I had a conversation recently with a friend about how hard it is to work and be a Mom. Just to be a clear, I’m not a Mom. I hire Moms. In fact I love hiring Moms, they work their asses off.
I know this because I was raised by a single mother.
I remember my Mom having to pick where we would go buy our groceries based on how long it had been since she bounced a check at that store. I remember her handing me items off the belt to return because they wouldn’t take her check and we only had enough cash for a few items. I remember pouring water into my bowl of generic Fruit Loops because we didn’t have enough money to buy milk that week.
My Mom started her own business, paid her own mortgage and raised two kids. It wasn’t perfect, but we made it. Those experiences shape a kid for life. It makes you appreciate what you have, when you know you can live with much less. My Mom got hugely successful after I got out of college and my kids only know her as the grandma that has so much. I can’t even describe to them the struggle, they have no concept.
I have zero tolerance for hiring managers who don’t want to hire moms because they might have to stay home with a sick kid, or they might want to take an early lunch to catch fifteen minutes of fourth grade play at school during the day. Both men and women, hiring managers, have told me they don’t like to hire moms. This doesn’t sit well with me.
The Moms I hire are some of the strongest employees I have. They come to work, which for many is a refuge of quiet and clean, and do work that is usually less hard than the other jobs they still have to perform that day and night. They rarely complain, and usually are much better to put issues into perspective and not freak out.
When I look at my own ‘tough’ days I try and remember that most of my day is done, while theres won’t be until their head hits the pillow. Old people and Moms are the most disrespected of the working class. They are the most underutilized workers of our generation. A woman takes a few years off to raise a kid and somehow she’s now worthless and has no skills.
I don’t even want to write this post because I feel like I’m giving away a recipe to a secret sauce. All these national recruiting companies are hiring the youngest, prettiest college grads they can find to work for them, and they mostly fail in the recruiting industry. Moms find this industry rather easy as comparable to what they are use to doing.
The recruiting secret sauce, main ingredient = moms.
Right on again, Tim, as usual you’re fighting the good fight. It’s mind boggling to consider the exceptional talent (i.e., Moms) that doesn’t “fit” mainstream corporate, yet how comfortable organizations are trolling so deep in the non-Mom talent pool…
I, too, had the pleasure of being a single parent and rarely missed a day of work. Or school. Or going to my child’s school. I also look back on those days and realize they made me the hard worker I still am. I didn’t have the luxury of looking to someone else to do my job. It annoys me to hear the younger recruiters disparage older workers and mothers, hiring their peers, instead.
If they only knew they were passing up their best workers.
just thinking about this fact this morning as I was running around like a crazy person last night with my little girl. We pack more into a day than most and day doesn’t end when we leave the office. I don’t really think of it as work but “responsibility.” I have additional responsibilities that make me better and more productive. I have no other option than GSD.
Besides my full-time role for Dice, it’s been an honor and a privilege to support moms and their journey back-to-work. Yes, your mom, my mom, and countless others, who did what they could to manage it all. Family. Work. Recruiters, this is the single most untapped talent pool who know a thing or two about juggling projects, keeping to a budget, being on time, and, of course, being a good, [no great], listener. Hmmm.
Hey gang,
Check out Terry’s side project – http://MyWorkButterfly It’s an awesome site supporting working moms!
T
Thank you for the recognition. There were many times I was up most of the night with a sick kid and didn’t have the luxury of staying home.
Couldn’t agree more. The people you mention that don’t like to hire “Moms” are probably with organizations with high turnover and uneasy cultures. Everyone deserves to have a welcoming place to work. People who are parents, especially mothers, have a way of providing that welcoming feeling without evening knowing it.
Great post Tim. I have had the same experience with hard working mom’s that don’t get caught up on little drama’s and are focused on the tasks at hand.