Tired of being on maternity leave, but scared to go back to the office? Are you afraid that you have lost your skills? A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. And here are a few helpful tips to help you do it.
Attention to detail
The maternity leave ends and you want to return to work. But where to start? What to pay attention to?
First, you should accept that there have been changes in your professional field during the decree. Previous knowledge and skills are outdated, which means that you will have to learn new things. This is where online courses can help. You can choose any interesting topic that you haven’t gotten your hands on before.
Secondly, during the first years of a child’s life, you basically studied materials about everything related to parenting, nutrition, sleep, and other children’s problems. In addition, the most important news reached you, and that was enough for you.
But over time, you yourself become an expert on children, advice is no longer needed. The child is growing and now does not require constant attention. And you gradually begin to remember what you were interested in before giving birth. To change the focus, slowly unsubscribe from countless «mom» pages and publics, look for free watercolor courses, life hacks on using Photoshop and other interesting areas.
Then make an honest assessment of your knowledge and skills and think about how to capitalize on them. Read the stories of other working-from-home moms.
Thirdly, it’s time to remember old friends. Some disappear from the horizon as soon as you have a child, some rarely appear. But now you can safely write to them and invite them to visit, in a cafe or in a movie.
However, one release is not enough. Try to get yourself back. A new dress or bright makeup, stylish underwear or face cream, a haircut or a manicure — anything can be the first step towards yourself.
5 steps to freedom
When, at the very least, things got better with the return of yourself, you can proceed to the next stage — in fact, to looking for a job. To protect yourself from mistakes, take the advice of Americans Lauren Smith Brody and Jennifer Gefsky, who have helped many moms and dads get back to work.
- Please indicate on your resume that you are willing to work full time. Even if it seems to you that part-time employment will allow you to quickly join the work rhythm, by limiting the scope of your search, you are weeding out many opportunities. You may well be offered a remote, project, half-day job, for example, after a probationary period.
- Register on all possible resources related to job search. Create an account with up-to-date and complete information about yourself, describe your skills and abilities. Tell about all the courses and educational programs that you have ever participated in to show the future employer that you are in the subject.
- Use all the connections you have. Sometimes friends and family can help with work.
- Use the skills of an experienced parent in your work. For example, time and budget planning, multitasking, the ability not to panic even when plans change dramatically. In the first years of motherhood, not only emotional intelligence develops, but the skills of an organizer, negotiator and manager are developed in one person. Be sure to keep this in mind when you go for an interview.
- Study the labor market and find out what salary in the area you are interested in is now considered optimal. It is her who is voiced at the interview, and not the one that you were paid several years ago.
Don’t give up work for your kids. Believe me, an unrealized, unhappy mother, but from morning to night, is much worse than a cheerful, creative, but only in the mornings, evenings and weekends.