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XP: How bad does a brief (voluntary) hiatus look? How to explain?
Backstory: Last November, DH got a rather short term (allegedly a year) transfer a few time zones away. As I was 6 months pregnant at the time, and getting to the point where my OB didn't want me doing the extensive travel required for my job, I decided to come with him and not look for a job because I was (1) about to pop out my first baby; and (2) I didn't want to quit after a year/year and a half. I've been a SAH"M" since; though my son wasn't born till Feb.<br><br>
A few weeks ago, I put my resume on Monster just to see what was out there, and got a call from one of those recruiting agencies. The woman I met with - who sought ME out - was extremely negative about my chances of getting hired with my period of unemployment, and of how I'd left my last job after only 3 years. The industry I was in has such high turnover though, that on a team of 30, I had the second-most seniority. She ended up telling me that those two factors made me worth about 50% of what I was making half a year ago! The COL of this area vs the one we came from is similar. She told me to not even mention that pregnancy/baby played into my hiatus, and to "just blame it on the move". <br><br>
Umm... I was thinking I would be honest and mention that I have a family as an acid test. If an employer is one of those who expects superlong hours and employees who eat/sleep/breathe the job, they won't hire me, which would be great because they wouldn't be a fit anyway. <br><br>
Chances are, we're not going back to the city we came from at the end of this rotation - DH is applying for permanent positions in a third city where our families live. My old employer, though I'm sure they'd take me back, does not have an office in the target city. <br><br>
So... have I totally destroyed my career by taking these past 7 months off? I have a BS from a good school, and nearly 9 years' work experience in management consulting up until recently. How do I explain my hiatus to an employer in a way that sounds legit, but won't be counted against me?
...no thanks to my PCOS (Dx 2006,though should've been dx during maybe the Clinton years).
P/SAIF always welcome, especially if you share your sticky baby dust! **Looking to buy some gently used, one size Fuzzibunz. PM/Page me if you're selling. Thanks!**
Re: XP: How bad does a brief (voluntary) hiatus look? How to explain?
I actually agree with the recruiter that you at least focus more on the fact that you moved with DH vs focusing on the fact that you had a baby. It just opens you up to people making certain assumptions about you that you don't need to open with. You'll have plenty of opportunity to find out about work/life balance without using your LO as an "acid test".
But I also think your recruiter sounds like a drama queen.
IMO you haven't destroyed your career with a 7-month layoff, especially in this economy where layoffs have been rampant. Then again, I don't know your field. I'd simply state that you moved to a new area and are interested in getting back into your field. Then see how it goes.
Our little Irish rose came to us on March 5, 2010
Don't drink the water.
Disclaimer: I am not an MD. Please don't PM me with pregnancy-related questions. Ask your doctor.
If I were the employer I'd want the truth. If you spun it into something else and I hired you and THEN heard the truth, you'd be the first I'd let go when cuts were being made.
The truth is always the best.
LOL! Yes, this definitely.
So it doesn't look "job hopper"-ish then, that I left a job after almost 3 years?
...no thanks to my PCOS (Dx 2006,though should've been dx during maybe the Clinton years).
P/SAIF always welcome, especially if you share your sticky baby dust! **Looking to buy some gently used, one size Fuzzibunz. PM/Page me if you're selling. Thanks!**
The truth = good (i.e., "I moved and took a couple of months off to acclimate, and I'm excited to get back to work!")
The WHOLE truth = oversharing. No one gives the whole truth in a first social interaction of any kind (e.g., "Well, first we moved, then I pushed a baby out of my vagina. I was in labor for 14 hours. I breast fed, but developed a nipple infection after two months. Now, I'm using my mentions of my baby to "test" whether I'll ever have to work past 5pm, and, if so, how often. I also will refuse to work all major holidays and any weekends. And, oh yeah---I'm that ahole who microwaves fish and popcorn in the office break room. Want to hire me now?")
I have asked several mentors about how long I need to stay on a job before I will no longer look like a job hopper, and they said the minimum is 2 years. That said, I'm confident it depends on the industry you're in, but you mentioned turnover at your company-do you know if that can be extrapolated to the whole industry? If so, you're probably safe.