VP, HR and Recruiting at Brads Deal's, overseeing the happiness and growth of our team.
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When you apply for a job right after being a stay-at-home parent, it’s hard to know exactly how to present this “away” time on your resume. I encourage you to embrace and highlight all that you have learned about yourself doing some of the most important work you will likely ever encounter — being a parent. Your growth must be shared, and it can have the added benefit of eliminating any gaps in your work history so prospective employers don’t wonder what happened to your career during your time as a stay-at-home parent.
So, what is the best way to include this workforce hiatus on your resume or talk about it in an interview? You shouldn’t discuss giving baths and changing diapers as those aren’t the duties that need highlighting. It’s the soft skills that you develop as a parent that are hard to teach but are extremely valued by employers. Here are some skills you've surely acquired and how you might include them on your resume.
Time management: Able to prioritize key tasks for maximum efficiency while delivering results prior to or at deadlines.
Parents have limited time and a lot to do. As a parent, you have learned to be efficient with the time that you are kid-free. You prioritize your tasks because if you don’t get things accomplished during your few windows of available time, they won't get done at all.
Dealing with ambiguity: Expertise in anticipating needs and wants of important constituents and proactively working toward resolution.
Baby talk is cute but incredibly difficult to decipher. Give yourself credit for being productive despite receiving little to no direction when dealing with unreasonable customers. You create your plan of action and execute on it while still leaving room to pivot and invoke your contingency plan if the “client” is unhappy.
Communication skills: Able to concisely summarize key details to a non-technical audience at an appropriate pace and level.
While parenting, you learned how to describe things best for your audience in a way that is easily digestible and understandable. This translates perfectly into the business world because there are times when key stakeholders won’t have the time — or don’t want to take the time — to understand the details in your work.
Feedback: Comfortable and confident in providing feedback and receiving coaching.
Providing and, let’s be honest, receiving feedback is a cornerstone of parenting. Children and parents live on a two-way street, learning from each other’s feedback. Any organization wants people who are not afraid to voice their thoughts and challenge the status quo while remaining open to being coached.
Multitasking: Able to complete multiple projects and assignments within or prior to established deadlines.
Stay-at-home parents are pros at multitasking. While this may seem like an obvious thing to add to your resume, I caution you to consider the role you are applying to before including this skill. When you are multitasking you aren’t giving 100% of your focus to the task at hand, and that may not be an attractive trait to the hiring manager. This is especially true for roles that need to be focused, precise or detail orientated. Instead, focus on your ability to manage and complete various assignments within or prior to the established deadline.
Keep Your Continuing Education Current
During your time as a stay-at-home parent, if you have a designation or certification that needs continuing education credits, be sure to keep it and stay fresh. Take a moment to highlight that on your resume as it can show prospective employers your motivation and commitment to stay on top of the latest industry trends.
You will likely feel a spectrum of emotions and encounter a number of questions as you look to jump from being a full-time parent back into the workforce. Concern about explaining what you have been doing, however, should not be one of them. All parenting is high-stakes parenting, and the time you spent developing soft skills makes you valuable. Your time away from the office, when embraced as a journey of personal growth, may actually further your career and excite a hiring manager about what you will bring to their team.
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