By: Jason Kay
Submitted: 2009-12-29 18:38:12 | Word Count: 514
When you are a full time mom and you are about to re enter the workforce you will have to create a great looking resume, as does anyone these days, to ensure you will get plenty of calls from potential employers for interviews. The problem is that you will have gaps in your resume when it comes to the work history portion of the resume and you may be a bit apprehensive as to how to fill in those gaps.
While no employer likes to see time gaps there is a certain way to go about filling in those gaps and there is a certain way not to fill in those gaps. Here is what you should and shouldn’t do in relation to the time gaps on your resume:
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• Don’t get cute: Don’t get cute and use terms like, ‘mom’s taxi’ or ‘housekeeping specialist’ as these terms may not go over so well with some potential employers. There is no doubt that deciding to stay home with your kids in the first several years of their lives is an admirable thing to do but not everyone will think this way. Many potential employers may not like the fact that you got to stay at home with your kids because perhaps they did not and when you use cute terms to highlight the fact that you did get to stay at home it may be taken as a face rubbing of sorts.
• Try to find relevance: Use your noggin; did you do anything during your time out of the workforce that could be construed as work related? Maybe you were on the board of the PTA in which case you could cite the countless hours of volunteer work that you did and put that down. Maybe you took an online class in which case you can tell about how you took the time to further your education. Get creative in this instance but remember to always tell the truth.
• Don’t leave it blank: However you decide to go about writing your mom resume don’t leave the time that you stayed at home with the kids blank. While time gaps can be tough as it is to explain, a potential employer will not want to see a huge gap and may think that you simply didn’t want to work or maybe even that you have something to hide when they see a huge time gap left blank. It is always better to put down something over nothing.
When being a full time mom there were probably many instances where you had to get creative and improvise. Well filling out your mom resume is no different. Use your head and think before you write and there is bound to be something that you can put down to fill in the gaps. If you raised kids full time for several years this should not be any more challenging than that was for you. Make it sound good and professional and then explain your case once you have the interview locked up.
