Thank you DCUM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I seriously don't believe OP. Not even a little bit.

The whole scenario sounds ridiculous. Hiring someone directly for a remote position. And the remote position is an Executive Director role.

I thought the same thing. Not too many exec directors are 100% remote

As a director myself with WFH options I have to agree. Moving up the ladder has caused my ability to WFH to dwindle. I have 8 direct reports and over 500 people fall under my name on the org chart. I have a ton of meetings, industry events, and speaking engagements....plus I pretty much babysit grown ass adults.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the snark especially about not believing (one of my favorite comments on DCUM). It's for a small trade association that's moving away from an AMC to a virtual office--everyone will work from home minus local committee meetings/member events.

My best advice is to invest in a great resume and cover letter. Once you get an interview, prepare for it. Go overboard--I spent days putting together a proposal and presentation (some of which was required, but some wasn't). Was I the world's greatest presenter? No, but I gave them some great solutions that were tangible and hit home. I also went "big" with some of those ideas figuring that I only wanted to work at a place that would fit my personality/management style (a very risky move).

FWIW, I literally addressed my time off in 1 sentence within my cover letter. The hiring committee was 4 women and 2 men and no one ever inquired about it. Thanks again and good luck to everyone who is looking.

Congrats! What was the wording you used? Personal reasons? Family reasons?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I seriously don't believe OP. Not even a little bit.

The whole scenario sounds ridiculous. Hiring someone directly for a remote position. And the remote position is an Executive Director role.

I thought the same thing. Not too many exec directors are 100% remote

As a director myself with WFH options I have to agree. Moving up the ladder has caused my ability to WFH to dwindle. I have 8 direct reports and over 500 people fall under my name on the org chart. I have a ton of meetings, industry events, and speaking engagements....plus I pretty much babysit grown ass adults.

Totally agree... I'm a C-level with 4000 under my name and WFH doesn't exist except for middle mgmt and below. It diminishes the further up you go. And yes, I too used to baby sit grown ass people. Now I firr them

[Anonymous]

Congratulations OP. Thank you for sharing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the snark especially about not believing (one of my favorite comments on DCUM). It's for a small trade association that's moving away from an AMC to a virtual office--everyone will work from home minus local committee meetings/member events.

My best advice is to invest in a great resume and cover letter. Once you get an interview, prepare for it. Go overboard--I spent days putting together a proposal and presentation (some of which was required, but some wasn't). Was I the world's greatest presenter? No, but I gave them some great solutions that were tangible and hit home. I also went "big" with some of those ideas figuring that I only wanted to work at a place that would fit my personality/management style (a very risky move).

FWIW, I literally addressed my time off in 1 sentence within my cover letter. The hiring committee was 4 women and 2 men and no one ever inquired about it. Thanks again and good luck to everyone who is looking.

Thanks OP. Did you have professional help with your resume? If so, would you mind sharing the name of the person/company you used?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the snark especially about not believing (one of my favorite comments on DCUM). It's for a small trade association that's moving away from an AMC to a virtual office--everyone will work from home minus local committee meetings/member events.

My best advice is to invest in a great resume and cover letter. Once you get an interview, prepare for it. Go overboard--I spent days putting together a proposal and presentation (some of which was required, but some wasn't). Was I the world's greatest presenter? No, but I gave them some great solutions that were tangible and hit home. I also went "big" with some of those ideas figuring that I only wanted to work at a place that would fit my personality/management style (a very risky move).

FWIW, I literally addressed my time off in 1 sentence within my cover letter. The hiring committee was 4 women and 2 men and no one ever inquired about it. Thanks again and good luck to everyone who is looking.

Congrats! What was the wording you used? Personal reasons? Family reasons?

OP here. I lied--it was 2 sentences. I probably got the wording off of DCUM:
"As you will see, I have not been employed on a full-time basis for the past several years, as I opted to be a stay-at-home parent for my young children. I am very excited to now have the opportunity to re-enter the workforce and continue my professional career dedicated to XXXXXX."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the snark especially about not believing (one of my favorite comments on DCUM). It's for a small trade association that's moving away from an AMC to a virtual office--everyone will work from home minus local committee meetings/member events.

