Resume question for those who hire
 

When our daughter was born we decided I would stay home so my wife could go back to flying. The result is a 5 year gap in my resume. Currently I have those dates included and actually list "Stay at home dad" as a title with bullet points as follows:

• Co-founded stay-at-home-dad’s support group.
• Marketed dad’s group to other stay at home dads around Phoenix.
• Organized play groups and dad’s night out events.
• Helped grow dad’s group to over 60 participants.

Opinions on this?

It's not a huge concern as I'm mostly doing independent bookkeeping and Quickbooks training right now, but I may be circulating my resume more in the near future.

I have no experience in this whatsoever, but I would think that "Stay at home dad" pretty much says it all, and the other bullet items don't really add that much. I guess what I'm trying to say is that those bullet items seem trivial (to me) compared to what you REALLY accomplished by simply being a "stay at home dad" :).

Just don't say anything about the time you spent on Pelican BBS.

That would work for me. I always want to know about gaps and figure out why someone is looking to make a change (we're in the middle of interiewing for a position right now), and that is a creative solution to the question.

Perhaps, but that keeps with the formatting of the rest of the resume.

actually I think the bullet points are good, as they show initiative on your part.

I thought they were an improvement over diaper changer and bottle washer. ;)

And I suppose that's why I have no experience in this arena :).

I would like to see you indicate that the stay at home dad gig was based on your support of furthering your wife's career - kind of a team player angle. Otherwise, I would wonder if you were unemployable for some reason over that period of time.

I guess that's why I don't understand "hiring folks" :) (although I used to interview in a former life). Of course he was unemployable during those five years, and his reason simply says it all.

Keith, from his first post, it appears that his resume only includes the following:

Begin Date - End Date Position: Stay at home dad

• Co-founded stay-at-home-dad’s support group.
• Marketed dad’s group to other stay at home dads around Phoenix.
• Organized play groups and dad’s night out events.
• Helped grow dad’s group to over 60 participants.

If I was hiring, which I do from time to time, I would look at this, wonder why he's staying at home, and put him in the 2nd tier (maybe) candidate pile, or the outright rejection pile. Now, if he indicated the rationale for this "employment," then I would weigh it differently (more positively). I hope that clears up my previous comment. :)

That's pretty much how it reads. Yeah, if she were working locally there might be some question about what I was doing. With my wife being a pilot, I think it's more understandable why I stayed home. Personally, I don't think we should have to justify the reasons a parent stays home. In this case I think it will seem reasonable to most.


1999 - 2005 Stay-at-Home-Dad Phoenix, AZ
Cared for our daughter from birth so my wife, who’s an airline pilot, could return to work.

• Co-founded stay-at-home-dad’s support group.
• Marketed dad’s group to other stay at home dads around Phoenix.
• Organized play groups and dad’s night out events.
• Helped grow dad’s group to over 60 participants.

That was my take, I just didn't make the point clearly...

I would look positively on this if I was reviewing your resume. :)

Just for the sake of professionalism I would avoid contractions and use "father" instead of "dad" unless it is a proper noun (e.g., "Dad's Group, Inc.").

Also, be sure to maintain consistency in hyphenation (i.e. always hyphenate "stay-at-home").

I've got some experience looking at resumes. I'd say that what you have is fine other than the changes referenced by BlueSkyJaunte above. Normally, I'd say that a good resume is brief, like 2 page brief if possible. If the bullet points are the difference between 2 and 3 pages, then you can dump them. Otherwise it's fine.

When I am hiring, I use time gaps as discussion points. If the applicant says "stay at home dad" thats just fine and we move on. If the applicant says "I took a vacation" then I would wonder.

I have reviewed lots of resumes as a former Management Consultant and now COO of a construction company.

I would merge the four bullet points into just one and keep the rationale for staying at home:

1999 - 2005 Stay-at-Home-Dad Phoenix, AZ

• Cared for our daughter from birth so my wife, who’s an airline pilot, could return to work
• Co-founded stay-at-home-dad’s support group and helped it grow to over 60 participants

Thus you "minimize" trying to sell your accomplishments, which may or may not be relevant to the potential employer while showing that you did not keep idle while staying at home with your daughter.

I think Paco's revision is the cleanest and the one I would be most responsive to as an employer.

+1