Should I add child care to my resume?

by Anonymous
(Somewhere)

I have not had a business job in about a year and a half. I have been babysitting for about a year, but I do not have it on my resume because it does not have anything to do with the type of job I want. Should I put it on my resume just to show that I have been doing something for the last about 2 years?

ANSWER: You could go 2 ways with this. You could include it, listing transferable skills you gained during this time (such as organizational skills, people skills, etc.). But since the work itself is not related at all to what you want to do, I think a better way might be to leave it off the resume, but explain in your cover letter that freelance child care is what you've been doing during this time.