumstances straight and plain to a prospective employer, not unless you want to sound like you’re making up an unprofessional excuse for the big dent in your career history.
How Can You Explain Your Long Employment Gap?
If you want to get hired, be honest that you quit the job for your child’s sake, but be careful not to highlight this too much, lest your employer might think that you’ll do better at home than in the office. And need say, spare your HR the cringe from reading titles like “House Manager” and “All-Around Domestic Professional,” avoid homey skill sets too.
Second, employment gaps from child raising are forgivable as long as you point out that you continue to practice your career-related skills even while you’re not setting foot in the office. Mention the seminars you attended, organizations that you’re still joining, or better if you are working freelance during the long period of child raising.
There are many ways to make up for the ugly long chinks in your resume’s history. The important thing is that you keep exercising your professional skill set even without employers around, and even with a baby in your arms.
Third is that you should never lie and curtail anything. Your prospective employer has the tendency to think that you’re hiding something the moment they saw the dent in your career history. However, this doesn’t make them eliminate you at once. They will ask you about it (and that’s for sure), and you should answer them truthfully but concisely. Let them feel assured that you are not hiding a bad record, but tell them without putting much emphasis on your unemployment during the stay-at-home period.
Never apologize for the employment gap, don’t even tell in your resume about child raising a bit, and be confident enough to show off your competitive edge over others. Focus on what makes you the best candidate for the job and appear like any other professional who faces them.
Lastly, make them feel secure that you are ready to commit fully to the job. Assure your employers that you have no plans of leaving work again, and that you’re eager and motivated enough to take the responsibility of the job post.
The best thing about employment dents is that you’re starting again with the fresh-eye of a beginner while having the knowledge of a seasoned professional. You are again at vigor, and as a new parent, you have more inspiration to work harder and think more creatively.
Being a stay-at-home for too long does not necessarily mean that you have lost the brain muscles to perform effectively for a company. It only means that you prioritize your family more than your career, which is likely. However still, it is best not to let family matters intervene with your professional identity. Learn to practice job hunting without mentioning much about your domestic life – that is the best way not to turn-off a prospective hirer with a surly employment gap from raising a beloved child.
