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How do I explain a break to raise my child?

by Anonymous
(Switzerland)

Hi... I resigned from my job just over a year ago as I had no one to take care of my son who is now turning 3 in April. He was under full time care with his grandma and due to some family reasons could no longer take care of him. So I was not able to get emergency help and didn't just want to leave him with any old babysitter.


I am now looking for jobs again, and also looking for full time care for him as well as I still have no one else to look out for him.

I live in Wwitzerland where childcare is very difficult, but at the same time if you as parents are pro-active it can be done. And so I have a feeling that at an interview I will be asked why wasn't I pro-active about getting full time care for my son?

And there are two honest answers to this, one is the fact that I wanted to spend time with him, and 2, I just was not pro-active about searching for him.

And so I really would like your advice on how to tackle this in an interview.

Thank you!

Answer: I always advocate honesty. I think I would simply say, "Given the challenges with finding quality childcare and the fact that my son and I needed to spend more time together at that stage of his development, I opted to take time off from work to care for him."

I don't think you need provide any further explanation. It is your right as a parent to care for your child and to put your child first.

Hope that helps... Kathi

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