My neighbor is ready to go work outside the home after 9 years and raising 3 boys. She's gone on a few interviews. They love her but then say "Oh, I see here you haven't worked for 9 years." She doesn't have a solid response to overcoe this objection and knows it's over. I gave her suggestions but wanted to give her more. Any ideas what she can read or say to get passed this blockade?
tell them the truth. shes been raising her sons and is now ready to join the workforce once again. believe it or not most people understand.also knowing she has raised 3 boys shows she can multi task.
maybe saying something like "yes, i decided to stay at home with my 3 children to give them all my attention and now i feel that because i did that when they were young, i can give a 100% to this job now" a little brown nosing couldn't hurt!!
I would just be very confident and positive and say YES I took time out to raise my children and now that they are older I would like to get back into the work world and leave it at that.
I just read an article on this and if I can locate it, I will send more. The one thing I do remember is that you should clearly and confidently state "I chose to stay home...with my children...or...while my kids were young... The important word being "chose". She shouldn't let the comment/question shake her confidence. Afterall, it's an important job she's been doing for 9 years. Her strength will show through to the interviewer if she can respond strongly without skipping a beat. Good luck to her.
I would say, "Those 9 years were working at home doing more then anyone would expect in the workplace and it prepared me to do anything asked of me day or night!"
I am often on the other end of this conversation as an HR Manager. I have found that many stay at home moms assume that they have no 'work' experience and undermine themselves when it comes to interviewing. In one case, I asked a mom whether she managed the family budget (answer was 'yes'), whether she had to handle multiple priorities ('yes'), whether she had volunteered for school committees or other neighborhood non-profits ('yes'). Obviously she had many experiences that were relevant for the workplace, but she wasn't connecting the dots. As a mom, I knew that staying at home doesn't mean that you check your brain for those years - you are managing a household which is more than a lot of people can do. I think the best thing is to make a list of all the things you've done to keep the household running, and use that to show that you have transferable skills. The key is to be able to connect what you've done at home with what you would do on the job.
As a recruiter I have counceled people on this all the time. She did have a job, and one of the hardest out there. ANd if she was paid for all the jobs a stay at home mom does, she would never have to go back to working "outside the home". I would suggest mentioning that. she could also look on career builder and also monster.com. They have tons of advice. I can get into more detail if you would like. Let me know! Good luck!
