Do I lie about the baby?

[Hodie]

My baby is about to arrive, but I need to find a job for next year. I intend to email my CV to a couple of agencies.

My area of work is competitive. I have the necessary experience, qualifications and references, but worry about mentioning the fact that I have been on maternity leave. I can imagine any potential employer viewing my CV, rolling their eyes and thinking mother = sick baby = too much time off work = unemployable.

Should I lie and state that I have been on a sabbatical? Or, should I just be honest?

I had my little boy very young and was worried that putting on my cv that the reason i hadnt worked since leaving school the year before was due to a baby. I left it out my C.V but mentioned it in interviews if i made it to like a final interview sort of process. I dont think you legally need to tell tham as its your personal life.

Thanks xstaceyxcatx.

You don't legally need to tell them about it - however if they do ask you why a gap in your employment its best not to lie. They can't say "where you on maternity leave and do you have kids" but can ask "why the gap between jobs".

Will you still be employed by the company? If yes you only write on your cv that you were employed between x and y. I never mention that I have kids unless specifically asked.

If they do then you simply say that you having DC will not cause a problem. I have a partner/mum/sister who would care for them at short notice and I have not had a day sick for me or DCs for a few years. We only seem to get sick in the holidays, lucky me!

Thanks everyone.

No you should not lie in my opinion. I don't feel you should go out of your way to say you have a baby (you wouldn't normally write personal circumstances on a CV or discuss it in an interview anyway) but why hide it. A child in my opinion is a big part of your life and ideally you want to find work that will allow you a life-work balance. If somewhere is going to have an issue with you being a mum then may be it is better to accept that it is not the right job for you

Instead in your interviews you should ask questions about benefits eg flexi-time etc... whether the company has social events (ie suggesting friendly culture). These are the types of questions which might give you clues
what sort of culture it is and whether they are likely to be family friendy.

If you are still looking for advice here is my opinion/thoughts.

I assume that when you go back to work you won't be taking your child with you or taking a job and immediately asking for changes to your hours or flexible working?

In this case the fact that you have just take maternity leave should not be a factor and does not need to be mentioned on your CV. However I am assuming that you are currently employed (but on maternity leave)

When I review CVs and conduct the selection process I am comparing qualifications, skills and other relevant factors. I am not interested in whether candidates are married, have children, or other dependants.

It is certainly unusual for mothers to highlight maternity leave on their employment record as they would usually still have been employed, although there are often gaps in the history and I would ask for an explanation for this. More often this was to go travelling or studying/changing career.

At first interview I don't ask any personal questions, although candidates do sometimes offer up the information I would not probe further, concentrating on the role.

In fact I only usually find our about the personal lives of my candidates once they start working for me.