When we put our life on hold to raise our children, getting back into work can be difficult. Even those that are on maternity leave can find that they’ve returned to a completely different workplace.
As such, it’s unsurprising that there’s so much anxiety from the perspective of working mothers.
But, add into the mix the desire to change careers or make a sideways step, it’s not much of a surprise that every single one of us has to plan our integration into a new working life.
What are the best ways we can do this?
Retrain to Reintegrate
The most obvious approach, but also, the most time consuming, is retraining.
They say that if you are looking towards a new career, and you need to get new skills, but you are a full-time parent, it can take a few years to truly find your feet.
But even though you’ve taken a few years off to raise your children, it doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything at home to prepare yourself for reintegration into the working world.
A very good example is the abundance of online training in various fields. You can take a free course in basic coding, a DNP neonatal course to prepare you for the medical industry, or a diploma in management studies.
The big mistake many parents make is they leave it too late to plan their reintegration into working life. But, the big benefit of having time at home means you can slowly craft your planning over the ensuing years.
Benjamin Franklin, for instance, dedicated an hour a day to self-development. This adds up over the course of a year, but even if you are a busy mother and you can only manage 15 minutes a day, this still adds up to 75 minutes a week if you only do Monday to Friday!
Show How Your Parental Skills Apply To The Job You Want
The most intimidating aspect of going back into any career after taking time off to look after your children is the gaping hole in your resume. While these days, the life story is as important as the skills, if you can apply your skills as a parent to the role, this can serve you in good stead.
Regardless of the type of job you are applying for – if you can highlight that you are an exceptional negotiator based on a real-life example consisting of a Mexican standoff with your 2-year-old, this would make for a practical application of well-honed communication skills, while also highlighting your human side!
It is very overwhelming to get back into it, especially when you haven’t been in a working environment for so long.
But remember, you have been learning all along and what you have learned from being at home and while being at home, you can apply in the working environment.
And one day, when the time comes for you to help your children look for their first job, you will have some real-world experience in going from nothing into something!
