Hoping to return to IT career after long SAHM break - help!

[CrispyFB]

Six years ago I left my decent career in IT to become a SAHM after taking voluntary redundancy from a company that later effectively vanished as I knew it would. Now with most of the children at school and the youngest no longer a baby, I'm thinking about getting back to work after seeing a job locally doing similar work in an area I find really interesting, which would be ideal.

This means dusting off the CV, which appears to have last been updated in 2007 (interestingly in the middle of my last job - I think it was because I was changing departments and they wanted a recent CV)

Two immediate issues spring to mind:

1. The obvious DC issue. I have four of them. Childcare won't be an issue as I am so lucky to have breakfast/after school clubs plus nursery can take DC4 full time, plus DH can work from home easily if required. I'm definitely not having any more (DH has the snip plus I'm pushing 40) but how to get that information across, assuming I even got an interview?
   
   I don't want to work for a company that dismisses a mother with a career break out of hand so I'm going to say on my CV "family responsibilities" as the reason for my career break plus the fact I am now in a position to "resume my previous role" and leave it at that. Is this the best thing to do? I'm a bit worried because I have four and they'll probably ask me how many in the interview, and then rule me out because four children means four times the commitment.. it's not like having one or two DC after all.
   
   
2. This one is a bit more worrying. Looking at my CV, I apparently did lots of stuff that all sound impressive. That's great! Except it was a long time ago, feels like another lifetime ago and happened to somebody else, as in many cases I can't remember a single thing about some of the stuff I have listed. It's actually a huge blank, I had no idea I did half of it. I wasn't lying on that CV as if anything I do the usual imposter syndrome under-selling thing, but how the heck am I going to talk about stuff I don't even remember doing in an interview? I'm a hopeless liar and bullshitter even when I'm confident (which is soooo not right now!) so I'm not even going to be able to try and blag it. What can I do?
   
   Any other advice or resources over returning to work in IT in particular very welcome! Thank you!!

[CrispyFB]

Giddy - It could well be. If this job application doesn't work out I'm definitely going to look into contracting to build some experience up again.

yeOldeTrout - Thanks! That was the sort of thing I was thinking of saying. After all, I was capable of doing it at one point, I'm quite sure I could reach that level of ability again quickly. It all depends on how open-minded the person recruiting is. For instance I've worked with several people over the years who are absolutely brilliant but don't have a degree. They wouldn't have been employed by some of the companies I have worked for simply because they didn't tick the degree box. Even into their 30s and beyond.

The job description sounds like it is very similar to my last role, so I am confident I can do it. It's whether they believe it, or have somebody else already in mind (or somebody equally qualified but without the career break) that matters I guess. Still, if it doesn't work out hopefully they'll keep me on file if there's another appropriate vacancy as it's a fairly large company.

Ha at Poisson regression! Glad to hear you still got the job in spite of that, very reassuring. Seriously, it's so weird reading my old CV and thinking "Wait, I did that? That sounds impressive!" and the whole lot is a complete blank space in my memory.

I've submitted the application now. I'm fortunate that DH does a lot of interviews where he works (major tech company) and was able to make suggestions and sanity check it for me. I wouldn't mind working where he works but it's a reasonably long commute and I feel at least one of us needs to be fairly near to the DC and not have both of us totally reliant on the one train line working. This is why this job seems so perfect - something I can do, that I'm qualified and experienced in, that I'm already really interested in and it's nearby. Must try not to get hopes up!

[yeOldeTrout]

it's more or less illegal for them to ask you about childcare.
They can say "These are the hours we require. Can you do them?". That's the only relevant question.

I have forgotten an awful lot too. Try to refresh whatever you can and you'll have to be braced for saying "I don't remember the specifics but I'm sure I could get to grip with that again."

Most of their interview will concentrate on stuff they said they wanted in the job advert. So brush up on that.

I was asked about Poisson regression in my last interview. There's a whole chapter on it in my PhD, but I didn't even remember that it was in my PhD much less hardly anything else about it. Still got the job :).

[GiddyOnZackHunt]

I wonder if a spot of contracting might be the way to go. Or some public sector employer who'd be happy to get someone to work for the feeble pay scales.

