Disclosure Maternity Leave on CV

arex93

In my previous job I worked for 11 months and took one year of maternity leave. I had to quit at the end of ML due lack of childcare. It was not a difficult decision as I was already thinking about changing career. I finally got a place for my toddler in a creche, she will start in the next coming weeks. Im already applying for jobs and I made a disclosure on CV that I was on maternity leave to justify one year gap.

Now the story: My friend works at a small firm that often hires trainees. She always talked about me to her boss, how I helped her during the accounting technician exams and all that stuff. He told her that I should send my cv bc they need a trainee. I did it. After one week of waiting, I asked my friend if she had any news. She said her boss asked if I already have childcare, and she told him that I am on childcare waiting list but I have family support - I told her before sending my cv that my baby would start next month, but anyway… Probably that was a big NO for him, we all know how difficult is to find childcare. He also asked her whether I’m married, my age, whether my husband works and his nationality. She answered everything and he said he will discuss with his partner and then make a decision.

Im frustrated, Im almost sure that if I hadn’t add the ML on my cv I would have received at least one phone call. Now I changed my cv, I put that I worked for 2 years in my last job without the ML info. I will disclosure about that on interview and only because the interviewer will ask why I quit. I confess that this situation made me insecure. I’m not a mom who has experience in the area Im applying for, Im a mom who has no experience and most jobs require studying to pass ACCA exams - they can think a mother doesn’t have much time for studying after work. Maybe I’m overthinking…

ps: I know this kind of personal question during a interview is against law, but as it was not an interview and he didn’t even called me, I have only assumptions.

Am I right about changing the cv? Am I overthinking? Any thoughts?

TIA

Jim2007

You can't change the past so there is not point worrying about it and I assume you would not want to screw things up for your friend either....

Going forward it is hard to say how a gap of a year in your CV will play out because as you say you are looking for a trainee position with no experience... Some may filter you out because of the gap and those that don't will almost certainly ask about it, so you need to have your answer thought out. What does your reference from the previous job say? Does it cover the whole period including the maternity period?

arex93

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514491#Comment_120514491

Hi Jim, tks for your reply. 

Yeah even if I had a chance to report it I wouldn't because of my friend. She was just trying to help me.

My biggest concern is what employers think of hiring a woman who has a child as a trainee. If they think it's not worth the investment - bc parents occasionally need time off when the child is sick, etc - then I'll try to hide my family situation as much as possible.

I don't have a written reference, I will give my former boss number when the times comes. She is a good reference, we had a good relationship... I was not close enough to ask her to hide the maternity leave period tho. I mean.. I can do it as a last resort but it's an embarrassing situation.

FishOnABike

What was you official date of leaving your previous role? Surely it would have been up to and including your maternity leave.

This would mean your previous employment was for just under two years.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514834#Comment_120514834

It would depend a lot on what the reference says. Personally I would not be willing to sign a reference for a team member who had now actually worked for me for a year without giving some indication of how old the actual reference period was.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514783#Comment_120514783

Never ask someone to lie for you, doing so may well use up all the good will you have with that person.

Well if it was me I would prefer to be filtered out by people who are not interested in me and will not be accommodating to my needs so I'd actually do the opposite to you. No doubt it will make it harder to land a position, but when you do find one, it will be with an employer who will work with you and your situation.

Even if you are not employed at present, I'd encourage you to go ahead and work on the ACCA exams, as it would indicate to any future employer that you are serious about getting qualified. And as the ACCA qualification does not require a training contract to qualify, I suggest you try and use temp work and volunteer work to build up some of the basic training record - if you do the payroll free for a charity, it still counts for the practical experience part and again shows you are serious about doing this stuff.

arex93

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120514834#Comment_120514834

I rounded up the numbers when I was typing the post, on my cv I add the exact dates.

Dates:

Last job - Jan/2021 to dez/2022

ML - dez/2021 to dez/2022

That's how it was the first version of CV. I thought I should be transparent as I spent more time on leave than working lol.

Now I've changed the leaving date of my last job to December 2022 and excluded the ML info.

arex93

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120515061#Comment_120515061

You are right about finding an employer who can accommodate my needs. This situation made me feel insecure to the point of thinking to do something that could be used against me. I always thought that being transparent is the best option, I need to keep focus.

I appreciate your advice. I will go ahead with ACCA anyway and think about possibilites of voluntary work. Thanks!