How To Prepare For A New Career After Having Kids

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As if starting a new job or career when you were younger wasn’t daunting enough, now you’re thinking of doing it again, and it seems even scarier this time around despite the professional experience you’ve gained as well as the life experience.

For some reason, those going back to work after an extended break seem so full of self doubt and insecurities – this is even more common with moms who really have been doing the most important and difficult job of all, yet we seem to let all logic go out the window when it comes to believing in our own professional abilities.

With this post, we hope to be able to help you prepare for starting a new career after having kids with some useful tips and things you can expect. This really applies regardless of whether you’ve only been out of the work world for a few years since your kids were born, or whether your kids are now grown up and you really feel like you’re starting over. The emotions and fears will be the same, and because things, such as technology do change so quickly, you’ll find the whole thing quite daunting regardless of how long you’ve been out.

You May Need To Retrain:

Depending on how long it’s been since you were last in the workplace, you may need to refresh your skills somewhat. This doesn’t mean you need to start from scratch and go back to university, but you can find things like top up and refresher courses that have been updated to the latest standards and to meet regulations. You may even wish to pursue a new career altogether and look to Qualify in gym instructing through taking a course. These courses can be especially helpful for getting to grips with the latest technology and techniques. The best thing to do is speak to your employer about what they think you might need in order to do your job more effectively. If you work part time, you may even want to consider looking into degree or college courses online, since this could be useful for helping you progress the career ladder and even start earning more.

You Will Probably Deal With Guilt:

This is a universal problem between moms and it doesn’t really seem to matter whether you go back to work when your kids are still young or even if they’re already grown or even just in school and don’t really need you there all day. The important thing to remember when dealing with the dreaded mommy guilt is, the fact that you’re feeling guilty means that you care about your kids, so by default you’re a good mom. Also going back to work means you’re providing for them to give them the things they need, which also makes you a good mom. Finally, you’re setting a good example for them by showing them that, in life, things have to be earned and aren’t just given.

You Can Ask For Flexible Hours:

Especially if you have younger children or those of school age, it’s worth asking your employer if they offer any kind of flexibility with regards to working hours. Nowadays it’s very common and a lot of companies will actually offer this as a benefit to their employees – especially to parents because they want to have a more family friendly working culture. Although many won’t offer this unless you specifically request it, you’ll find that many employers are far more accommodating than you’d imagine.

Ask About Childcare Incentives:

As with flexible working hours, many employers nowadays are very aware of the positive aspects of having parents working for them, and are focused on creating and maintaining a family friendly working culture. As such they’ll offer incentives for parents to come back to work such as childcare vouchers, or even provide on-site childcare and breastfeeding stations for moms who are coming back to work when they have very young children. This is definitely something you should look for when going back to work, because, not only is childcare pretty difficult to find, but it’s often so expensive that it actually doesn’t make sense for moms to go back to work when all they’ll be doing is paying for childcare.

Of course, even if your employer doesn’t offer such incentives, doesn’t mean you’re not able to go back to work. If you have family nearby, you could come to some childcare arrangement with them so that you know your children are being well looked after and that you’re able to go back to work without incurring a massive cost as a result.

Start Slowly:

Although you’re probably very excited about going back to work, it’s important that you give yourself some time to get used to the transition, because it will be a big change for you to get used to – no matter how long it’s been since you’ve been out of the workforce. It’s a good idea to look for a job that offers more flexibility and even just speaking to your employer about how you can get started slowly coming back to work. This is also a good way to get your kids used to being apart from you a little – especially if they’re still quite young and are used to having you around as their main carer all the time.

Ask About Working Part Time Or From Home:

Nowadays working from home is more common and accepted than ever, so this is definitely something that’s worth asking about when either applying for jobs, or even speaking to your employer about once you’re hired. Working from home allows you the best of both worlds in that you can still be there for your kids when they need you, and can focus your creative energy on something you enjoy at the same time. Of course, you still need to be able to focus on work, so will need to arrange things like childcare and will also require a certain level of discipline and not allow yourself to be distracted. Even if working from home isn’t an option, then you should consider whether going back part time could be a good option for you. This will enable you to have a lot of the same flexibility that working from home offers, though you’ll still have to go into the office, but this isn’t always a bad thing as you’ll benefit from the social aspect of working outside the home.

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