The ICT Job Hunter Blog

Having written a post a few weeks ago which offered some tips on how to regain your confidence after a career break, I got to thinking in particular about those Dads who take time out to take care of their children.  While in many ways their situation on making a return to the workplace is no different than that for women, because stay-at-home Dads are in the minority, and perhaps because attitudes towards men taking time off from their career for this reason are sometimes different, they do almost certainly face more of a challenge.  There are, however, things that they can do to help themselves right from the start of their career break through until they have managed to land that all-important interview.

1. The chances are that if you are a stay-at-home Dad you probably have some idea of the length of time you plan to be out of the job market.  Whether this happens to be six months, a year or five years, try to stay in touch with what is happening in your field or industry.  With young children to look after, you are not going to have a great deal of time for work-related activities, but even setting yourself a few Google alerts to keep you updated with the latest news, browsing relevant online forums to see what is being discussed, doing a bit of general online research and subscribing to a relevant trade journal will help you to keep your hand in.
2. Try to keep up with at least some of your networking activities, both online and offline throughout your time at home.  Most face-to-face business networking meetings are held in the evenings, so try to get along to these whenever you can as the time when you are not desperate for work is ideal for building and establishing your network.  While stay-at-home Moms are often able to use the network of contacts that they have made through child-related activities to help them get back into work when the time is right, this is often much more difficult for men, so try to stay in touch with the ‘outside’ world.  In addition, to be out and about and describing yourself in a professional sense will help immensely in terms of preserving your self-esteem.
3. Depending upon the nature of your work, you may be able to find a job which allows you to do a few hours per week to keep your hand in.  When the time comes for you to return to work full-time, you may even find an opportunity with your part-time employer.
4. Because stay-at-home Dads are slightly more unusual than their female counterparts, employers can sometimes focus far more on their childcare activities during interviews than on their suitability for the job.  If this happens, just explain briefly your reasons for staying at home and what arrangements you have in place for your return to work, and then immediately turn the attention back to the position that you are applying for and all the added value that you have to offer the employer.