To just just pretend I wasn’t working- as job moves are being held against me ?

[tojustpretendthen]

I had two kids in 5 years and work in quite a cut throat industry, where essentially you start from scratch when you come back from maternity leave.

it’s business development with huge targets etc.

so in any case, I always thought it was important to have no breaks and stay employed. I struggled ( like everyone else ) with small babies and going back to work.

but when I came back from my first mat leave, I returned to a completely different role and territory. I tried my hardest to make it work, but around 8 months after, I got another offer and moved company.

I had been at the company I took my first mat leave for around 3 years at that point.

I went to the next company, got pregnant soon after and had another baby. When I returned, I could sense that things weren’t going well for the company at all. I got another offer and left after 2 and a half years at that company. Lo and behold, the next month, everyone was made redundant anyway.

I was then at the next company for a year on a contract role ( 1 year contract ). I thought it would be good to go back into work and being busy as soon as possible and if I liked it, we could always talk about extending. After a year, the contract ended and I wasn’t wanting to renew as they’d asked me to travel a lot more if we extended the contract and I just wasn’t able to.

then I got my next role and unfortunately was made redundant after 9 months. I really was heartbroken.

now I’m struggling and companies are giving me a hard time, even when I explain my moves. I never bring the fact that I had two kids in 5 years into the discussion, but having had a kid- was definitely the reason I left the first company, as my role was nothing like what I had left and I came back go just a bunch of rubbish.

the second company was just going down. And the third was obviously a 1 year contract. The one after that was not on my terms at all.

when I talk about the reasons, I always frame it positively etc and I have done a lot.

but I’m starting to feel like, maybe I’ll have more luck if I said I just had a one or two year break?

I feel so defeated / deflated. I’ve worked harder than ever and keep starting over and proving myself. It’s literally been hell.

any advice ? Has anyone been in a similar situation ? Thank you, please be kind.

Oh also just to clarify, why I took the contract role after my second maternity leave- because it was going to be difficult to interview straight after my second maternity leave for any other company. I got that job through an old manager, so I didn’t need to interview. Interviews are very tough in my field and you need to go into a lot of details about what you’ve worked on recently and successes. As I had just been on maternity and also sick during a lot of my pregnancy, I didn’t have much recent stuff to talk about. My manager knew my exact situation, as he was my manager at the previous company as well. So it made sense to go there, get expedience for a year and see
how it goes. Worst case, I thought I would have a lot to talk about for subsequent roles I would apply to- best case, I would extend the contract.

Of course I have never explained that to anyone. Again, the fact I had a baby and was sick for a lot of my pregnancy was a huge factor in that role and during that move too. But of course I just assume no one wants to hear about it.

Anyone ? Just reading that back, maybe I should just be completely honest about everything.

Honestly I think the job market is just a bit weird right now. I don't know what the right answer is but friends and colleagues have struggled to find roles even without maternity leaves recently too and I know they're brilliant. If no one has said it's the moves it may well not be.

People definitely ask about it and I have to justify it. I think it’s also stopped me getting interviews.

So, you don't talk about the children and just have 5 turbulent years in your CV?

Is it possible it looks as being sacked repeatedly for having bad results?

Could you include the children into the explanation for some of the next opportunities and observe which version feels better?

Yeah I don’t mention it at all. I thought they’d hold it against me.

I might as well just explain it completely honestly next time and see how I do.

This. Be honest, explaining your work history in a positive way.

The one where it went bust you state that, the one year contract you state it was a one year contract.

I mean you include that info on your CV

I’ve got the one year contract on there, but I don’t explain about the one that went bust on my cv. But obvs when asked, I explain it. But I never talk about how I had to take the 1 year contract role as I was in no position to interview due to having come back from mat leave and having been off for a large part of my pregnancy as well.

I would definitely mention the nuances with the pregnancies and children and why you made the decisions you did. I most respected someone I was hiring for being candid about burn out and her choices and wouldn't put me off at all. I would be much more concerned if a story didn't make sense and thought were withholding information

I think I’m going to have to try that next time. I just don’t want them to think I won’t be able to do the job and that I’m going to miss work because of my kids or that I’ll have another one or something.

