For thinking I won't get an interview if I mention

[SatanOnAScooter]

my family? Before I had my DCs I worked as a senior accountant, after mat leave I didn't return to my job but found a part time bookeeping one I could walk to, and have done this kind of job few years. I've applied for a few new jobs recently, all senior level because I want/need to go back to it and I'm not getting anywhere.

In my applications I have explicitly stated why I changed roles (to spend more time with family), but now I'm wondering if I should just not mention anything (leaving the person reading it to come to their own conclusions about the change).

So, aibu for thinking all this 'we're a flexible, family friendly company' stuff I keep reading is just a load of old rot?

Bumbping for you as I don't know much about it but my gut feeling would be not to mention it.

There are so many applicants out there right now so you should avoid anything that might be seen less favourable on. As I said, no experience on this but could imagine that if they had two similar CVs, one man, one woman who talked about her family, I would guess they would pick the man.

Don't mean to be sexist in any way, just my gut feeling.

Good luck jobhunting.

in a previous life (bit like yourself!!) i would have been responsible for shortlisting. No-one was ever disregared for changing jobs for family commitments.

have you kept yourself uptodate and does your application form clearly state how you meet the job requirements (essential criteria / desirable criteria)?

Yes, leave it out. They probably will come to the correct conclusion anyway, but it might get you an interview.

Try NOT mentioning it, see what happens. And then come back and let us know.

Satan, it shouldn't influence but perhaps it does in this market, where employers can pick and choose.

Perhaps you can fudge it by saying you needed a better work/life balance then but then go on to say you are ready to gear up and take more responsibility and commit more time to work that the senior role would demand.

Whenever my DH has interviewed someone for a job and I ask him about the candidate (married? children? etc) he says he doesn't know and they are not allowed to ask these days.

I have to be honest, I purposely did not wear my engagement ring to my last job interview, fairly serious role and I thought if they noticed an engagement ring they would assume marriage & babies were to follow (they were).

I have been involved in recruiting new team members in my last three roles and have been amazed at the various opinions openly aired by colleagues and HR, so sadly, I would not mention it.

I could just be being a cynical old bitch though. Good luck.

I wonder if it might be better to keep in the mention of family, as otherwise you have no explanation for the change from senior accountant to part time book keeper. That might make some people suspicious.

That would be right, fn. My dh is reading a CV right now and said the same thing!

On second thoughts, Satan, if you have the relevant skills and your CV can stand on its own, don't mention the family. If it comes up in interview (hoping you get one), at that point you can explain why you are now able to go for a senior role.

Thanks for responding.

I don't have much time so I am focusing only on the jos I totally meet the criteria for and I have kept up-to-date with my knowledge - I've done a few freelance bits of work, which I've mentioned in my applications - specifically to show I have kept my hand in a little. I think I demonstrate this in the forms...

I know it's a tough job market and I guess if I were shorlisting, I might think someone who hadn't had a break would be the better choice (looking at 2 similar applicants) but I just sort of wish someone would at least give me a shot and interview me. You hear so much about the value of transferrable skills, and flexible companies blah blah blah but in reality it seems like a load of bollocks really.

I put a pragraph in explaining (very briefly and not in any great detail) the change in my job levels because as you go through my employment history it looks really odd, but maybe I should leave it vague.

Of course maybe there are just loads of better applicants out there and I am just bitter!

I'm pretty sure most of the shortlisting panels don't get to see my personal info (large corporates) - but like bigstripeytiger said, even I feel suspicious reading my employment history! It just seems odd and I thought it best not to confuse/arouse suspicion over something as common as having had kids - but then maybe it's actually obvious anyway and I'm just drawing too much attention to it.

It's so hard to know isn't it? I'm just getting really frsutrated. I spend hours and hours on applications/covering letters/tweaking my cv and get nowhere. A few years ago it seemed like it was relatively easy to at least get an interview. I worry that I fecked up taking a lower level job. I barely cover child care doing it but thought it was better to do something rather than nothing but maybe it would have been easier to just have a gap in employment .

Satan, so apart from the pt bookkeeping roles, you also have breaks in your CV? How long were these breaks for and can say that you freelanced over periods where you were not in employment.

You did not keep your hand in 'a little'. You kept your hand in. You kept your knowledge up-to-date by xyz. Within the bounds of truth, try to put yourself in the best possible light.

It is not you, it is a very tough market. Don't lose heart. Keep plugging away. The interviews will come.

Satan, I feel your pain and frustration.

How about a different approach. Instead of a senior role, go for a fairly junior one (akin to pt bookkeeping) or junior one which requires some retraining but with upward potential, say in those large corporates. Maybe it will take a few years longer to earn the higher salary, but at least you are on the path.

Blueshoes - no gaps at all, just a big clunky change from senior manager to several bookeeping/admin roles and a couple of freelancing projects.

I know I shouldn't get disheartened but it's hard when you get absoultely nothing back and I'm getting desperate twitchy about our finances.

TBH I just didn't expect to find it so hard to even land an interview

Satan, it is very hard to land an interview because you are probably up against hundreds of candidates, recruiters only give themselves 30 seconds to scan a CV before binning, they are spoilt and looking for the perfect fit and also skittish so if they don't get the perfect fit, they hold out in an uncertain economy.

Are you focusing on a specific industry? Can you explore other (more booming) industries. I imagine your skills are very transferable.

I'm looking at mid points between my old job types and what I do now but we really need the money I used to be able to earn, or thereabouts - I always assumed it would be relatively easy to go back to a higher salary when I needed to, and I needed to about a year ago really, hence the slight sense of desperation now.

Maybe I need to bite the bullet and as you say BS, look lower again - at least that would be a start.

Satan, as you say, between a candidate with no gaps to one with gaps, the recruiter is probably going to go with the former. If they get 10 CVs with no gaps and all with relevant experience (which is likely in this market), your CV gets passed over.

You gave the senior role a good shot. Continue to do so.

If you try a different tack (eg lower role), see whether that gets you an interview. You don't have to take the role if offered. At the very least it gives you interview practice.