Could You “pause Pregnancy” on Your LinkedIn Profile?
Several years ago, I quit my job at the newspaper to stay at home with my infant daughter full time. Ten months later, I was ready – damn ready – to go back to work. I opened my resume and prepared to send it out to people who might want to hire me.
But there was this gap – a dazzling, abyssal gap between the date of my last position and the present moment. How was I supposed to fill it in? For some reason, I had the feeling that “singing old MacDonald 27 times a day” and “scraping dried avocado chunks off the highchair” would not be considered a suitable skill for any HR manager.
Women hoping to return to work after caring for their children often face this dilemma. The New York Times reports that the traditional advice when it comes to explaining childcare gaps to potential employers has been “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Now, a compelling campaign by Mother New York is trying to destigmatize maternity leave. This is called Pause Pregnancy . On their LinkedIn profiles, job seekers can simply list “Mom” as their official job title and then enter “Pause Pregnancy” as their company. Curious hiring managers who click on the company’s link will be taken to a page explaining why parenting is hardly a vacation and leading to sobering statistics on maternity leave in the United States.
“New mothers in the US often feel compelled to quit their jobs due to a lack of proper maternity leave policies, which penalizes subsequent gaps in their resume,” Corinna Falusi, Chief Commercial Officer of Mother New York told Campaign US … “We wanted to give working mothers everywhere a simple tool to tackle this problem and make it easier for them to get maternity leave as a full-time job.”
I like the idea. It confirms the difficult choices women face and can help start the necessary conversation about policies that go a long way toward widening the gender pay gap . However, on a practical level of job search, I’m not sure if I will use it myself. Is it too useless, too simplistic, too rosy in the eyes of employers? And what options are available to dads who prefer to stay at home with their kids? Research shows that the penalty for retirement for men is even greater.
What do you think? Have you had to fill in a gap in your resume?