Perhaps no career challenge is more difficult and emotionally stressful than attempting to return to work after a prolonged absence.  It does not matter if the absence is due to job loss, motherhood, chronic illness, active military duty or family medical leave. Any large gaping hole in your resume’s work experience immediately flags you as potentially unreliable or less dedicated to your work and employer.

Dr. Katherine Weisshaar at the University of North Carolina, recently studied this bias against people reentering the workforce after an extended absence.  According to her study, “After submitting … fictitious job applications to 3,374 real job listings, I recorded which applicants received requests for interviews or more information. Unsurprisingly, I found that employed applicants had the highest callback rates: 15.3% of the employed mothers received a callback, as did 14.6% of the employed fathers. Unemployed applicants were disadvantaged relative to the employed applicants: 9.7% of unemployed mothers and 8.8% of unemployed fathers received a callback. The stay-at-home parent applicants fared the worst of all. Only about 4.9% of stay-at-home mothers and 5.4% of stay-at-home fathers received a callback. This is about half the rate of the unemployed applicants, and one third the rate of employed applicants.” (Weisshaar, K. 2018)

Others have likened the stress of reentering the workforce to be nearly identical to the emotional pressures felt by soldiers returning to civilian life after an extended period of combat service.  In both cases the reentering employee feels out of touch, and often experience anxiety, apprehension, and fear. Just as it is for returning soldiers, stay-at-home moms and others reentering the workforce are highly recommended to seek out counseling or coaching to prepare and support them through this journey.

An Executive Coach can help you prepare a resume that obfuscates your employment gap by being skills focused instead of organized around your employment history. By using role-play techniques, the executive coach can prepare you to confidently answer questions about your past work history when they arise during the interview process. Your coach will also recommend course work that can help you come back up to speed on the latest technologies and techniques in your field. An executive coach can also help you strategically target those companies that are likely best suited for your reentering the workforce.  Most importantly, your executive coach will be in your corner, helping to keep you motivated when you meet with the inevitable rejections along your journey to job success.   

Reference:
Weisshaar, K. (2018) From opt out to blocked out: Stay-at-home parents face challenges re-entering the workforce. Retrieved from:  http://www.wipsociology.org/2018/04/24/from-opt-out-to-blocked-out-stay-at-home-parents-face-challenges-re-entering-the-workforce/#more-432