Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OMG, your thinking is so antiquated!
Now a days, working women have husbands who also shoulder the domestic duties. My DH does as much (and sometimes more) than I do. Additionally, MANY women stay in the work force, especially educated ones with earning potential.

Grandma, this is 2011, not 1981. Wake up.

Wow! How catty can people be? I really didn't think the woman you called "Grandma" was trying to be anything but helpful. How did her post push such a hot button?

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this thread is depressing. I'm a SAHM of 10 years who just began trying to re-enter the workforce about 6 weeks ago. I don't have to go back to work, but I WANT to go back to work. My kids are 7 and 10, and my husband works from home most days. I'm trying to break back into the paralegal field (I have 4 years of prior experience), and have applied for, no lie, about 30 positions in the past 6 weeks. I haven't gotten one single call-back! I'm even applying for entry-level and temp positions, and I usually meet or surpass all of the educational and work experience requirements in the postings. But I haven't received one single call. What can I do to let these staffing companies know that I am committed, hard-working, and dependable? Should I be explaining the gap in time on my resume or cover letter or not? I have been, but maybe I should take it out?
I'm on LinkedIn, I've taken online legal research tutorials to update my legal research skills, and I've done tons of volunteer work (though not in the paralegal field). What more can I do?

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this thread is depressing. I'm a SAHM of 10 years who just began trying to re-enter the workforce about 6 weeks ago. I don't have to go back to work, but I WANT to go back to work. My kids are 7 and 10, and my husband works from home most days. I'm trying to break back into the paralegal field (I have 4 years of prior experience), and have applied for, no lie, about 30 positions in the past 6 weeks. I haven't gotten one single call-back! I'm even applying for entry-level and temp positions, and I usually meet or surpass all of the educational and work experience requirements in the postings. But I haven't received one single call. What can I do to let these staffing companies know that I am committed, hard-working, and dependable? Should I be explaining the gap in time on my resume or cover letter or not? I have been, but maybe I should take it out?
I'm on LinkedIn, I've taken online legal research tutorials to update my legal research skills, and I've done tons of volunteer work (though not in the paralegal field). What more can I do?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to admit that no one cares if you stayed home b/c you had a sick child or you cared for your now dead father. It's not relevant to the work force. Employers want to see people with updated skills who are task-oriented.

Furthermore, there are plenty of women who work and still care for a SN child and ailing parents. I am one of them. While it's not easy, I've learned how to keep things in perspective. I do know that w/o my salary, my children would not be in private school, which is especially important for my son.

So, sadly, while I understand the pressure of family issues, employers who NEED to run an efficient office don't care. fact of life
quote]

Here's another fact of life. Forward-thinking employers recognize the need for work/life balance, and the ones that want to attract the most experienced applicants have policies that provide flexiliby to working parents. The recession makes these policies less necessary to the recruitment process, but that is temporary. The pendulum will swing again.

I returned to the work force out of necessity after a few years off, and am kicking ass. Once I proved my worth (took about a year), I walked into my boss's office and said, 'OK, now you see what I can do. Want to keep me?" I now have flex hours so that I don't have to choose between my child's needs and my boss's. Win-win all around.

Anonymous wrote:You have to admit that no one cares if you stayed home b/c you had a sick child or you cared for your now dead father. It's not relevant to the work force. Employers want to see people with updated skills who are task-oriented.

Furthermore, there are plenty of women who work and still care for a SN child and ailing parents. I am one of them. While it's not easy, I've learned how to keep things in perspective. I do know that w/o my salary, my children would not be in private school, which is especially important for my son.

So, sadly, while I understand the pressure of family issues, employers who NEED to run an efficient office don't care. fact of life
quote]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this thread is depressing. I'm a SAHM of 10 years who just began trying to re-enter the workforce about 6 weeks ago. I don't have to go back to work, but I WANT to go back to work. My kids are 7 and 10, and my husband works from home most days. I'm trying to break back into the paralegal field (I have 4 years of prior experience), and have applied for, no lie, about 30 positions in the past 6 weeks. I haven't gotten one single call-back! I'm even applying for entry-level and temp positions, and I usually meet or surpass all of the educational and work experience requirements in the postings. But I haven't received one single call. What can I do to let these staffing companies know that I am committed, hard-working, and dependable? Should I be explaining the gap in time on my resume or cover letter or not? I have been, but maybe I should take it out?
I'm on LinkedIn, I've taken online legal research tutorials to update my legal research skills, and I've done tons of volunteer work (though not in the paralegal field). What more can I do?

