Going Back To Work: What Should A SAHM Put On Her CV?  

You made the decision when you had your first or subsequent child a few years ago to be the main caregiver in your family so you left your job and became a stay-at-home mum (SAHM). But your children have grown up and are either now in school so don't need care 24/7 or perhaps you have found other care arrangements that allow you to return to full-time work. It could even be a financial decision, for the benefit of your family. 

This can be a daunting process even before you get a job. For example, putting your curriculum vitae (CV) or resume together could take up a lot of time and you might be mulling over what to include and what to leave out. After all, will potential employers not want to know you took a few years off to bring up your children? Continuity in a career is a plus for sure. So do you make something up and swerve around the last few years? 

Times and mindsets have changed

Richa Doyle, director of Page Personnel Singapore, says that SAHMs re-joining the workforce isn't as looked down upon as it perhaps was in the past. 

“As we move into a more aware workforce society, there isn’t much of a negative stigma to being a SAHM as there probably was before,” she explains. “Which means, adding in your CV that you were a SAHM and your key responsibilities are nothing to shy away from.”

“In fact, if you were a SAHM during Covid and you had to self-teach your kids and go through training programmes and home-school them with a strict educational guideline – there are some jobs which would value those skillsets and see them as someone who is not afraid to take on new projects, a strong multitasker and a strong team player with the ability to pick things up quickly,” she adds.

Her advice? Don’t shy away from mentioning your time as a SAHM but remember that clarity is key so adding a few pointers on what you did and the duration you did it for more than suffices.

What new skills have you picked up?

Sher-li Torrey, founder of Mums@Work, also advises women not to leave out their stint as a SAHM. Many individuals indicate information like, "On a career hiatus to look after family | June 2019 - April 2021", she cites as an example, and advises to include this under the "Work Experience" category in your CV. 

You may also indicate skills that you picked up during your years as a SAHM, says Sher-li. For example, learning a new language or taking a course on digital marketing would fall under work-related skills. There are various non-work-related skills you would have acquired as a SAHM that you could include in your CV. She gives the following examples: 

• Single-handedly managed the household budgets of two families over a three-year timespan
• Volunteered in child's school: Event planning skills developed through arranging Teacher's Day appreciation lunch (Ran together with three other ex-co team members of Parent Volunteer group)

“These are made up cases but show you why it's important to show the employer that you were meaningfully using your time away from formal work: caregiving plus picking up new skills,” she adds. “And for those who have to relocate, points about adaptability to new environment, creating new relationships and connections, volunteering...these all add value to you.”

Richa agrees that there are many transferable skills SAHMs could stress on when applying for jobs: “If you were active in your kids' school activities such as bake sales, fundraisers or charity events and if you had helped to improve sales or funds and organised the event for example for over 100 kids – these are great skillsets to add to your list of skillsets achieved and gained during your time as a SAHM."

“Listen, no one messes with a SAHM wanting to go back to work – the workforce is very much aware of how no-nonsense they are with their time!” she adds.  

Being a value-add employee

It's not just about highlighting your transferable skills, though. You also need to show how these skillsets you have perfected while being a SAHM can add value to the company or role you're looking for, then sell against their needs, says Richa. 

Sher-li explains why it's important to mention what you've been doing while you were away from the professional world – because of two main concerns that employers have.

“The greatest fear of employers is relevancy of skills, so taking a course to upgrade – even if it’s a one-day workshop – is a sign of 'I did upgrade',” she says. “The second greatest fear of employers is – 'you stayed at home and did not socialise much beyond your children or ageing parents'. So try to, again, show where you did volunteer work or partnered people for social events, including tasks such as planning, execution, feedback and so on. Put these in your resume and cover letter.”

Sher-li advises to state your motivation for returning to work too. This should be done clearly in both the cover letter and profile of your CV. For the uninitiated, a profile is a concise introduction about yourself right at the top of your resume, and is the first thing hirers will read.

“I insist that career returners put in a profile of their CV as it helps them to draw awareness to points which they cannot always include in the CV,” she explains. 

Pick up new skills

If you're planning to return to the workforce, there is one thing you can do beforehand – upgrading your computer skills. 

“During the pandemic, the workforce became much more virtual so brushing up or taking simple basic online courses on how to use online video conferencing apps; a few of them would be helpful. As well as all Microsoft Office tools, as they have changed a little and getting familiar with them again doesn’t hurt,” says Richa. 

She has the following tips for your CV:

1. Powerful three to five lines on intention for getting back into the workforce as introduction statement
2. Highlight transferable skills
3. Don’t hide your employment gaps
4. Market mum-skills against the job and requirements
5. Have a strong professional CV photo

Sher-li stresses the importance of drawing awareness to your transferable skills. She holds resume-writing seminars regularly, aimed at women returning to the workforce. One of the things she teaches in these workshops is to redesign your resume to be skills-based.

“This means re-defining your past work experience into skillsets as this highlights your skills. These are likely to stay with you, as opposed to your experience which, if was too long ago, makes you sound backdated,” she adds.