Maternity leave in the CV

Sandra Peters-Schoe¶bel wrote:

To be honest, I am very careful with that kind of information. I myself never mention my daughter at all with agencies or clients.

We are living in modern times, but still: quite a lot of project managers (same of course for other employers) are not able to imagine that a female translator with children is able to organize her working day to manage it all.

And we know that sometimes it is difficult indeed...

I have always been afraid that they will rather give time critical or large jobs to someone else, as they imagine that suddenly the child could become sick or something else happens.

So I declared those times in my CV as times of freelancing work, language courses or whatever; they won't check it anyway. One of our collegues on proz.com gave me a hint that a month of unemployment I had in my CV should not appear in it. That's private and not the client's/agency's business...

So, have a successful start! It certainly was a good decision.

Heidi C wrote:

I believe this is private and personal information, not career related. It is not fibbing or hiding information, it is just none of anyone's business!!!

The CV reports your PROFESSIONAL information. Actually, if you do not like leaving those two years blank and, as you say, you did some free translation work in the meantime, you could even write down something to that regard (volunteer translations for XXXX, XXXX or volunteer translation work, even freelance translation...)

I have never even thought of including my maternity leave or times of unemployment in my CV.
I write down the place of employment, type of employment, and years of employment there.

If they REALLY need to know, they can ask you : "What were you doing between 1998 and 2000?", and then you can decide how and what to respond. And someone would only ask you in case of hiring you for a permanent position, not for a 10,000 word freelance job!

Would you write down that you took two years off if you would have been taking care of a sick relative, traveling around, or just resting? Also, I would never include my hobbies, travels abroad, sports I play, books I read, religion, political beliefs... as this has no relevance whatsoever to my skills as a translator or interpreter.

(Furthermore, I believe that in the US it is even illegal for a prospective employer to ask you questions regarding marital status, age, children, disabilities, beliefs and things like this...)

Heidi C wrote:



If it is a professional CV, it is how your professional life has evolved.
Generally, people receiving it want it to be concise and to the point, maximum one page.
No need to pad with irrelevant stuff...

I understand different countries have different requirements in a CV. So you would have to account for gaps in a place where they expect each year to be documented.

Of course, in a country where it is required to account for every gap, you would include a maternity leave (and also having been in jail, traveling the world, looking after a sick relative, having a nervous breakdown, I suppose)

Also, you would probably have to write your CV differently if you were applying for a permanent position in a business than if you are applying for freelance work.


Just a clarification. When quoting someone, make sure you read and quote accurately :



The post you are quoting never said "fudge it, they won't check it". The person who started the thread said:


And the post RESPONDING to it (and quoted in the same post) suggests that this is something RELEVANT that should be included.


Not receiving money for work does not disqualify this as work!!!
And reporting work you did for free is not lying (unless you are just making it up).

If you translate for free, it is your business, it is still work and still relevant professionally.
(more relevant than being a mother). And this would solve any concern about "having a gap" where applicable (which, where I live is not a problem that would come up).


[Edited at 2008-07-11 16:03]

Ivana Friis Wilson wrote:

- We are still worried that having children is perceived as an obstacle to our professional life, I guess.

I don't put my 2 years of maternity leave on my CV because I think it's irelevant. I have seen CVs where it's been put in and I never liked the look of it. I don't think it's any employers business. I put nothing personal on my CV.

In a description of myself to complement my CV - part of a cover letter - I might put a photo of myself and a short description of my my family details. It's very rare though - usually even my cover letter is only about work stuff.

Again, it is interesting that it is still a subject for discussion and that some people see it as a gap. Personally I think I aquired tons of skills during maternity leave - I can now multitask, plan my time better (I have so little of it...), I am a better listener, I am much more tolerant of other people's mistakes but most of all I am much more focused and I know exactly what I want to achieve in my professional life and I have a better idea of how to get there. I think I more attractive to potential employers now than before I had children!

There are lots of books on the subject of using the skills you aquire as a parent in professional life - I read a few and it's very good for your professional selfesteem after maternity leave.

Turn it around - look at the positive effects of maternity leave and children.