"Ful time mum" on CV- yes or no?

[likeababyelephant]

I just received a rejection from a job a spent ages tailoring my CV for and writing a very good cover letter for. Only to be told there were others with better skills/more experience. This is for an HR entry level job btw.

I can't help but think that it's because I put "full time mother" on my CV. But I would expect recruiters to seek to diversify their workforce, especially as it's an HR job. Are they discriminating against mothers or something?

Should I omit this information from my CV. I feel like I have better/more skills as a mother than I did before I had DD.

Definitely not a good idea.

I put mother in achievements and interests part of my CV along with skills gained as a mother. I didn't think it would be that bad.

All mums are FT mums, it would look unprofessional on your cv.

Just end it at your last job, they will ask the reason for your unemployment at interview stage.

Ohhhh no no no no. You need to take that out now. The word 'mother' has no place on your CV and the way you have done that will have massively put employers off.

Your CV is for professional accomplishments, skills and roles. Mentioning a few personal interests very briefly is fine, but in this unfair and sexist world I would advise a woman not to mention being a mother or her children there either.

What skills did you say you'd gained as a mother?

Nooooo, don't put it as an achievement. Seriously, people will laugh.

Oh dear, op. You'll look back and cringe at this one day. You've had some brilliant advice on this thread. Tbh apart from a reason for a career break, you really shouldn't refer to being a parent on a job application.

When I returned to the workplace, I put career break, but had undertaken some freelance work, so I could talk about that in an interview and how it demonstrated my motivation and self reliance.

Most/many adults are parents, so the 'skills' being a parent has taught you won't make you stand out - it is like saying you can cope with personal hygiene and shopping - it is taken as a given you can manage adult life, that doesn't put make you extra employable.

Don't do that. Employers hate it and it's blatantly obvious as a strategy to try and 'cover up' a gap. Chronological only, and either list the dates you were a SAHP as 'career break' on the CV or briefly acknowledge the career break in your cover letter.

Really? Is this the same as a 'skills" CV? I use it, not to cover gaps, but to properly cover my full skill set as have a lot of different type or roles.

Should I reconsider?

Oh dear OP. Go to your uni's career service ffs. They'll be in a good position to help.

If I saw that on your cv (presumably spelled correctly) I'd start off prejudiced against you. Never great to start by casting the person who's triaging your cv as a "part time mum".

However in this case you were presumably up against people with better skills and more experience, since that's what they told you. Diversity is all very well but it would be a very rare company that decided to diversify away from people with experience and skills in their sector.

You need to get used to the fact that the job market is not all about you - there are loads and loads of people out there competing, and most company will only have one job to allocate to the single best applicant. You need to find the one job which suits you and for which you are the best candidate applying. It may well take a lot of time and a whole load of applications but fortunately you only need to get lucky once. Good luck.

I'd take the achievement of being a mother off, employers will just laugh and likely discard it. It like announcing you are proud you had sex.

Skills gained on time off like education yes, not skills related to simply being a parent.

mama I wrote; great at handling a crisis, resilient, good time management, persevered, planning, multitasking, empathetic and supportive, encouraging.

I was advised by my uni careers advisor. It wasn't on my CV originally but my CV looked a bit empty in that area as I'm unable to participate in university activities.

Sorry OP I wouldn't even put it in your achievements and interests. You're expected to be interested in your children and it's not really an achievement in the sense that there's unfortunately some fucking neglectful idiots out there who are also parents (of course it's a personal achievement but a lot of people are parents so it's not going to make you stand out in a workforce). Personally I think unless you have some outstanding achievements that mark you out as different, I no longer bother with that section of my CV otherwise it just becomes a desperate attempt to make reading and going to the cinema something exciting.

I'm an employer and wouldn't hire someone who put it on their CV. In fact, I would be offended, as it implies that I, like other working parents, am only a part time mum.

Your uni career advisor needs to find a new job

Really? Is this the same as a 'skills" CV? I use it, not to cover gaps, but to properly cover my full skill set as have a lot of different type or roles.

In general your CV should be tailored to a role so should focus on/list the relevant skills for that role. If you are changing careers then the best approach is to have a chronological listing of 'relevant experience' and then another section of 'other experience' if you have recent roles that are very different from the job you are applying for.

A CV should tell a story and show employers how you have developed from one thing to another, hence why in general roles should be listed chronologically.

Oh fuuuuck take being a mother off your achievements list. Christ.

I was advice to put home responsibilities.

I was advised by my uni careers advisor.

Ah. Unfortunately a lot of uni careers advisors haven't got a blinking clue what employers actually want and give terrible advice. This one plainly does so don't listen to them again.

I thoroughly recommend this site for CV and cover letter help: www.askamanager.org

Great thanks for that! Good Advice.

Awful phrase. Makes my blood boil. Wouldn't be surprised if you'd offended someone on the recruiting panel too. Are those of us who go out to work not mum's during those hours?

I would have put your application in the bin on those grounds alone.

I've always had a feeling that there are careers advisors telling people to put 'full time mum' then a list of responsibilities. Please don't listen to them.

OP are you a member of the CIPD? Im sure a member of your local branch would be happy to look at your CV and give some feedback

Definitely do NOT put mother under 'achievements'!!
I deal with job applications regularly and what comes across best is to just put 'career break for caring responsibilities' or similar.
And don't try to big up the list of skills you've honed as a parent. You may well feel you have better time management, negotiation skills etc since becoming a parent, but frankly so will any other candidate who happens to be a parent and already works too. It's very off putting to see someone trying too hard to convince a potential employer that they've learnt some unique skills just through virtue of being a parent!

Honestly- just state briefly 'career break....' and that covers it. If they ask, you can always add more detail

I wouldn't put that in a cv no, mainly because it's a bit facebooky.

Where you list your career history yes fine to say spent time bringing up children etc to explain the gap in between employment yes.

You can being up your multitasking abilities in the interview if asked