AIBU to think SAHMs shouldn't put this nonsense on a CV/job application

[windygallows]

In the last year I've recruited for numerous part-time jobs, receiving applications from many women who took time out to be with family and are now returning to work.

Many of the applicants have been straightforward and simply noted on their CV that they have been SAHM - simple.

But increasingly applicants, perhaps based on some guidance from career counsellors or MN, are finding more creative ways to describe their absence from the workforce.

One, we'll call her Mrs Jones, wrote that for 10 years she was employed by the 'Jones family' and that her work involved 'organizing international travel for her family.' Because organizing a holiday is similar to the tasks led by senior executives.

Another wrote a list of every task she did at home from getting groceries to cleaning the house which, while impressive as an exhaustive list, doesn't really mean much when applying to an office-based role. Especially as it's basically a list of everything most employees have to fit in outside of work.

More galling are the claims that women make about the critical role they played - with my favourite being the one who 'Spent 7 years looking after my two children who needed and deserved my attention.'

There is huge value in the work that SAHMs do but please, please don't put this kind of waffle on your CV. You never know if your interview panel will consist of a FT working, single mom like me who finds it pretty insulting that working means her children apparently lost out on 'the attention they needed and deserved.' Urgh.

Yes it's true that you learn things as a parent. But you gain extra experience of those things and others when you're a SAHP because of the nature of being completely dependent on yourself for resources and feedback. And I'm really not saying that it's superior experience or that those at work are not having equally valid experiences (ones you're not having if you're at home). Just that on a personal level you ARE learning things you wouldn't otherwise and that could be transferable to work situations.

I think people forget that CV should be tailored for the job being applied for, but likewise, and more importantly so is the covering letter.

If a person has taken a break for whatever reason I'm not interested if they balanced their families budget, but I am interested if they balanced the PTA budget or prepared accounts for the local soccer team. Tell me on your CV what you did - briefly, and highlight in your letter why it's relevant to my job.

I'm not interested if you have fantastic negotiating skills with your 8 year old, but if you volunteered in a local scout group and were dealing with 8 year olds I'm probably very interested. Tell me in your letter why it's relevant.

I've been WOHP with and without small and big children, SAHP with small and self employed with small and big children. All of this is irrelevant unless I can link the experience to the job I'm applying for.

And that I think is one of the points the OP is making.

Good post Mikeyssister. Yes to tailoring stuff. I think if a job called for 'being comfortable working alone' it would be perfectly reasonable to say being a SAHP gives you experience of that. A potential employer who thought it was 'nonsense' to say that would be rather short sighted imo.

As always though it depends on the competition for the job.

Yes, I think you'd be hard pushed against say a lighthouse keeper

From an employers PoV, I'm actually quite keen on employing people returning to work after a break, especially for child rearing. I assume they're finished having children, I assume they're not looking around constantly for the next big thing, and I assume that if we can work together to provide a mutually suitable arrangement that they will stay for the long haul.

All assumptions on my part, but that's what I think. But if someone put a heap of shite on their CV they wouldn't get an interview.

What recognition should a SAHP receive?

I'd say just recognition that they don't sit on their arses eating ferrero rocher all day.

Gherkin hahahha! I joke with my colleague (a father of 4 year old twins) that we come to work on Monday morning early for a break before we start our second job.

I was going to say oilrig worker but yes I suppose lighthouse keeper might be even better for the working alone job. Not so good at cutting sandwiches into symettrical fingers though (or not demonstrably on a CV anyway).

The fluff shows they made a mistake. They need training. Doesn't mean they are going to be bad at the job you are hiring for.

And a lot of time you need someone who doesnt need a lot of training. Job training, maybe. General training on whats acceptable in the work place, not so much. Or at least has the skills you need them to have.

When its a CV up against alot of others. Bad judgment and or lots of training in generally is enough to take your cv out of the running.

And most jobs needs a level of good judgment. Also not everyone going back to work is looking for a low paid job.

Judgement can't be taught. So if there's a massive display of it in the CV stage that person won't get a look in. I don't feel guilty about that - I can teach accounting skills, management etc, but I can't teach common sense!

Truthfully most lower paid jobs don't require much judgement. You have an operating manual and set procedures which dictate what action should be taken by the employee.

Now THAT is hugely patronising. Just because a job is lower paid, doesn't mean we are all brain dead monkeys who just press keys.

Well, I do agree with you but perhaps if society valued motherhood and staying at home to raise children more, then women would not feel the need to justify the gap in their cv

Yep. Somehow we're not meant o have any gaps but also never mention our children. Then you have people saying you should use it on your cv, and others like the lovely OP taking the piss out of women who just want to work.

