How Being a Mum Can Pump Up Your Résumé
There are more dual-income families today than ever before. This is because of a few factors. First, more women than ever want to participate in paid work. Second, life is expensive. As the cost-of-living increases, more families are seeking extra household income. And since it’s almost always mum that stays home with the kids (statistics indicate that only about 4% of men are stay-at-home dads, and that’s remained steady since the 1990s), this means more mums are trying to make their way into the workforce.
Motherhood is amazing, right? But, according to ABC writer Jess Ong, it’s also one of the most challenging, isolating, and undervalued roles in society. And making the transition from full time SAHM-ing back into the paid workforce can be terrifying for some mums.
Some years ago, I watched as Kylie (my wife and mum to our six daughters) attempted to apply for a job at Adairs. Putting together a resume with a 20 year “gap” felt daunting at first. But as we went through this process together, it was clear to me that Kylie’s talents, skills, and capabilities did not simply *disappear* or stall when she took on the title of mother and homemaker. Yes, some of her traditionally “employable” skills may have shifted, condensed, or laid dormant for a period of time. But in other (far more valuable) ways, Kylie’s innate skills and strengths had developed at a rate that rivalled the physical growth of our children!
And so, we sat together and built a resumé designed to showcase all of Kylie’s capacity and capability, based on 20 years of mothering and running our home. We reflected on her extensive parenting responsibilities and the managerial, organisational, and leadership skills she developed through years of parenting six children and working in a volunteer capacity at church.
And below, we share it with you. Why? We hope that in reading Kylie’s resume, you are inspired and encouraged to update your own resume, recognising and confidently claiming the skills, strengths, and unique value you possess and can offer the world!
Motherhood is not just a role; it represents a full, exciting, and valuable resume overflowing with strength, resilience, and, for some, a skill set that creates an even playing field between you and other job applicants who have remained in the paid workforce.
Oh… and one more thing. Kylie got the job.
KYLIE COULSON
The thought of working at Adairs is more exciting to me than a lolly shop to a child; it’s my grown-up playground. Adairs is a genuinely happy place for me, as there is so much possibility for creativity. All my adult life, I have loved interiors, and decorating for myself or my friends and family lights me up. To work at Adairs is to use my strengths to help other people.
Five key strengths I would bring to the Adairs team are:
- My creativity and love of design
- A great appreciation for beauty
- Striving for excellence
- I am a relator and a people person
- I find deep satisfaction in collaborating with other people to create spaces of beauty
WORK EXPERIENCE
October 1999-Present
For the past 20 years, I have been a stay-at-home mum, raising my six daughters. As you can imagine, this has been a full-time role with significant demands that do not stop, such as:
Chief Executive Officer
- Overseeing all managerial aspects of life for six children who require significant levels of oversight and direction (let’s be honest, with my husband, it’s seven people!)
- Planning, strategy, and policy decisions for the team based on values and mission, coupled with short- and long-term goals (via weekly management meetings and quarterly strategy sessions)
- Delegating and overseeing all ‘staff’ activities
- Maintaining client and employee relationships (via an extremely complex calendar involving multiple moving parts)
- Building alliances and partnerships with other organisations
- Development of a culture that promotes performance excellence and builds team morale
- Providing ‘conflict resolution strategies’ wherever there is conflict between tricky personalities on the team
- Providing inspired leadership for the team
Operations Manager
- Being responsible for intricate logistics operations from 5am – 10pm (and later) for a large team
- Managing a complex schedule for 8 people
- Conducting analysis and improvement of all organisational processes and workflows
- Working to improve quality, productivity, and efficiency in the team (family)
- Occupational Health and Safety responsibilities for the entire team
Human Resources Manager
- Determining and establishing training procedures for the team
- Developing team roles for each new member of the team based on individual development, training, and capability
- Capacity building of team members
In a nutshell, running a large family has required me to learn an extensive range of skills that are highly transferable to the workplace. This is only a taste of some of my responsibilities and a small representation of my capabilities.
2012–Present
Since 2012, I have assisted my husband as he runs his business. This work has been primarily ad hoc office work, including:
- Sales and bookings
- Basic administration
- Responding to emails
- Customer service and resolution
April 1998–Present
For over 21 years, I have been involved in church leadership on a volunteer basis with my religious community. Roles have included:
President of the women’s organisation, where I was responsible for ensuring the welfare of over 80 women aged between 18 and 90+. Duties included coordinating visits, meals, service, both physical and spiritual care for women, event planning, education coordination and delivery, training, and managing budgets. (Creativity with tiny budgets was a helpful strength.)
President of the young women’s organisation, where I was responsible for approximately 25–30 young women aged between 12 and 18 years. Duties were similar to those outlined above.
- Highlights: organising a girl’s camp
Responses