After time as a stay-at-home mom, you might be looking to go back to work or even earn a degree from home. Whether you spent a few months on maternity leave or are now an empty nester, making the leap back into the workforce can be scary — especially since you have to navigate a new normal in the workplace.
However, returning to the workforce and becoming a working mom is such a rewarding experience. Making the decision to return can affect the whole family, so it’s important to be smart with planning your reentry to the workforce.
If you’re a mom looking to go back to work, keep reading to learn my best tips to successfully re-enter the workforce after time as a stay-at-home mom.
1. Network with Working Moms
Other working moms are one of the best resources to help you land on your feet in the professional world. So many other women have been through a similar experience, and I’m willing to bet they’d be happy to help you out.
When preparing to re-enter the workforce, one of the biggest hurdles to pass is a mental one: feeling like you’re adequate for the position. Talking to other working moms can be a way to reassure yourself and meet a friendly face in the professional world.
Try reaching out to some of your kids parents who are currently working and ask them for advice and insight on how to get back into the workforce — you never know, they may even be the connection you need to get your foot in the door at your dream company.
2. Build Your Brand
Building your brand is a great way to get yourself out there when looking for a job. If your kids are old enough to be online, you can even ask them to help set you up on social networking sites like LinkedIn so you can search for a job from home.
To develop your personal brand, think about the skills you currently have. Even if your skills aren’t directly applicable, think about any transferable skills you might have. Are you patient? If you have kids, I’m willing to bet you are. This can be translated to your professional career by highlighting that you are communicative and understanding.
3. Take Classes in Your Free Time
If you want to up your professional skills while still being able to pick the kids up from school or activities on time, classes and certifications are a great way to go. Many classes and certifications can even be completed from home, so you can be on your way to your professional career while watching your little ones play in the backyard.
4. Update Your Resume
Putting a resume together after a long time away from work can feel daunting — your experience lately is more with helping your kids in their projects than working on your own. But creating your resume doesn’t have to be tough. Check out this guide to creating a resume as a stay-at-home mom to get ideas on how to build application materials that’ll stand out.
If you’re ready to get back to work, it’s important to be in the right place mentally. A mom going back to work is a big adjustment for the whole family, so it’s important to talk to your kids and let them know about the changes that are going to take place.
To go back to work successfully, you need to be able to let go of mom guilt. Understand that your goals and desires are important too, and that sometimes you need to let go of certain things to take on others.
You can feel that you are still not ready to leave your child and return to work in the office. Just know that this is absolutely normal and you are not alone. Nowadays market offers a lot of possibilities to work remotely which reduces the stress of going back to work after parental leave. You can check remote jobs for stay-at-home moms on https://jooble.org/jobs-stay-at-home-mom and return to work on the spot.
Just because you’re going back to work doesn’t mean you’re slacking on your mom duties — quite the opposite, in fact! You are showing your kids an example of a strong, hardworking woman with a great work ethic. For a complete guide to going back to work as a stay-at-home mom, check out the graphic below.