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this thread is depressing. I'm a SAHM of 10 years who just began trying to re-enter the workforce about 6 weeks ago. I don't have to go back to work, but I WANT to go back to work. My kids are 7 and 10, and my husband works from home most days. I'm trying to break back into the paralegal field (I have 4 years of prior experience), and have applied for, no lie, about 30 positions in the past 6 weeks. I haven't gotten one single call-back! I'm even applying for entry-level and temp positions, and I usually meet or surpass all of the educational and work experience requirements in the postings. But I haven't received one single call. What can I do to let these staffing companies know that I am committed, hard-working, and dependable? Should I be explaining the gap in time on my resume or cover letter or not? I have been, but maybe I should take it out?
I'm on LinkedIn, I've taken online legal research tutorials to update my legal research skills, and I've done tons of volunteer work (though not in the paralegal field). What more can I do?

Anonymous wrote:Have to love the war between SAHM's and WOHM's...The person that wrote "OMG...your thinking is so antiquated, then "wake up Grandma" is showing her true colors of rudeness and she probably enjoys reality TV too. (Have to love how minds are being manipulated through the boob tube...oh wait;that saying is antiquated; you might have to google it youngling.) You are probably rude to your parents too.

"Some" of the younger generation seem to have a tendency towards rudeness to make their points. Sort of like name calling at the playground...not too mature.

I am a SAHM that is a WAHM. Left a 75 hour a week high commission sales job to be at home with my babies. Saved so I could do this. Now I am self-employed. Recently, I decided to start interviewing for practice. Reputable, larger companies will have HR departments that will not ask you questions about how are you going to manage your time when you have kids? Lawsuit. If you have an interview, they are interested whether you are 21 or 41. A 21 year old can get pregnant, stay out late at night drinking etc; a 41 year old might have elderly parents to take care of and children. We aren't robots. We all have lives. How we balance them makes us different.

Kudos to the woman who started this website. Found you.

Anonymous wrote:
OMG, your thinking is so antiquated!
Now a days, working women have husbands who also shoulder the domestic duties. My DH does as much (and sometimes more) than I do. Additionally, MANY women stay in the work force, especially educated ones with earning potential.

Grandma, this is 2011, not 1981. Wake up.

Anonymous wrote:PP here. Guess I'm pretty lucky that you aren't the one I need to prove myself to. My work record speaks volumes about my ability to perform well and meet commitments, and I've had no problem having folks reach out to offer me senior positions.

Do you realize that many employers, at least for certain levels and certain roles, are looking for people who are simply smart, agile, competent colleagues who can provide adult supervision and leadership for their departments/teams? I logged in my hours long ago (though I may again by choice), and the people who matter in hiring decisions look at what I've accomplished as a group leader, not at whether I've been home with kids for a few years. I know because they keep calling.

I may well be wrong, but I'd guess you're in your mid-to-late thirties. I'm a bit older so that might explain part of the difference in perspective. I've seen friends go back into the workforce successfully, and I've seen people work through the time their kids are mid-elementary school and then stay home or go PT.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a WOHM who doesn't think a SAHM is a good choice for my workplace. I admit it. Our outlooks are just too different.

And your job is what? And it requires your colleagues to have your same "outlook"?

I've been home for one year and, in that time, have directed over $1.8 million in business to my husband's law firm. And taken care of two kids. And my dad. And have had two previous employers ask me to come back whenever I'm ready. I think my "outlook" is just fine.

Your "outlook" is irrelevant because you're a SAHM. Are you ready to go back to 50+ hours in an office, with travel?

You are the one who made assumptions about my "outlook," which you now claim is "irrelevant" because I'm currently a SAHM.

When I am ready to return to work, which will be in about 18 months, we will have FT childcare (a nanny we already know and who has worked with us) employed for after school and some weekend time for two elementary school kids. We won't use all of that time, but it will give us the flexibility we want. My husband will also be working fewer hours than he is now, and will be able to do more of the day-to-day family activities (including driving kids to school in the morning, which he can't do now). Returning to travel wouldn't be too much of a problem as it's what I'm used to (including significant travel until our second child was 3), and I'm sure that being at home with kids for almost three years won't have erased my ability to navigate National, manage a team, set priorities and perform my job well. Maybe that's why I keep being asked to go back.

Will I take a 50+ hour per week job? One with significant travel? One with fewer hours? One with an unpredictable or regular schedule? Well, that depends on what the position is, the mission of the organization, how much less my husband is working (which for him in part depends on what kind of job I want) and how my parents are. Pretty much the same factors that went into my decision-making when I was a WOHM considering promotions and positions at a new organizations.

Do you really think that WOHMs have the corner on the market on being hard-working, organized and productive women? That nobody else could possible have a plan, and a way to implement it, that's different from yours but that also involves meeting commitments to work, including intense schedules and travel? That other families are unable to make decisions that allow for each spouse to have a fulfilling career, and to plan accordingly in a way that reflects thoughtfulness rather than flakiness?