For many people, back-to-school and the first of September represent the true beginning of the new year. Earlier this month, I did a special for NBC on job search for parents returning to work (usually moms) after a period out of the work force raising their families. Consider these statistics: More than 5 million women and somewhere in the vicinity of 100,000 men are stay-at-home parents. Of this pool, nearly half a million return to work each year. The phrase coined to describe the mothers is "sequencing moms."
Here are the top 10 strategies for the classic example of a woman returning to work after spending an extended number of years raising her family.
1. The best way for a return-to-work candidate to begin the job search process is to create a list highlighting all experience (paid/unpaid) and specific skills. Consider all background—volunteer in school, parent-teacher organization, fundraising, church group (mention without denomination), town politics (again, mention without party affiliation), and sports activities. Draw experiences from these activities (organized a telethon, raised money for new library collection, spearheaded youth lacrosse club organization, chaired scholarship committee, etc.).
2. The return-to-work candidate must have an exceptional resume and, whether chronological or skills-based, should have a solid “Qualifications Profile” section with strong narrative and bullet points summarizing key qualifications for the targeted position. This should be edited to specifically suit different opportunities. A two-page resume is fine for the return-to-work candidate.
3. Save an objective statement for the cover letter and reiterate a match between experience/strengths and the requirements of the job.
4. Effective ways to address the gap: ACTIVE COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER/PARENT (1999-Present) … then highlight roles held: PTA Vice President, Smith Elementary School (2 years) … Playground Fundraising Chair (orchestrated effort to raise more than $40,000 for safe playscape) … Member (appointed), Conservation Commission (since 2002).
To address care-giving absences: CARE-GIVING SABBATICAL (2003-05) … Provided full-time care to elderly parent through end-stages of illness. Simultaneously maintained memberships in all professional associations and stayed fully current on industry knowledge through professional subscriptions and CEUs. (NOTE: If you haven’t taken a class in anything work-related in more than 8 or 10 years, consider an adult ed class or two in Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint as a start.)
5. Flush out all experience (including community/volunteer) with details about how you were successful … for a return-to-work sales professional, you could say, “Used exceptional relationship cultivation and management skills to build organization of more than 50 volunteers and sponsor Special Olympics Activity Day in community … spearheaded fundraising arm of organization through direct contacts with decision-makers at more than 20 corporate sponsors” with result-oriented details. Think of showing Challenge – Action – Result (“CAR” stories) in crafting these achievements on your resume.
6. Avoid over-use of bullets (the “laundry list” look) but don’t be too text-heavy or “densely written” either … a mix of succinct narrative with selective bullets is the best way to go.
7. Keep it professional! While you may reference volunteer/school-related activities heavily, do not list number of kids, birth date or place, marital status, or social security number.
8. Ensure a nice, clean layout, good use of white space, and a font 11 points or bigger in size for text. An off-white paper makes the most professional statement.
9. Proofread carefully (an understatement).
10. It’s vital to have an aggressive search plan—target family-friendly companies (every year, Working Mother magazine develops a list of 100 of the best companies for working mothers). Referrals by name are your best bet!
For those of you contemplating a return to the work force, I wish you every success!
– Jan Melnik, MRW, CCM, CPRW, President, Absolute Advantage