[CrispyFB]

Thank you everyone!

Culture - I'd be fine at the practical programming tasks I am sure. The theory never changes.. it's just the more specific libraries depending on what the job actually is. I know I can learn them quickly as I've had to do it with every job, but an employer doesn't, that's the tricky bit! But I've mentioned on my CV explicitly that I am quick to learn, and given examples in my previous job information.

Well done on getting back into programming - that's very reassuring! As you say, I wouldn't want to work for anyone who gets arsey about it. I'm obviously not intending to take liberties with an employer over childcare emergencies but at the same time it would be good to know they'll be sympathetic if genuine situations occasionally arise.

Stealth - I'm worried it would out me as it was a very specific and narrow field which is now utterly utterly worthless, heh. At the time though it was huge. It's amazing how quickly things change.

noiwontstoptalking - Very reassuring, thank you! I'm glad to hear you mentioned it on your CV too. Good point about the travel question. DC4 is still breastfeeding a few times a day (18 months) but obviously that will decrease and I could and have left her for a few days before now and pumped. She'll be fine. I'm sure for small amounts of travel DH could be flexible as his employer is absolutely fabulous in that regard.

I've already updated my linked-in and got quite a few former managers and colleagues on there, so that's a start. I did ask a former colleague a few questions yesterday when I'd forgotten the name of one of the pieces of software we used! So it's reassuring I'm already thinking of all that.

Good idea about the appraisal docs, although bleh, I suspect they were all in electronic format and probably on my old work laptop which obviously I no longer have. If I did have paper copies, I've not come across them ever. That would have been really useful too!

Still, thank you - I might go digging around and see if I can find anything electronically although goodness knows where..

[noiwontstoptalking]

I did exactly what you are going to do.

No one ever asked me about my children and I didn't mention them in the interview. My CV says 'career break following the birth of my children'. No one has ever raised it.


What they do ask is if 'are you available to travel' to which you say 'yes'. (Check with the agency before the interview what level of travel might be required)

The other issues are all dealt with by getting someone who has worked with you previously to hire you. Get in LinkedIn and work your contacts.

Re memory gaps - do you have any appraisal docs/interview prep bites you can use to refresh your memory. That's what I did.

Alternatively buy lunch for an old colleague and get their help.

[StealthPolarBear]

What were your skills in ?

[CultureSucksDownWords]

I sincerely hope that questions about childcare don't come up very often at all in interviews!

I fairly recently changed jobs (started in Jan), going from education back into IT (programming) which is where I started my career. I was worried about a lack of up to date skills as I'd been teaching others to program rather than doing it myself iyswim. Much to my surprise I got an interview and then did ok in the practical programming tasks that were part of the interview process. I think confidence in my ability to pick things up quickly was vital to me getting the job.

At no point did they ask me about my family situation or childcare. To me it would be a clear signal that it wasn't the kind of company I'd be wanting to work for.

[CrispyFB]

Thanks for your reply!

I'm hoping they won't ask me anything but they might slip up. I totally agree that it's unfair (don't get me started on these issues in general!) but if the subject does come up, being evasive is probably not going to do me any favours. I wonder how often it does come up?

Unfortunately up to date training is a bit of a no-go. Mainly because courses in IT cost literally thousands of pounds as companies are expected to pay, and are usually very specialist and as a result would limit me somewhat to only that area. The very specialist area I was in before no longer exists, so it has to be something new, I can't retrain. From past experience there's usually entirely new systems/software etc to learn in every new role I've had anyway which they fully expect. My programming and documentation skills are entirely transferable though and I've spent some time (detailed in my CV of course) writing a few applications to be sure I am still able to do it!

[CultureSucksDownWords]

They really shouldn't ask you about children in an interview (unless it's actually relevant to the role) as it could put them on very dodgy grounds. Do men with 4 children have to explain their childcare arrangements too? If you have suitable childcare sorted then it is not an issue and none of their business, just as it is for your DH.

In terms of applying for jobs, can you do any up to date training to show you've brushed up your skills? Its highly likely that the stuff you were doing 6 years ago is already out of date, so I would focus on the transferable skills that you will still have. Good luck!