Would You Mention Being SAHM or Having Kids During an Interview?

I take the unexpected approach and tell them I do have a daughter that is 19 and in college so having to take time off for family would not be a problem of mine. I'm 46 but am told I look atleast ten years younger, prime little kid time! I don't want them to think about it because they will! In my industry it takes usually 6 -12 interviews, group meetings and presentations to receive an offer.

You have been working the entire time, I wouldn't worry about it. Potential employers can't ask about children but I always like to clear up any potential worries. If you have wonderful, reliable daycare and a husband that will help out then I think that is a selling point when you get much closer to an offer.

I would never mention that, and you didn't spend a year being a stay at home mom. You didn't take off work due to family reasons. You spent a year running your own business. Running your own business should appear on your resume and be a part of your work history. This is valuable experience! You need to reframe how you think of the way you spent the past year. Your potential employer cannot ask if you are married, have children, how old you are, etc. but you always need an explanation for an extended absence from employment - however, you were still working! You need to think of running a business as working, not being a stay at home mom.

Do not mention your children during an interview, ever. You can say that you left whatever job in 2011 and started your own company, but that for various reasons, it didn't work out, and you're interested in going back to your previous line of work. All of that is true. Many, many people tried going out on their own in these past few years; you certainly aren't alone in that, and even though the industry was different, it's still a business that you ran. Don't sell yourself short. Sure, your reasons may have been different than most, but that's none of anybody's business but your own.

Being married is not a liability in an interview. Having children is. Whatever you do, don't mention that you have an infant during an interview. Ever. It is ILLEGAL for them to ask you if you have children; if you don't bring it up, they can't ask.

It's illegal to ask if you have children and I would not divulge that you have young children. It's just that parents of young children tend to take off work a lot and employers don't like that. You took off and ran your own business.
'Nuff said.

I would never take off my wedding ring or avoid letting a potential employer know that I am a mother. The interviewer will ask you questions about yourself and I would just be honest. If your qualified for the job, you deserve the opportunity to apply and be considered along with other candidates.

You're overthinking this.

NO. Don't take off your wedding rings.

When I was going through a divorce, I hadn't worked in 10 years. That's a HUGE gap to explain. I simply stated that we had been relocated a lot with my husband's position (which was true) and that now being settled in one area long term, I was ready and eager to re-enter the work force and focus on my own career.

I'd had an outstanding work history prior to my marriage so I focused on that. I didn't mention my divorce, I didn't mention my kids, I emphasized why I would be the best person for the position I was interviewing for.

If you've run your own home based business, by all means, feel free to mention that. It may not be directly related to the position, but stress the organizational skills, record keeping, etc, that it took to make it happen.

There's nothing wrong with saying, "I feel I really thrive in a more corporate business setting and I hope for the opportunity to utilize my skills".

There are certain things that prospective employers can't legally ask you so you can skirt certain issues without being deceptive.

Just make dang sure that you have daycare in place and backup plans. Be ready to hit the floor running.

Best wishes to you!
Good luck!

I don't think running a daycare is job hopping. If they ask I would say I opened a daycare. They don't need to know where it was at.

Interviews are not meant to get to know you better personally, it is meant to know how well you fit the job.

Job interviews are not just for the employer to vet you, it is for you to vet them and the position as well. For me, the best interviews I've had, that also resulted in offers, were the ones that I went to with the attitude that I was interviewing them to see if the job and workplace fit me, not the other way around. They want to find a good fit...if they know you are looking for that too, and are not shy about saying so and asking questions, you can come across as very confident and more of an equal in the process, not someone with their fingers crossed nervously hoping to make an good impression and be liked.

Some employers and industries are more family friendly than others. You don't mention what you are interviewing for, which may make a difference in how you approach it. But as a general rule, I think you can't go wrong by being honest.

Personally, having kids and being a sahm is such a huge part of who I am, how I see things in the world, and how I handle day to day life that I can't imagine leaving out that information. Even though it is illegal for them to ask, if the conversation flows in a way that it makes sense to talk about it, I would. If the interviewer is uncomfortable with any of my questions or answers in an interview that is an indication it may not be the job for me.

Do I really want to stress over a day off to care for a sick child? No, caring for the sick child is stressful enough, I wouldn't want to work for someone who added stress on top of that. Legal or not, discrimination does happen and if I find myself on the receiving end of it, either during the interview or after getting the job, I'd probably seriously reconsider my place in the company.

I would never tell them that I have children. They cannot ask and I will not bring it up. Kids get sick and you have to take off work because of it. It's not considered a good thing in the job world to have lots of kids. Now once hired I have no problem talking about my kids, it just has no place in the interview.

I see no reason to take off my wedding band. I can't see how having a husband could hinder my work.

My last interview I just said that I took some time off to focus on running the household. Since I was a SAHM for 2 years. It's great that you can just mention that you were running your own business.

Good luck

The fact that you landed an interview should give you major confidence, especially in this economy!! Way to go! I believe since you have in-home daycare on your resume they might assume you have your own children.

You can work the two together. I decided to run my own business at home when I had my son...if it comes up. You obviously have no gaps on your resume bc of your in-home business.

And please, wear your wedding ring. It's a shame that women STILL have to feel this insecure about their marital and parenthood status.

Good luck!!

I just finished a course on creating a professional profile, and we were told to definitely include stay-at-home parenting in our profile, as parenting requires many skills that employers may be looking for and it explains gaps in employment.

You weren't a SAHM, you were a small business owner. That is a huge difference. I'm a SAHM and I am not trying to diminish what we do, but being a small business owner is much more relevant to any job hunt, no matter what the field is, than being a SAHM. If asked, just state plainly that when your son was born, you saw the opportunity to open your business, but now you are ready to work in a different field. You can even talk about all the experiences you had that would be relevant in any job - having to do business research, having to self-motivate, managing finances, managing clients, etc. It won't look like job hopping - spin it well, and it looks like a year of intense professional development. Good luck!