When you become a Mom, your career has to take a backward step. After all, you have more important things to worry about. Compared to office politics and project deadlines, your baby’s health and well-being are infinitely more critical.
For the first couple of months to a year, you don’t even think about your job because being a full-time Mom is hectic. Plus, you get to see your baby grow, and you wouldn’t want to miss out on the experience. Of course, like everything else, staying at home isn’t as fulfilling once the kids get older and have a busy schedule.
Using Your Mom Skills To Enhance Your Career
Suddenly, you spend half of your day without the little ones in tow, and this is when you begin to miss your career. You have the time – all you need now is the opportunity. Many Moms assume that the chances to go back into the workplace are few and far between since maternity leave forces you out of the loop. Although this is true in many respects, you can make up for it by leaning on your Mom skills.
These are the traits you’ve honed since becoming a mother that is imperative for any business. Here’s how to use them to your advantage to enhance your career and strike a perfect balance between motherly and career-driven.
Revise Your Resume
A resume is how you make an excellent first impression. As always, you need to stand out for the right reasons so that employers are intrigued and want to learn more about your abilities. The trick is not to leave the past couple of months or years blank because you’ve been out of the workplace.
Instead, you should note that you had a baby and that’s why there is a gap in your employment history. Secondly, you need to explain the skills you’ve learned since becoming a Mom and how they transfer to the corporate world. As BusinessNewsDaily highlights, you’re not an experienced organizer who can run and manage a fast-paced environment.
Together with your previous career experience, this puts you in a position to apply for management roles. It’s not unrealistic to believe you can transition back into the industry, so have faith in your abilities.
Aim for the stars because the worst anybody can say is “no.” Rejection is hard to take, but it’s not the end of the world when you have an incredible family as your safety net.
Emphasize Networking
Showing employers how you can network is essential in the 21st-century. Social media influencers use their contacts to make money, and businesses want to take advantage, too. Therefore, they not only require workers who can perform tasks to a high standard, but they want employees who will advertise and market for the benefit of the business.
Thankfully, you’ve spent a large chunk of motherhood building your networking skills. How? By regularly liaising with other Moms to schedule playdates or to carpool. You may have even dipped your toes in the friendship pool, which means you’ve organized coffee dates and social events.
All this is without highlighting how you’ve helped the community. Lots of Moms get involved with schools to develop connections with the district. As Chron points out, these are more than paper achievements. After all, if the people who’ve built a rapport with are target customers, you can leverage them during interviews.
You may be the perfect person to hire since you understand the brand’s audience. Why? It’s because you’re a Mom and mothers are the people the business is attempting to convert. Those networking credentials are hard to dismiss.
Apply For Transferable Jobs
The next step is to apply for jobs, but you don’t want to apply for anything. Perhaps you’re after a career change since your last post was boring and didn’t stimulate in the same way. If this is the case, you must understand which skills translate to which sectors. An obvious example is nursing or caring.
A Mom has to recognize when their child requires everything from clothing to entertaining. This isn’t only applicable to babies because adults also need help if they are going through tough times. Therefore, you could check out CareAsOne jobs and apply for a live-in or independent caregiver role.
Alternatively, you may prefer to help those going through rehabilitation as watching their progression is incredibly rewarding. However, motherhood is more than being a life guide as you may have spent a lot of time decorating and renovating.
If you have a career as an interior designer or visual merchandiser is a fantastic prospect. You can detail your projects and provide photographic evidence to prove how handy you are with blueprints and a toolbox! Accounting is another great role for people who have been budgeting and living within their means as a one-income household.
Speak To Your Old Boss
The idea of entering a new workplace where you don’t know anyone can be daunting, which is why you’d prefer to return to your old job. It’s comfortable, and that’s what you need for the short-term. Another perk of going back to your previous employer is that your boss knows you and what you are about.
As a Mom, there’s no way around the fact that your family comes first. Therefore, companies can be reluctant to hire mothers with young children as it requires plenty of flexibility on their part. They’d never admit it, but it’s true. Do you think it’s easier for them to deal with allowing you to come into the office early and leave early?
Speaking to an old boss is a smart way to bridge this gap since they understand your working style. Over the years, you’ve proven you’re a hard worker who can multitask, which will stand you in good stead.
Of course, if you only take nine months off work, your employer has to ensure your position is available should you want it, or else it counts as discrimination.
Remember Volunteering Counts
Full-time Moms don’t usually have time to go back to a full-time, permanent career. However, you may have had opportunities to volunteer. Again, helping out at school counts, as does anything you stepped forward to and said, “I’ll help.” If anything, employers respect candidates who volunteer more than those with career histories with no gaps.
There are plenty of reasons why, yet the main one is that it shows you have passion. Being a Mom comes first, so it’s indicative of how much the volunteering role meant to you that you’d juggle a busy life at home with the community. Plus, you did it for no money, so it’s not as if you got financial remuneration.
That’s how you should format it in your resume or cover letter. Make it clear that you didn’t have to volunteer because you had a full-time job, but you did it anyway because the cause made you happy. Most businesses would be foolish to turn down applicants with a background of volunteering as there is so much you can offer the company since money isn’t an issue.
For Moms who aren’t ready to go back to work but think it’s wise to keep it on the back burner, volunteering now would be a massive help to your application.
Don’t Let Rejection Get You Down
Nearly 50% of women quit their careers once they find out they’re pregnant. If you fall into this category, you won’t be able to rely on legislation to get you back into the workplace. Instead, you’ll need to start from scratch and target the most suitable employers and jobs. Inevitably, this means you’ll experience your fair share of rejection.
It happens to everybody who is unemployed, and it hurts when you apply for a role and it’s offered to another person. The key is not to let rejection get you down as if you do, it’ll impact your mental health. Women who think the opportunities are scarce and odds stacked against them will stop applying altogether.
Of course, you can’t win a prize if your name isn’t entered in the draw. Therefore, it’s essential to take some time to process the decision before moving on. Acting as if you’re not bothered when you are will likely lead to deep-seated emotions boiling over in the future.
Also, you should attempt to gain perspective by noting that it’s not all about you. Yes, some of it because your skills determine whether you’re a suitable candidate; however, somebody else may have been better this time around. Sometimes, you have to admit that it happens and take it on the chin.
Lastly, never forget to focus on what you still have. You don’t have the job you applied for, but you have a beautiful family and support group that will push on you until you secure a role you love.
Motherhood is a formative experience that teaches you new skills and things about yourself that are perfect for careers. How are you Using Your Mom Skills To Enhance Your Career?