I became a stay at home mom five years ago. During this time, I finished my bachelor’s degree and went on to get a master’s degree. In my graduate classes, we were usually required to introduce ourselves and what our jobs were. I was constantly saying “Oh, I’m JUST a stay-at-home mom,” like I was ashamed. I was always so embarrassed because everyone else already had careers started and I felt like I was behind. Every now and then, I find a job listing that I want to apply for, but I usually don’t because they almost always require three or more years of relevant job experience. I almost never apply to these jobs because I think to myself, “Well I guess I won’t apply because I’ve been a stay-at-home mom and have no relevant job experience.”
Do you ever feel like this as a stay-at-home mom?
Like you’ve “wasted” good career years by choosing to stay home? I am here to tell you that you have nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about. You have been taking care of your family and should never ever feel bad about that. There are many ways you can add experience as a stay-at-home mom to your resume to help land the job you want. You may not be up to date with the latest software, but how about the skills you have developed in multitasking, conflict management, organization and/or time management? It might not be best to tie these to your children, but you could try adding things to your resume like, “In my previous experience, I have become excellent at organization” or “I am excellent at time management.” I see a lot of job postings that are looking for candidates who have experience in de-escalation or de-escalation training. If you have more than one kid, I know you have had to break up a fight or two (or in my case 1,000).
Just because you don’t get paid to stay home and care for your children doesn’t mean it isn’t relevant for future job searches. Being a stay-at-home mom is hard work and you have learned and become much more capable than you think. Employees are looking for emotionally intelligent, trainable, accomplished and ambitious employees.
So don’t sell yourself short, mama. You’ve got this!