Damned if you do damned if you don't

Realistically as well if employers don't want bullshitnon cvs they can stop asking bullshit question on online applications. It gives the impression you want twatty cvs

No one has said that you cant have gaps.

No one is taking the piss.

The Op is saying they have recieved bad advice.

Again what do you mean by value motherhood?

Eccles As an employer I don't want my lower paid employees making judgement calls. That is what managers and supervisors are for. If a lower paid employee is making a judgement call they are a supervisor and normally a SAHP doesnt go straight into a supervisor role when re entering the workforce. The vast majority of SAHPs re entering the workforce into their first role are going into low paid work.

This thread, like so many about SAHMs, is unecessarily provocative and quite nasty actually.

People put all sorts of bollocks on CVs. I'm sure the OP herself has been guilty of "stretching the truth" on occasions - maybe when she was just out of college and lacking experience?

Why does she need to draw attention to the ONE mother who apparently said her children "needed and deserved her attention?" Yes, its obviously a sanctimonious statement to make, but in all honesty, that's probably what the woman does actually believe and why shouldn't she? If the OP feels threatened by that kind of statement, it says more about her than anything else.

I've been a SAHM for 12 years and won't be returning to work probably, but If I did need to put together a CV I would just state that I had 4 children in this time - that's it.

I have friends who are global CEOs, that kind of thing. Sometimes when we meet up I sense that they may be slightly exaggerating their role or recent promotions, etc. But this is just what people tend to do surely? It never occurred to me that they're doing it to make me feel belittled or insecure. I respect that they put a lot of energy into what they do and why shouldn't they feel good about what they've achieved? I also know I love my own life and I'm doing what I want to do. I've never felt slighted in any way by anyone's career or salary

Men certainly have no qualms when it comes to "bigging themselves up" and spouting off a lot of hot air. But no, let's focus on a couple of anecdotes about SAHMs returning to work

It's just that when people wan t ajob the process is you make the recruiter feel like a wonderful king whose feet you kiss in most situations unless you are Bill Gates looking for a job so to suggest the person recruiting you is wicked because she did not stay home with her children is not exactly going to make you appear good at psychology and unlikely to get you a job.

UKtoLA Totally agree with you.

Some of the comments on here are quite depressing for those who have made the decision to stay home during the early years or changed their mind about working. I've continued working while having our DC. It's paid off for me to do so. It really doesn't pay for many mothers to work in the UK when they have young preschool children.

..or fathers! Let us not be sexist. Men under 30 earn less than women in the UK so in many many cases the woman earns more so the person it does not pay to work is male,

I work in childcare, so I note the career break for being a stay at home parent. I usually add that having my own children has given me a new understanding for the trust parents must place in child care providers, which has allowed me to provide a better service to my charges parents than ever before(just to add, I don't think childless child care people don't provide fab service to parents, but I was satisfactory in this regard before children and am now outstanding ;) )

But if I didn't work in childcare I certainly wouldn't add any details other than I had a career break as a mother.

As an employer I don't want my lower paid employees making judgement calls.

Your employees make judgement calls all the time. Such as 'shall i bother going to work today?' To 'should I run this by my supervisor'

Its well known that removing all autonomy to make a decision doesnt make employess engaged.

Also plenty of sahp are not going in ay entry level.

As to CVs. Yes people do embellish. Usually its spotted and deallt with, but not always.

Calling yourself an accountant because you run your houses budget is lying. Not embellishment.

I was a SAHM til the kids got old enough. I would not have dreamed of putting all the "domestic engineer, artist, accountant" crap on a CV. Most jobs a SAHM will go for for the first step back are fairly low paid, low responsibility, easy to drop and run if there is trouble with the kids.

Employers do not seem to care about gaps for caring responsibilities, so long as there is evidence in your CV that you will fit in and be able to learn to actually do the job you are applying for.

You sell yourself as you want to be seen rather than what you have been in the past.

he said I should recite my poems in interviews.

I'm sitting on a train stifling a chuckle at the thought of a horrified interviewer edging toward the button to call security. Ignoring that advice was a very wise move. Right, off to read the rest of the thread

Have to admit I haven't read all the posts but I used to work in recruitment and have seen CV's where SAHMs have written job titles of 'Guardian of the Future' and 'CEO of Domestic Logistics' - I certainly remembered them if nothing else!

As an employer I don't want my lower paid employees making judgement calls.

I can think of lots of situations where this would be absolutely essential. This combined with your arrogant dismissal of lower paid jobs as needing manuals and procedures not common sense perhaps means you need to broaden your ideas of what work looks like!!!!