This is an anonymous post from an Elpha member.

How to favourably present a 2 year career break working on family business which is unrelated to my core skill accounting

I took a 2.5 years career break for health reasons (bad menopause - brain fog & 2 fatigue). It's now under control and I want to go back to accounting. Fortunately, during the time I was financially ok as I could work on my husband's interior business as well as working on setting up an airbnb other business.

I'm late career and looking for a job not career growth. I'm hoping I can stay at the same level, but but open to a step down especially if it means less stress. My plan for LinkedIn was to describe the time off as acareer break working on the family business, of course not mentioning menopause. But recruiters are saying I should present it as accounting work for the business. I really wanted to be honest but understand how companies wanting an accountant might not want one who switched career for a few years.

Advice on this would be appreciated taking into account I am late career and after a job.

Thanks

kendraneipp·Sep 10

What concerns do you anticipate the recruiter/hiring manager/company are likely to have? Consider strategizing around how to alleviate those concerns. Potential concerns when taking time off: 1) Are your skills "out of date". The nice thing about the accounting field is that your skills aren't likely going to be out of date just because you took 2 years off. (Not the case with some other industries). This would tell me it's probably okay to list your real "title" for the family business. You don't even have to put any supporting details about your tasks if they aren't relevant to accounting. It can just be something people glaze by. 2) How engaged/dedicated are you going to be? In your case this is probably the larger concern you're working with. One way to address this on LinkedIn is within your "About" section - highlighting what gets you excited about accounting/making it accounting centric. Then I'd also make sure you have your story ready for when you're interviewing so you can say something like "I thought I would be interested in trying something new/supporting the family business, but honestly, I can't wait to get back to the numbers!" I think people understand trying something and it not being all you thought it was going to be.I'd also recommend that your LinkedIn Headline has the accounting related job title to further signal that's your realm.

Shala166·Sep 10

@kendraneipp thanks so much for that advice. It's totally different from what recruitersl consultants and colleagues (Marketing & product management field job searching for 6+ months) have been saying. I agree my skills haven't dated like they would have for a person in IT. I chatted with a Dev Ops person last week and he said 6 months is the most he could be away from his field. The types of people I spoke to have an axe to grind: 1. Recruitment consultants need to have perfect profiles to send to companies as they charge 15 - 25% commission and 2. My colleagues have been finding the job market challenging. I will speak to a few other people in other groups. Your service offering sounds really good so I may be in touch about that. In the meantime, I'll let my colleagues not succeeding at interviews know about it.

kendraneipp·Sep 10

I'm always learning too! Thanks for sharing what recruiters are saying - always a helpful lens.

Filomena21·Sep 10

Did you ALSO do the accounting for these businesses as a favor to them? I'm assuming at a minimum you reviewed the P&L and balance sheet at some point? I feel like you could just present your title as "Operations" in general and resume readers would understand that you'd be wearing many hats if you were working at a small business with only a handful of workers.You could also come up with some case study story for interviews about the "hardest" accounting issue at this family business, but mention how you dealt with that accounting thing along with managing a bunch of other challenges in the business.

Francisca154·Sep 11

@filomena21 thanks for replying and your advice. I've adjusted my profile back to Accounting as the majority of people from other groups have suggested this. I actually did some accounting work during this time so I can expand on this. The strategy will be to swiftly direct recruiters away from this period!

kaitlingraham·Sep 10

You won't have to mention the career break unless they specifically ask about in the application. I have gaps in my resume due to moving and doing part-time work unrelated to the industry, and surprisingly most recruiters didn't mention it. If they do ask, I would explain that you were helping out with your family business. I think how you put it is a great idea! You can also discussed skills you developed during your time off (communication, time management, emotional intelligence, etc) and any accounting work you did for the family business. Best of luck in your job search!

Shala166·Sep 11

@kaitlingraham thanks for taking the time to respond. I've had people from other networks get back to me since I posted this and the majority are saying show I worked as a Finance person for the gap period. Being a contractor for most of my career with contracts ranging from 3 months to 18 months has added another layer of complexity. I've updated my profile now and it looks better. I have a small bit of content to include so the interview strategy will be to direct focus to the earlier periods.

kalindi·Sep 12

I am also in the "I have many gaps in the resume and it didn't seem to be a problem" camp, but maybe I've also had unconventional ways to look for jobs or looking for roles that allow more possibility.For me the question is what kind of companies you would like to work for? Sometimes having that extra knowledge that you gathered at your family business might be a plus for some. As in every accountant knows accounting but how many understand how family/smaller businesses operate? I think this is also what diversity is, bringing to the table who we are, and of course there is no need to mention the reasons, but the fact that you'll join a team with your experiences, your team will be richer for it.

Francisca154·Sep 12

@kalindi thanks for replying. Yes, it's important to know who I want to work for as some employers would appreciate a person having tried something else. The family business requires very basic accounting which is not the type I want to do! I'm going to stick with the plan for now. I had a look at your profile and you've done a lot of interesting stuff. It's impressive how you've been able to switch gears. Unfortunately I'm not as versatile as you so I need to work within my capacities.

Ariana130·Sep 16

I am in the exact same boat right now - no one talks about the impact menopause has on our profession and wow has it ever caught me by surprise! I would not position the two years as a break, because it is anything but! Use the work you did for your husband’s business as your “job”. You may need to embellish but being a late-stage career female, we have so many things working against us, we need to embrace our inner male and just go with it.

Shala166·Sep 17

@ariana130 thanks. Good luck with your search. I did 7 months of accounting work which I've found a way to incorporate into my CV so my CV presents as an accounting CV. I've been a contractor so can bundle up 3 years under a business name I made up (no website). I feel more comfortable with this positioning. My menopause is definitely not as bad as some people. Brain fog, fatigue, and waking up at 3am were my main symptons. No hot flushes. HRT is amazing and gave me back my life though my energy is reduced by 20% from 3 years ago. That limits the jobs I can apply for. Menopause Matters is a fantastic website and the one I used to work out the best prescription for me and to advise my doctor who didn't have expertise in the area.