On the Bench: left job, then opting to stay at home.

11 Comments

1. AnonymousNovember 14,2025 at 10:27PM UTC

   You can reword this, but you could use this. Pulled from Google Gemini.

   Experience:

   Caregiving & Family Management [City, State] [Start Date] – [End Date]

   When asked about the gap, maintain a confident and concise response.

   Do Say:

   "I took a planned career break for a year to serve as the full-time care coordinator and primary advocate for my special needs child. This required expert project management, complex scheduling, and resource allocation—skills I'm looking forward to leveraging in this new role."

   Avoid: Over-sharing personal details or apologizing for the gap. Keep the focus professional and skill-based.

2. Tami CannizzaroNovember 17,2025 at 5:32PM UTC

   Yes - and be sure to add, "this is now under control" - or something that communicates that this was a quick break to provide continuity at home so you could focus on your work.

   Employers want to know/assume that you're 100% dialed in and not going to leave them, ya know? Even though we all know things come up and it's never guaranteed.

3. Rosa GoesNovember 19,2025 at 1:58PM UTC

   I agree. You can fill in that gap on the resume as noted by Anonymous. I had a similar situation for my dad. I found while I was looking for a job that most interviewers had similar experiences or knew someone that did. There was an understanding and no need for me to give details. I hope you find what your looking for and it all works out.

4. SPQNovember 16,2025 at 10:10PM UTC

   To simplify the below even more, simply list "Career Break" and the years (no need to write down specific months).

   If caregiver was the last 'job' you had, perhaps just mention the career break in your cover letter instead. Your chronological resume would then only list the last employment experience.

   There's ways to address it in the interview if they ask.

5. GirlBossanova934974November 17,2025 at 3:41PM UTC

   I would be looking for hybrid contract roles. Try and get something that lasts 6-12 months with 2-3 days in the office. HYBRID is very good as it eliminates 60-70% of IT applicants as they want to or have to work remote. Contracts are easier to get as they do not require long term commitments. Ageism is less of a factor with contracts. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is completely filled out.

6. AnonymousNovember 17,2025 at 5:13PM UTC

   Gig work would be the best solution to fill the gap. Try to take on some short term contracts during the SAHM time with folks who may know the quality of your work. If/when asked about the gap the response is taking time to care for sick relative and focus on that.

7. AnonymousNovember 18,2025 at 10:02AM UTC

   I agree about the contract recommendations. What worked for me recently after a 20-year hiatus, much of which was taking care of an aging relative, was putting my resume on the usual job boards plus a specialty one for my previous function(s).

   Often with contract work, the need is urgent and the company could care less about age or gaps if you can do whatever they need done. I ended up with three interviews in the space of about a month after my resume had been on the job boards for about two months. The third interview was "the one" and the closest match to my background; also quite good financially.

   As far as the resume goes, unless the break has something to do with the position you are going for, I put a final sentence in my summary similar to "returning to the paid workforce after caring for aging parent" (and I think I may have listed the years on some versions - Probably not necessary if you were working at a job similar to the one for which you are now applying in the years prior to the gap).

   If you have a section about skills or certificates or some other place where you can put something that happened during the break, do it, but in my case, I think I might have mentioned being quoted in an article and that was it.

   I just made sure that the real estate on my resume was taken up with accomplishments relevant to the job for which I was applying. Also, as you probably have been told or told others many times, be sure you have accomplishment bullets with numbers as to how you benefitted the company: revenue generated, expenses cut, processes streamlined, customers obtained, served, satisfied, etc.

   Wishing you the very best! Someone who may have some really relevant ideas for a person of your background is Andy LaCivita. He has a lot of free materials in addition to his paid ones, and they may give you some more ideas applicable to the level you decide is for you at this stage.

8. AnonymousNovember 18,2025 at 3:24PM UTC

   Try to get contract work - resume gaps aren't that important. Also, have you thought about project management?

   If you have any Linked in Classes or other development during that time, that helps. Most people's resumes I'm seeing right now have some gaps for variety of reasons (kids, parents, job searching, medical issues, etc). Its pretty common. Don't overexplain, but you don't have to sell it either.

9. AnonymousNovember 20,2025 at 11:24PM UTC

   If you were having difficulties balancing full -time with caring for someone with special needs it could be challenging to do contract work because it is often on a pressured timeline. Maybe you could take free online courses on demand to increase your skills. This demonstrates you are moving forward staying in your field while caring for someone. The courses would be on your schedule. Good luck whatever path you take!

10. AyianNovember 21,2025 at 10:45PM UTC

    This is a COVID affected world. One, even two year gaps are not a great concern. Limit your resume to 10 years of employment and summarize with 20+ years experience. I include the reason I left a position to answer the question before it's even asked. You might consider "Caring for family member", which can mean anything - someone on chemo, an elder, a child, etc. They aren't allowed to ask anything more and if they do, they've demonstrated that breaking employment law is fine and therefore they aren't worth working for.

11. OLIVIA JOHNSONNovember 23,2025 at 2:24AM UTC

    Hi there!

    First, what an awesome MOM! Making this best decision for you and your family is really what's most important. Of course, it brings along with it some uncertainties and stressors but there are options, some of which you have already identified.

    Here are a few off the top my head just as food for thought;

    An acceptable full-time role. Let's not count this out. Times have changed and there is potential to find a full-time role with a company willing to make the needed accommodations. Just because it didn't work with one, does not mean that all are the same. Recommend doing some research on family-first companies, maybe even see if there are companies that are best for employees with children who need additional support (I am not certain if there are but give it try, you never know). You may even want to check in with the organization/association of the particular needs of your child and see if they have any suggestions, or my next suggestions;

    Look into working for organizations that are nonprofit and maybe even support the specific needs of your child.

    Part-Time - No one says you have to work full-time. Especially if you are not the responsible party for healthcare/benefits.

    Consulting - This is typically more flexible. Can still be demanding depending on the role you select, so you will need to be cautious on the level of involvement when it comes to consulting. i.e. maybe more of the advisory responsibilities than execution or operational.

    Contract - Another way to be flexible and decide how involved you want to be and for how long.

    Entrepreneur - You could launch your own business. This is not an easy route but is still an option. You could even farm out the work and have contractors complete the work you find, while you decide if you want to work or just oversee the work of others.Last but not least, any of all the above. No one says you have to choose. You can have what we call a portfolio career. You could work part-time but find once you get in a groove you have open availability or need to secure funds for a specific reason and you could additional take on a small short contract or consulting role.

    Tip:
    A good place to start is determining how much you need each month to be comfortable. This should give some insight on what would be needed to reach that number. IF a 20hr a week role at $40/hr meets your number then you may need to look no further. Otherwise, consider what direction or combination of directions would get you there.

    Hope this was helpful.

    Coach Olivia