LinkedIn's New Stay-at-Home Job Title Works to Normalize the Gap

Stay-at-home mom isn't the first thing women think to add to their resume or LinkedIn profiles.

However, that might be about to change.

LinkedIn recently released an update. A big one.

The platform added new job titles including:

• Stay at home mom.
• Stay at home dad.
• Stay at home parent.

This is huge. Something that was often not taken seriously is getting the recognition it deserves.

Will these new options normalize taking time off to stay at home?

I’m hoping this change will be beneficial for executive women who are seeking new career opportunities and staying (or have stayed) at home. Hopeful, with a pinch of skepticism, too.

Sabbatical versus stay-at-home?

Why is it that in the tech world, taking a "sabbatical" to travel and take time off is respected but being a stay-at-home parent isn't? 

Even though I spent my life in tech, I never took a sabbatical to, you know, hike the Andes or motorcycle across the country.

I did take, however, a few months off when my preemies were in the NICU.

The point is, it’s frustrating to feel shamed for taking a mombatical, and while I’m here, what about having to take care of elderly parents, or your physical or mental health?

And now that you can add “stay at home mom” to fill in the gap, will the fear you’ll be judged just go away?

My hope is that we’ll see more women become confident about displaying these skills on LinkedIn, resumes, speaking about them in interviews, etc.

But would I recommend it? It depends.

In the meantime, it looks like a lot of women are adopting the new “title”. Look at all of these ladies from a quick search:

Will stay-at-home-mom become a respected skill (on paper) that carries over to the real world? 

We're in a hustle culture.

We respect hard work, fast-paced, and growth over everything.

That's why we've lost some important things along the way.

Humility, emotional intelligence, and nurturing are a few to name.

These are also exactly what mothers and parents have and develop staying at home raising their kids.

Believe it or not, I think they can translate into huge results in business. Let me explain.

If we begin to normalize these titles, it says a lot about the person.

Firstly, they are hard-working, caring, and can multitask. Don't you want that in an employee especially in an executive position with lots of responsibilities?

Of course!

They can tend to your team's needs. Handle conflict. Make people work better with one another and remain happy.

According to a study done by Russel Reynolds Associates, some of the nine qualities that make CEOs great are:

• Efficient reader of people.
• Measured emotion.
• Pragmatically inclusive.
• Willingness to trust.

We're forgetting about these important traits that stay-at-home moms and parents bring to the table.

That's not to mention they can use their time at home to pursue education and learning new skills that make them even more valuable than they already are.

If you're going to take this route, talk about how your stay-at-home experience translates into the work world. That's what hiring managers and headhunters love seeing.

Look at this LinkedIn profile for example:

This woman left her career in the corporate world to be home with her two young children because of the pandemic (extremely relatable for a lot of women)—but let's employers know she's still interested in volunteer and consulting opportunities. 

Her previous track record also speaks for itself. Let your stay-at-home skills be a nice addition to your current resume.

But, it doesn’t mean that you have to necessarily wait until the future to network and make power moves.

You should still be:

• Doing outreach on social media, via email, and other channels to gradually build relationships with dream companies.
• Networking with like-minded women and people that can push you towards your career goals.
• Being active on social media, creating content, and refining your personal brand.

All of these can land you opportunities sooner than later, or at minimum, set you up for a bigger move in your career when you return to the corporate world.

It's putting eyes on a form of discrimination we don't often think about

There are many forms of discrimination from gender to race and more.

However, we rarely think about women being discriminated against for being stay at home moms.

Yet the bias is real.

There are studies that show hiring managers are biased against job applicants who have been stay-at-home parents, even if all applicants are out of work for the same amount of time.

If that isn't enough, stay-at-home moms are half as likely to get a job after returning to the workforce.

What gives?

There's a clear challenge and discrimination that's happening.

LinkedIn normalizing stay-at-home culture is a step in the right direction though.

We could see these numbers getting better, and as a result, more powerful women getting hired and making a difference in companies.

Final thoughts on LinkedIn's new stay-at-home job titles

For years, taking a hiatus while working in the tech industry and other professions has been the norm. Or, admired if anything.

Yet, being a stay-at-home mom is the opposite.

Data has proven that you're less likely to get a job after taking a leave to raise children and it becomes more of a struggle to get hired.

Things are changing.

With LinkedIn offering more inclusive job titles for parents, it has the possibility to disrupt the corporate world.

Slowly but surely, we'll start seeing more respect for parents and the skills they can bring to the workforce.

If you're still feeling stuck in advancing your career and want to take your power back, the summer's just around the corner, so you better get in gear if you want to make some magic happen before the Fall (I know!?!).

• Join us in June as BossmakeHer kicks off with a private new group of remarkable women committed to making their power move. Wondering if it's right for you? Take the assessment here.

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