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When you’ve been a stay-at-home mum for a while it can be too easy to think that any career prospects you ever had have gone down the drain. Especially if you’ve been working exclusively to take care of your kids for a long time, but it’s simply not true. Whether you’ve been staying at home for twelve months or twelve years, you can get back to work and create a life that is fulfilling in terms of both work and family life.
If you’ve decided it’s time to get back into the world of work, here’s what you need to do:
Do a Self-Assesment
There is absolutely
no point going back to work just for the sake of it. Don’t let anyone pressure
you with their expectations. Unless you actually want to do the job or unless
you really need the money, you would be better off staying at home with the
kids if that is what makes you happy. So, first of all, sit down and think
about what you really want to do. Do you want to go back to your old job or a
similar one? Do you want to try something totally new? Do you want to do an online masters in school counseling or become a teaching assistant so you can work in school hours and
term-time? Really try to pin-point your desires and then you can work on
achieving those goals.
Try Things Out
It may not always be
possible, but if you can try out various new careers before you make a
commitment, perhaps by volunteering at a local school or doing admin for a
charity to see how you go, you’ll get a greater sense of what you do or do not
like and find out exactly how capable you are of doing things. It will also be
an easier way for you to ease yourself back into the world of work. Over the
last five years I’ve undertaken around six different volunteering roles and
they have all been good for my development and confidence in different ways.
Boost Your Skills
If you’ve been out of
the workplace for a while due to your duties as a mum, you may find that things have moved on a little
and your skills are a bit rusty. That’s perfectly normal and not something to be
worried about, but you could think about enrolling on an online course or
visiting your local adult education centre to ensure that you’re up to speed. Thus giving yourself the best
possible chance of getting that much-wanted job, it’s really not as difficult
as you might think.
Update Your CV
You’re also going to
want to update your CV to show employers exactly what you’re capable of. Don’t
be afraid to use examples of your time looking after your children to
illustrate your strengths because despite what many people think, most
employers know how difficult looking after children can be and they appreciate
the practical skills you’ve gained from that just as much as your
qualifications and work based experience. Just make sure that you keep it
relevant to the job role you are applying for. Don’t be tempted to have just
one CV and covering letter to cover all eventualities, you need to be personalising
them to each job you apply for.
Talk to the Kids
Last, but definitely
not least, you’ll need to talk to your children and explain to them that you’re
going to be returning to work and that might mean that you’re occasionally not
going to be around when you usually would be. But remind them that you love
them and though this they’ll learn that work outside of the home can be an
important part of life.
Good luck getting
back into the world of work, think positive and you’ll be just fine!
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