How Stay-At-Home Moms Can Bounce Back to an Office Job - Classy Career Girl

How Stay-At-Home Moms Can Bounce Back to an Office Job After working for a couple years, many women choose (or are compelled) to leave their office jobs to stay at home in order to raise their children. Being a stay-at-home mom can be a full-time job in itself, but is one that isn’t often recognized as “strong experience” garnering translatable skills on a resume. So how can a stay-at-home mom bounce back into the professional world? How Stay-At-Home Moms Can Bounce Back to an Office Job 1. Dust Off Your Resume This will be the most important aspect of your applications. Make sure you keep your resume fresh, relevant, and tailored to the jobs you’re applying for. Unless you have 10+ years of experience, keep your resume to one page. Delete the summary and bullet-point list of skills at the top unless you have 10+ years of experience trust me, it ages you. Use bullet points to express your experience, not long-winded, unwieldy sentences. Most importantly, have one (or three) friends or former co-workers review it before sending it out. 2. Explain the Gap Strategically So you’ve taken a couple years off. Hiring managers won’t hold it against you for taking time off, as long as you’ve demonstrated that your skills are still sharp and that you are capable and motivated to take on a large workload and steep challenges. How? Add one or two sentences to your resume describing what you did during the “gap.” Don’t only mention that you were a stay-at-home mom, but also add the “activities” you did that kept your transferable skills honed. These activities don’t have to be grandiose, but they can highlight your role as a mom in a way that is impressive to future employers. For example: Starting in May 2013, I left [COMPANY] to work as a stay-at-home mom for my three children. During this time, I did part-time remote administrative work for a local jewelry company, served as treasurer and bookkeeper for my daughters’ recreational soccer league, and was the lead planner for multiple charity events, raising over $75,000 for my children’s school. Notice how your participation in even minor extracurriculars, like your children’s recreational activities, can demonstrate your organizational, administrative, and detail-oriented skills, among others. 3. Demonstrate That Your Skills Are Still Sharp If you really can’t think of a single activity that would contribute to your skill set during the gap, don’t hesitate to start. Volunteer at an organization that will allow you to use skills useful to potential employers, engage in part-time or temporary work, or sign up for classes via Udemy, Coursera, or a local college. 4. Reconnect With Your Network Add everyone you know on LinkedIn, including former and current co-workers, friends, family members, and classmates. Professionals don’t keep a Rolodex of business cards or an address book of contacts; connections are maintained on LinkedIn. [RELATED: 4 Ways To Overcome Motherhood Penalty] 5. Update Your LinkedIn Your LinkedIn profile is your virtual resume. This means that while hiring managers spend 30 seconds or less scanning your paper resume, they’ll likely spend less time on your virtual resume. Recruiters and connections can view your profile at any time, and when you send your resume out in response to job postings, they frequently check your LinkedIn. It needs to express your experience, ability, and skills clearly, concisely, and presentably. Make sure that your resume can verify your LinkedIn (hiring managers will hold it against you if you lie on one or the other). Add pertinent work history and internships, if applicable, education background, organizational memberships, skills. Also attach projects, presentations, articles, or websites that you’ve created. Make sure you spell  everything correctly and format it properly (or at least consistently). Make sure that your byline (what shows up beneath your name) is reflective of who you are as a professional. Don’t list “Seeking employment” as a byline; you’ll be immediately bypassed by recruiters. Importantly, make sure your photo is of your face, appropriate for your profession, and is current. 6. Research Programs for Moms Re-entering the Workforce Lots of companies and even law firms have re-entry programs specifically for moms that have taken time off and want to get back into the office. 7. Garner Strong References Almost more important than anything, you will likely need strong references from your former (and/or current) work experience. These references will need to attest that you not only produced excellent work but that your strong work ethic, determination, and competency` demonstrates your capability to return to work at a high level after a hiatus. Make sure your references aren’t shocked to receive a call reach out to each reference, remind them of your work history, and politely request that they vouch for you. 8. Reevaluate What You Want Don’t fear change. Look at this as a fresh start to do what you’ve always wanted. What would you do if you could do anything? If you were fearless?  What were your career goals prior to becoming a stay-at-home mom (if any)? This will be challenging, but it also can and should be exciting, not dreadful. Look deeper. 9. Be Confident Don’t let anyone make you believe that you can’t go back to work. Don’t accept an abysmally low salary or a position you hate just because you feel there are no options for you. Be patient, be strategic, and leverage your network. You have raised kids and ran a household on your own; now it’s your turn to take on your goals. Reach higher than you think you can.