I completely agree.
Inevitably when we become mothers, we have to take time off to look after our children.
For a lot of people, this is for the duration of maternity but others may choose to take longer off, sometimes even until their children start secondary school or later.
Each mother will make this decision based on what she feels is right for her family but regardless of what she decides, it should not lead to employment discrimination down the line.
A CEO of a career coaching and talent recruiting company and a dad, Jeff Martin wants to put an end to mums with career gaps on their CVs being turned down for positions.
In a plea on LinkedIn, the Maryland-based father wrote to recruiters;
“Recruiters: If a woman has a gap in her resume due to raising a child or maternity leave, it does not mean that she forgot how to work or lost any of her skills. If anything, I believe she will be even more determined. Don’t overlook those resumes. Pick up the phone and have a conversation – I promise you will find some major winners
Talking to too many moms that are having a hard time getting back to work after raising a kid. Let’s change that together.”
Lets face it, not only do mums not forget any skills they obtained before they became mothers but they also learn a whole new set of skills from being a mother too.
These new skills including multitasking, organisational skills and of course, how to function with absolutely no sleep.
Many mums replied describing their own experiences of applying for jobs after taking a break to raise their children;
“It’s absolutely a systemic issue across the board. I had multiple recruiters ‘advise’ me that I’m ‘starting over’ after only a few months gap and should ‘stick to entry level positions.’ It’s absolute discrimination and needs to stop. If a woman is qualified, recommend her to the hiring manager. If a woman is qualified, hire her.”
I remember before I went on maternity leave being told about a option on LinkedIn called ‘pregnant pause’ wherein you write ‘pregnant pause’ as your current job position.
The reason for this is to let future employers know exactly what you were doing during this period and also establishing the fact that motherhood is in itself an important job.
