Resuming Work After Staying Home With Children

Recently, a Harvard Business Review article came out with a finding that “many employers are biased against job applicants who have temporarily stayed at home with their children, even preferring laid-off applicants who have been out of work for the same amount of time.”
 
Opting out of work to care for children “signals a violation of ideal worker norms to employers—norms that expect employees to be highly dedicated to work.”  Opt out applicants are perceived as less committed to work, less reliable, and less deserving of a job than are unemployed applicants.  Employers may be concerned about stay-at-home parents’ prioritizing family over work and worry that such an applicant will decide to leave work again or that they will face difficulties transitioning back to work.
 
Using fictitious resumes, this study revealed that stay-at-home parents were about half as likely to get a callback for an interview as unemployed parents and only one-third as likely as employed parents.  It is worth noting that the employers in the study viewed both stay-at-home applicants and unemployed applicants as less capable than continuously employed applicants (perhaps thinking their skills had declined while they were not working).
 
But many parents do just this – take time off working to care for kids.  A study from 2015 reported that over the past 20 years, 18-20% of mothers did not work for pay, in order to care for children for one or more years, compared to a peak rate of only about 1.2% among fathers. (Flood et al. 2015)
 
If you opt-out now but plan to re-enter the market at some point, you’ll need to address these issues!  One approach is to return to a past employer that already knows you are committed to your work.  Another is to do some things while at home caring for children that will improve you as a candidate later.  You can demonstrate that your skills are current, because you are still engaged professionally.  You are reliable and committed because you carry on with commitments even while “staying at home.”  You are comfortable with transitioning back and forth from parenting to professional life by having outside obligations and accomplishments.  You are dedicated to work even while you take time for family. 

Here are some specific ways to be able to show these skills and qualities: ​

• Take a class or webinar to improve skills and knowledge.  With the plethora of online college options, this is more doable even with parenting considerations.  You might even look at getting either college degree or a Master's degree--something you can do a class or two at a time.
• Share your expertise in your field as a lecturer. Teach a continuing education class or certificate program at a local community college.  Speak at a conference or give a guest talk in a class or seminar. 
• Share your expertise through writing and interactive discussions online.  Write a blog, book, or article.  Participate in LinkedIn discussions.  Comment on postings relevant to your field on various platforms and groups. Answer questions on Quora. Create/establish your online presence as a Subject Matter Expert in your field. You can then use this content to create a portfolio or even website for yourself which you can use when you are ready to go back to work.
• Volunteer a few hours a month or quarter. The key to volunteering is that it must be generally in your field. 
• Provide independent consultation services or work a temporary project/event.  The goal is showing demonstrable results. One client a quarter is just as valid as 40 hours a week.
• Attend networking events such as professional association groups or Meetups. If you can’t find anything, consider starting something!
• Keep up with your professional contacts and continue to build new ones. Because when you are ready to return to the workforce, it will likely be via people who know you, know your work, and feel comfortable recommending you to their networks. There are so many ways to stay in touch - LinkedIn, email, instant messaging, video chat, Facebook and other social media channels are all electronic avenues for us to keep our networks robust.