I’ve always been told not to mention kids during a job interview before I even became a parent. For some strange reason there is a stigma that goes along with being a mom looking for work outside of the home. Will she arrive to work on time? Will she bring drama from home to work with her everyday? These are just some of the questions many employers may have, but are not allowed to ask based on equal employment opportunity.
Then there are moms who have taken a break from working full time and often face the challenge of being accepted back into the workforce. There’s a notion that moms should omit their parental credentials in order to appear more qualified for the job she’s seeking. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Based on a study at Vanderbilt Law School, researchers found that women who don’t hide the fact they’re moms, and explain the reasoning behind the gap in the resume, are likely to get hired.
According to Joni Hersch, a professor of law and economics at Vanderbilt Law School, “women who conceal personal information dramatically lower their hiring prospects.”
The study was made up of 3,000 people who were in charge of choosing between two qualified people for a job. One candidate was upfront about being a stay-at-home mom for the past 10 years. The results from the study found that the candidate had a 30 to 40 percent better shot of being offered the job than the other person who omitted the information.
Despite the results, there are still some who question the accuracy of the study. Ofer Sharone is a sociologist at the University of Massachusetts. He told the New York Times that narrowing the field between one woman who explained the gap and another who didn’t, he said, misses the more likely reality.
He added that both would probably be screened out before they got to the interview stage, and that employers are looking to filter through a large number of applications in the quickest way possible. Professor Sharone said recruiters had consistently told him, they are “going to go with someone without a gap.”
There are others who may feel that regardless of whether you took time off from working outside of the home or not, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission protects you from discrimination. But the reality is while we’d all like to find solace in the law, sometimes there’s really no way proving that you’re being given a fair shot at being hired.
I’ve interviewed for jobs in the past and didn’t mention my children at all. However, a quick Google search revealed my entire family. One employer even said he found me after stumbling onto my website, another saw my Facebook page.
The point is that we live in a social media world, so there’s no sense in hiding that you have children. Employers may find out before you even have a chance to tell them that you’re a mom. So you might as well embrace who you are and mention the work you’ve done both in your professional and personal life. I firmly believe that if it’s meant to be, then it will be.
Would you leave out the fact that you have kids in a job interview?
CommentsPhotos: London Scout via Unsplash
Stacy-Ann Gooden (aka Weather Anchor Mama) can be seen delivering the weather forecast on the news in New York City. But her most important role is being a wife and mom. She writes about balancing career and motherhood in her blog, Weather Anchor Mama. You can also follow her on twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.
