Latest / The Comeback Career Podcast with Fexingo: Returning After a Gap, Stay-at-Home Re-Entry / How One Mom Returned as a Recruiter After a Seven-Year Gap
Transcript
- Lucas: Maya Chen spent seven years at home raising two kids. When she decided to go back to work, she didn't return to her old job in corporate communications. She became a recruiter. And she did it in less than four months. Luna: Okay, that's a serious pivot. How does someone with zero recruiting experience land a recruiter role after a seven-year gap? Lucas: That's exactly what we're digging into today. Maya's story is a masterclass in reframing. She didn't hide her gap or apologize for it. She turned it into her strongest selling point. Luna: I love that. Because the default advice is usually 'downplay it' or 'fill it with freelance work.' Lucas: Right. And that advice often backfires. Recruiters see through the filler. Maya did something different. She started by rewriting her resume around skills, not job titles. She listed 'managed a household budget of seventy-five thousand dollars a year' and 'coordinated schedules for five people' as project management experience. Luna: That's brilliant. It's honest, and it frames the gap as training. Lucas: Exactly. And that's how she got past the applicant tracking systems. But the bigger hurdle was the human interview. She had to convince a hiring manager that she could evaluate candidates when she'd never hired anyone herself. Luna: So how did she do that? Walk us through it. Lucas: She leveraged her network. She reached out to former colleagues and friends in HR, and asked for informational interviews. Not job requests — just conversations. She prepared specific questions about the recruiting landscape, the tools, the metrics. And she asked one question that changed everything: 'What's the hardest part of your job?' Luna: That's such a good question. It shows empathy and curiosity, not just 'help me get a job.' Lucas: And it worked. One of those conversations turned into a referral. Her friend passed her resume to the talent acquisition lead at a mid-sized tech company. But before the interview, Maya did her homework. Lucas: She researched the company's hiring process, found their ATS software, and even reached out to a couple of current recruiters on LinkedIn to ask about their day-to-day. By the time she sat down for the interview, she could talk about sourcing pipelines and interview loops like she'd been doing it for years. Luna: That's serious preparation. But what did she say when they asked about the gap directly? Lucas: She told them the truth. She said she had spent seven years learning to manage conflict, negotiate with moody stakeholders, and read people's real intentions. She said that raising kids was the ultimate crash course in human psychology. And she connected it directly to recruiting: 'If I can figure out what a toddler really wants when they're screaming, I can figure out if a candidate is genuinely excited about a role or just desperate.' Luna: That's such a great line. It's honest, it's memorable, and it flips the script. Lucas: The hiring manager actually laughed and said, 'You're not wrong.' And that moment — that moment of authentic connection — is what landed her the offer. She went from gap to recruiter in under four months. Luna: So what's the takeaway for someone listening who's thinking, 'I don't have that kind of confidence or that kind of network'? Lucas: You don't need a giant network. Maya started with just three old colleagues. But she was strategic. She didn't ask for a job — she asked for insight. And she used every conversation to learn something specific that she could apply in the next one. Luna: It's like she treated the job search itself as a research project, not a sales pitch. Lucas: Exactly. And that mindset is what turned her gap from a liability into an asset. She didn't try to erase it. She leaned into it. She showed how the skills she built at home were directly relevant to the job she wanted. Lucas: And that's the thing — a career gap doesn't have to be a setback. It can be a different kind of experience. The key is to translate it into the language of the job you're applying for. Luna: It's like learning a new language. You don't just translate word for word; you have to capture the meaning. Lucas: That's a great way to put it. And speaking of meaning — you know, we keep this podcast free and ad-free for exactly this reason. We want people like Maya to share their stories without any commercial interruption. If that's been valuable to you, you can support the show at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small gesture that keeps this going. Luna: Yeah, we really appreciate it. And honestly, it's what lets us spend the extra time digging into these stories instead of rushing to fit in ad breaks. Lucas: So back to Maya's strategy. After she got the offer, she still had to prove herself in the first ninety days. What did she do differently? Luna: That's the part I'm most curious about. Getting the job is one thing. Keeping it is another. Lucas: She said she treated her first three months like an extended informational interview. She asked tons of questions, shadowed senior recruiters, and even asked for feedback on her candidate pipeline after every interview she conducted. She wanted to learn the company's unwritten rules. Luna: That takes humility. A lot of people coming back after a gap feel like they have to prove they already know everything. Lucas: Right. But Maya knew she had a learning curve, and she made it visible. She'd say, 'I haven't done this before, so teach me.' That disarmed people, and they were happy to help. By the end of her first quarter, she had filled three positions and gotten a shout-out in the company-wide meeting. Luna: That's fast. What do you think made her successful so quickly? Lucas: I think it's her ability to listen. Recruiting is about listening more than talking. And she'd spent seven years practicing that with kids, with teachers, with doctors. She knew how to ask open-ended questions and actually hear the answers. That's a superpower in that role. Luna: It's funny — the skills we often undervalue as 'soft' are the ones that make the biggest difference. Lucas: Exactly. And that's what I want listeners to take away. Your gap has given you something. You just have to figure out what it is and how to frame it. Luna: So if someone is listening and thinking about making a similar pivot, what's the first step they should take this week? Lucas: Write down everything you did during your gap that required skill. Not just childcare — everything. Volunteered at the school? That's event planning and stakeholder management. Managed the family budget? That's financial analysis. Coordinated a move? That's logistics. Then look at that list and see which jobs would value those skills. That's your target list. Luna: And then, like Maya, start with informational interviews. Don't ask for a job. Ask about the role, the challenges, the tools. Lucas: Exactly. And don't be afraid to be honest about your gap. Frame it as a period of learning and growth, not a black hole. If you believe it, they'll believe it too. Luna: It's all about reframing. Maya did it beautifully. And I love that she didn't try to hide or overcompensate. She just owned it. Lucas: Owned it and turned it into an asset. That's the takeaway. Your gap isn't a gap. It's a different kind of experience. And in the right context, it might be exactly what a company needs. Luna: Well, and it's also a reminder that career paths don't have to be linear. Taking time off doesn't sideline you. It can actually open doors you didn't know existed. Lucas: Absolutely. And that's the spirit of this show. So if you're thinking about your own comeback, remember Maya's story. And maybe start by writing that list tonight.