There comes a time for most of us when the kids are in school most of the day and we actually have some spare time. And, as this time approaches, many of us have to admit it is a time we have been eagerly looking forward to because we now have the opportunity to go back to work. (Note to Mums all over: don't feel guilty. Every woman has a limit to the number of nappies, play dates, and sleepless nights we can handle before losing our last shred of sanity. The usual office politics is frequently a welcome relief to another bout of colic or a week long contagious disease!)
However, if you've been away for a significant amount of time – let's say you waited for all the kiddies to head off to university instead of Grade One – you'll need to find a way to bring some value to what you now have to offer. Have no fear! You've probably been able to accrue more marketable skills than you think.
Keep in mind that "experience" doesn't necessarily mean "what have you been paid to do for the past umpteen years?". It means, "What can you do that is important to me and my company?" Don't sabotage yourself before you even try for your first interview.
As all your kiddies heading off to university would probably say, "Let's get real". They have a point! Mums – hear me loud and clear! You are a valuable, welcome, rare, and very qualified commodity for many areas in the workforce.
"Why?" you ask? Simple! You've just spent a decade more or less managing an intricate operation. You probably never got to the point of selling common stock or going public, but you have still been in total control over and responsible for the success of: the daily operations, profit, managing the budget, reducing costs and unnecessary expenditures, purchasing, communications, training and tutoring, maintenance, travel arrangements, event coordination, benefits and insurance planning, employee negotiations, transportation, shipping, logistics, temp workers, PR releases, cafeteria supplies and menus, managing shift workers, banking and finance, establishing bonus programs, and of course managing salaries.
Does any of this sound familiar? It should! This is what a normal mid to large size company manages to accomplish on a daily basis – with individual department managers to handle each individual task.
What's the major difference? The difference is that you did it all by yourself. Unless you really did have paid and hired help to get you through the child rearing years, yes, it was YOU who ran the family, managed the household, cared for the kids (and pets, hubby, elderly parents, stray cats, leaky sinks, and broken lawn mowers) and made it through. (Give yourself a big round of applause here!)
Now that we've pretty much established all your qualities, we need to put them into a resume that will immediately stand out from all the others in the pile. We have to maximise your value for all employers to see. It shouldn't be too hard, right? After all, how many other candidates actually can say they are experienced in managing virtually every aspect of a successful corporation?
I know many of you are saying, "Oh No. Not me. I don't really have any skills. I took my kid to child care and came home to cook and clean and maybe pick up my husband at the train station. Well, sometimes I volunteered at the local nursing home. Oh – I ran a charitable event for my church, too, to help shelter animals. And, um, I helped all my neighbours organise a huge garage sale last year. And I taught a friend's grandmother how to use a computer and email. And sometimes I'll go to my husband's office to help with the mail and pay the bills. But that's it. I really haven't done much that was worth while."
It REALLY upsets me to talk to mums who really believe they have nothing to offer. But listen ! All you need is an experienced, professional agency such as Impressive Resumes to help translate all your "mummy" experience into valuable work history. And since many of us here are mummies, we're a step ahead of you in knowing what you need to get what you want and deserve.
In situations like this, I highly recommend what is called a Functional Resume. This serves two purposes: it puts your capabilities right out there up front. There are a lot of pros and cons as to where to put all your skills on a resume, but in a Functional Resume, that's the entire purpose – put them first. Rather than detail each individual job – which can get very repetitive if you have the same career year after year where duties change little (dental nurse, truck driver, sales manager, etc.), all your skills are listed right away to impress the employer right away.
A functional resume also helps to hide gaps in employment since your employment history is listed later on and possible gaps won't be so obvious. Remember – a resume is nothing more than your personal marketing piece. It's a "tease". It's meant to give an employer just enough information so that he is dying to learn more about you.
This type of resume can be very persuasive in interesting employers enough to learn more about you, and has proven to be a very successful format for virtually any industry. Certainly, a wonderful tool for anyone who has significant gaps in employment…like returning to work mums!