My best advice is to invest in a great resume and cover letter. Once you get an interview, prepare for it. Go overboard--I spent days putting together a proposal and presentation (some of which was required, but some wasn't). Was I the world's greatest presenter? No, but I gave them some great solutions that were tangible and hit home. I also went "big" with some of those ideas figuring that I only wanted to work at a place that would fit my personality/management style (a very risky move).

FWIW, I literally addressed my time off in 1 sentence within my cover letter. The hiring committee was 4 women and 2 men and no one ever inquired about it. Thanks again and good luck to everyone who is looking.

Thanks OP. Did you have professional help with your resume? If so, would you mind sharing the name of the person/company you used?

Bump!

[Anonymous]

I have to piggy-back on OP's thank you thread! Another SAHM who just landed a job in my field but in a different sub-section of it. One I wanted to go into initially but lacked contacts. It has some telecommuting and terrible pay but it's a foot back in!

The interview advice on how to address gaps in my resume were great. I went on many interviews that I would classify as horrible but it made me practice "polishing the turd" of time gaps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the snark especially about not believing (one of my favorite comments on DCUM). It's for a small trade association that's moving away from an AMC to a virtual office--everyone will work from home minus local committee meetings/member events.

My best advice is to invest in a great resume and cover letter. Once you get an interview, prepare for it. Go overboard--I spent days putting together a proposal and presentation (some of which was required, but some wasn't). Was I the world's greatest presenter? No, but I gave them some great solutions that were tangible and hit home. I also went "big" with some of those ideas figuring that I only wanted to work at a place that would fit my personality/management style (a very risky move).

FWIW, I literally addressed my time off in 1 sentence within my cover letter. The hiring committee was 4 women and 2 men and no one ever inquired about it. Thanks again and good luck to everyone who is looking.

Thanks OP. Did you have professional help with your resume? If so, would you mind sharing the name of the person/company you used?

Bump!

[Anonymous]

OP here. About 6 years ago, I used getinterviews.com. The site looks really cheesy but they did an awesome job on my resume and coverletter (which I had updated probably 3 years ago by them as well). I probably get interviews 20-30% of the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I seriously don't believe OP. Not even a little bit.

The whole scenario sounds ridiculous. Hiring someone directly for a remote position. And the remote position is an Executive Director role.

I thought the same thing. Not too many exec directors are 100% remote

Oh, please. I know another DC area Exec Director who was remote. Also stayed home for several years with kids. If you are a superstar, you can make it work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I seriously don't believe OP. Not even a little bit.

The whole scenario sounds ridiculous. Hiring someone directly for a remote position. And the remote position is an Executive Director role.

I thought the same thing. Not too many exec directors are 100% remote

Oh, please. I know another DC area Exec Director who was remote. Also stayed home for several years with kids. If you are a superstar, you can make it work.

I believe it. I see job postings like that on ASAE all the time.

[Anonymous]

You really think a SAHM coming back into the workforce is a superstar?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I seriously don't believe OP. Not even a little bit.

The whole scenario sounds ridiculous. Hiring someone directly for a remote position. And the remote position is an Executive Director role.

I thought the same thing. Not too many exec directors are 100% remote

Oh, please. I know another DC area Exec Director who was remote. Also stayed home for several years with kids. If you are a superstar, you can make it work.

NP here. +1. One of my best friends in grad school did it -- now she's a Exec Director for a not-for-profit with 100% telecommute (of course, she got her PhD when she was a SAHM, so she sort of is a superstar!).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

FWIW, I literally addressed my time off in 1 sentence within my cover letter. The hiring committee was 4 women and 2 men and no one ever inquired about it. Thanks again and good luck to everyone who is looking.

YAY!!!!! Congrats!!!

I, too, got my "dream" job after 5 years as a SAHM. I posted the same thing a few months ago--and the exact same thing happened to me. Addressed years away in 1 sentence, and it was NEVER mentioned in the interview!!

So happy to hear it's common.

One day, I hope to "pay it forward" and hire a return to work SAHM.

Yay!!!!