I had a few role changes (redundancy, fixed term, consultancy, etc.) and found adding context to my CV made all the difference. Just a simple thing like 2021-22 | Redundancy.

I am also a hiring manager and when you have a pile of CVs, you have no option but to whittle down on a red flag basis sometimes. But comments like 'career break for family', 'redundancy' etc neutralise those concerns.

Good luck!

If you’re of a certain age, female and don’t have kids it’s possible they’re excluding you because they think you’re at risk of going off to have kids. If you mention them at interview it explains a lot more than just 5yrs of job moves.

I don't think your job history sounds all that bad and I doubt that it is the huge red flag you've built it up to be in your mind. The job market is diabolical right now and hugely competitive - that is the unfortunate reality.

Just tell your story and focus on what you learned from each role (practice at home if that helps). Definitely mention your pregnancies as that adds context to why you've had a few stops and starts. Just spin it all in a positive way.

I had two children close together so took a career break. It wasn't a black mark against me.

Just lie

everyone else does

How much time did you take out ? I wish I had done that. I definitely think my pregnancies and maternity leaves impacted why I had to move and also where I moved to.

there is a narrative that employers want to see no breaks. But I think that’s changing.

The job market is bizarre right now.
I did one with 5 interviews and a case study where they took at least 4 candidates to final round- this is a huge well known well respected company you've heard of.
The time wasting is unparalleled.

I strongly disagree on the gaps based on my industry tech/media sectors.

Are you being explicitly asked and getting frowny faces in response?
I'd position it if asked as follows and deliver with open body language

1st mat leave - it was such a great company and I was very happy but I was head hunted by company 2 and the offer and role (which was more challenging) was just too good decline.

the 2nd mat leave company.
Really enjoyed my role and had no plans to leave however, my role was closely connected to management/ senior leadership and there clear signals from the business re direction of travel. When I was approached regarding a contracting role i felt it was strategically a good opportunity to exit. The new role gave me x experience/ y skill and i got out ahead of the layoffs which were pretty awful, poor excolleagues etc
.
I think the fixed term contract is a non event (on LinkedIn people clearly state on roles they did a fixed term contracts - there's no issue with that)

This positions you as desirable (headhunted) and someone with high EQ who has the inside track ( beat the curve on layoffs)
Vs someone who gets bored and moves often.

My plan which by sheer luck came to pass was to have all my children at one company.
I took 2 x 1 yr mat leaves through multiple lay off rounds at one company across 3 yrs.
I dodged multiple layoffs throughout this as possibly as I'm close to revenue /not too expensive/ it was out of sight out of mind for one round.
Many mums didn't make it though. Now i'm back I'm 100% on the hit list for this year's feb layoffs (estimated12-15% of workers are). I dont care too much though as I hate it there and only worked 3.5 years of 6.

Thanks so much. The way you framed it is very good.

and actually the second mat leave is also true in the sense that I was very senior in that company and I did need to start travelling more for that reason.

If its the same sector, do new employers not know which competitors went bust when?
Its a very competitive market now though, I think you'll be up against people with a less bitty CV so it might be going against you. From what I hear the business development sector is contracting hard though, would your skills fit elsewhere?

You’re safer mentioning the kids now you’ve had them! Being of child bearing age but not yet having children is a bigger ‘risk’ as companies know they are likely going to have to accommodate mat leave etc. and the will she come back full time/at all.
You are now in a more stable phase of your life. Sell that!

Yes maybe mention young kids or it was more travel than you expected it to be. It is hard now I think as alot of competition for work. Good luck op

I really would list it in brackets after the dates if I were you, as others say. E.g. Company x 2022-2023 (1 year contract) Company Y Dec 2023- Aug 2024 (company closure/redundancy). And you might as well mention maternity leaves because many people do know that women sometimes return to a shit show. I know I did - my role and team had totally changed and then the company shut down 4 months later.