Do you have two resumes? One for one type of job and the other for another? Have you been told that you are overqualified? Well in a recent article a woman who is very educated and has been a stay at home mother for a couple of years wishes to get the next job. Yes she wants to regain entry in the land of employment. Nothing wrong with that you say.
Well she is finding it rather difficult. She either has too much experience and qualifications and for other roles she is a bit out of touch due to being at home raising kids. So which is it? You either have the experience or you don’t. One other issue that comes up with this same situation is an age issue. Once you raise the kids, you have the qualifications and then you are considered too old to hire!
In my opinion if you can do the job, are happy to have the job, fit in with the corporate culture or the business no matter how big or small it should not matter.
I do understand that many people that have many qualifications might get bored and seek more opportunity elsewhere, and this might be the major reason for not hiring the person. That said, if you have had a break from the workforce, I think any job that is in your skill base will be fine. It is a good thing to be able to contribute to society, earn some money for you and the family and feel like you are you, rather than someone’s mother.
It is hard to find the right person for the job I do agree, and if you are after experience then hire the person with the qualifications and experience, but don’t then say that the same person lacks experience due to being out of the workforce for a period. We do still have the same experience, but we might have lost currency! It is hard to stay up to date if you are at home with children. The person with more experience will be able to get up to date on changes more easily than someone with less experience.
I have done a course and that might land me in the overqualified arena also. Having a masters might not be helpful but I am sure it will be helpful in the long run. It was good to apply myself, use my brain and finish it. I think if employers would look at these types of things as achievements rather than being better than the role than the person is applying for it would be beneficial. I finished a masters degree while looking after twins, now that is an achievement!
Personally I would love to get in with a good company and grow with them. If it is a job that I have done and have experience with before that is ideal, if not then I can learn new skills and as I am eager to learn and have the ability to pick things up quickly, then I don’t see why people would not read that into your resume if you have a number of qualifications and look overqualified.
I do think it has gone against me as I applied for a weekend job and was not given an interview or looked at. This role (sales assistant in a store – I would have loved the one I applied for as it was in a home-ware/bed linen shop, I adore these shops) I have done before while working my way through my undergraduate degree and I did very well at it (always hit sales targets and managed the shop well), I am happy to do it as I would enjoy time on my own, earning some money, contributing to society and of course succeeding in a job as me not mummy!
Have you had to change your experience to get the job? Has the qualifications helped you or hindered you? Send in your comments.
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