Professional Moms: How did you put SAHM on your resume if you were one?

[ha98ed14]

Remember that lunch I went to? Well, the person asked for my resume, which of course I sent. He was going to pass it on to some people he knew. I told him this was my job experience related to my field, but it only goes up though 2007, when DD was born. He replied and said I needed to add being an SAHM and the other things I have done in the past 4 years to my resume. In total I have to add:

*Being SAHM
*Working as a math tutor (off-and-on; I never worked for a company)
*Taking some math and education classes (post grad level) related to math tutoring
*Some community involvement/civic engagement related to my field in the city where I live

My contact told me to add these things under my "experience" section, which means I will have to re-organize my resume.
Does anyone have ANY idea how to add these things to a resume? How do you phrase: "I wipe noses and butts and shop sales and wash clothes and pay bills and run.the.show at my house!" and make it look like you should get professional credit for it?

My resume is currently organized backwards chronologically with descriptions of the work I did under each job title. I have the first section "Employment Experience" for things that I got paid for, and then "Internship Experience" for things that I volunteered for or did while a student (grad school). I had 2 internships in my field plus a stint with Americorps, which a previous boss told me never to take off of my resume. I work in a field that calls people to community involvement, and this shows mine. I believe that was his thinking.

FWIW, I do *not* have a diverse resume. All my job & internship experience plus my undergrad and grad degrees are in the same field. I am worried that the math tutoring/ education things I have been doing are going to stick out just because they are so unrelated to my current field (except the civic engagement stuff). My field was/is NOT education, so tutoring and education classes were because I was contemplating a career change that I decided against. Does it look bad to have it on my resume things that kind of give away the fact that I was thinking of changing careers, but didn't? Now I am going my to my original field.

Buckets(!) of gratitude to anyone who read all this and even more(!!!) to anyone with time to shed some light on this for me!

[egoldber]

I just listed the date range and said stay at home parent. That was it. I mean it is what it is. No use hiding an 8 year gap in my resume.

In your case, I would list the tutoring work and the education.

[ha98ed14]

I just listed the date range and said stay at home parent. That was it. I mean it is what it is. No use hiding an 8 year gap in my resume.

In your case, I would list the tutoring work and the education.

My contact told me to list the civic engagement because it's related to my professional field. You think I should only put the tutoring work on there?

[egoldber]

Sorry, I missed that. If it's relevant, I would list it. But I wouldn't go fishing for something to put on there.

[mommylamb]

I'm not in your shoes, but I think if I were, I might include a synopsis statement at the top that mentions being a SAHM, and maybe elaborate on that in any cover letters you send out. I'd list the Math tutor work under work experience, the classes under education, and whatever community involvement work you did under volunteer experience. I agree with your colleague who said to never take your Americorps experience off your resume. It looks good. It's a conversation point.

[pinkmomagain]

Hmm...For this job (since you are looking to go back to your original lineof work) maybe you want to consider listing the math tutoring but not the courses you took. That way it looks like you were resourceful and picking up work while being a SAHM without suggesting you were looking to switch careers (which may be inferred from the education).

But please take my POV from where it comes...I have not sought employment in about 18yrs! Hopefully others will chime in shortly!

[pb&j]

I just listed the date range and said stay at home parent. That was it. I mean it is what it is. No use hiding an 8 year gap in my resume.

In your case, I would list the tutoring work and the education.

I agree. I've never been a SAHP, but I also do butt- and nose-wiping, sale shopping, bill paying, meal planning, and generally run the household. I don't put that on my resume. When I've been involved in hiring decisions, I really don't care what kind of spin a SAHP puts on their experience as a SAHP - in my line of work and most professional careers, those skills aren't relevant. Tutoring, civic engagement, and volunteering all demonstrate skill sets and commitment that are relevant to professional work. I'd rather see an employment gap than a clever reframing of the time away from work.

[Gena]

I'm not in your shoes, but I think if I were, I might include a synopsis statement at the top that mentions being a SAHM, and maybe elaborate on that in any cover letters you send out.

This is what I did.

[BabbyO]

I would take your contact's advice to heart. He has the inside line...and is correct that you shouldn't show an 8 year gap without some explanation.

I'd list that you were a stay at home parent, your tutoring experience, and even your unrelated class experience.

If asked about it...you can say that you picked up the tutoring to help bring home some $$ and that prompted you to take the classes you took. I also think that it doesn't have to be a bad thing that you explored/looked into other career options. You can state that after looking into it, you realized that your original field is really where you passion lies.

I was laid off for 3 mo (I know its no where near the same amount of time) but in tough economic times I was offered 3 positions when others I knew with the same or more experience in my field didn't get any or only 1 offer. Each person that interviewed me was impressed that I'd both worked part-time for a local utility AND spent A LOT of time volunteering for our community theatre. I described the set building/painting, advertising, and general organization/clean-up I did for our community theatre. These activities couldn't be more un-related to my field (I'm a civil engineer), but just the fact that I was out doing something went a LONG way for the interviewers.

Best of luck!

[kozachka]

I put "stay at home parent" and date range in the Other section of my resume and part-time project based work for "My last name and Partners", my husband's firm in the Experience section but did not explain that it was my husband's firm unless asked. Some people made assumptions that it was my business, which was not a bad thing for getting invited to interviews but I was sure to clarify my role if it came up.

I was lucky that the first job that I got after being a SAHM was offered to me by a guy who knew me from way back and who was under pressure to fill the position quickly. I did have to have a resume for his partner, who also knew me and my husband but not as well, and firm employees who also interviewed me. It was easier for subsequent jobs since I already had work experience after the SAHP gap.

Good luck with the lead, and I'd follow your contact's suggestion to a t.