How To Kick Start Your Career After Having Kids
There’s no special secret formula to make returning to work after having kids easy, and in fact, you might not even feel up to it for a while, and that’s completely fine – everyone works at their own pace. You shouldn’t feel pressured to get back to work if you’re perfectly happy at home. After having kids, you might feel as though you’re more determined than ever to begin cultivating your way in your dream career, however, and if this sounds familiar then be sure to chase your passion, and employ your drive, willing, and motivation to push you forward towards your next steps.
If you can’t wait to get back behind the reins, then you’re going to want to continue reading for helpful advice, guidance, and handy suggestions and answers to questions that are likely to be whirring through your head.
Prepare To Get Back on Track
Just because you’ve taken time out of work to start a family doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll start back at a disadvantage. Yes, there will be some aspects that you’ll have to catch up on, but you’re more than capable of doing so. If you’re serious about going back to work after your maternity leave, then ask to be kept in the loop from beginning to end.
Request to be copied into emails so that you can follow certain important trails, regularly visit to see your colleagues, and catch up with those in the team that you’re closest with so to avoid missing out of any office tidbits, and snippets of information that might not necessarily be passed on by your managers.
If you are the manager, then ask to be kept up to speed by doing the same. If you wish to maintain a hands-on role, then consider using an increased number of cloud services available so that you can still have access while you’re away. Now would be the perfect time to finesse your managerial skills and return to work with vigor and newly informed ideas and skills with the help of an online course. Consider the heady heights of a masters in supply chain management online, for example, or in accounting if you’re keen to head accounts, or even analytics and coding.
Online Options
As aforementioned, online courses suit someone with other engagements down to the ground. There’s no set time in which you have to study, so can work what are commonly deemed “unsociable hours,” however to you, past 6 pm at night and before 8 am in the morning might be the best times for you. If you’re looking after a baby or young child, it’s highly likely that they might be!
If you’re skeptical about online degrees, then find out a little more about the entry requirements for job roles that you’d be pursuing after having attained your degree, and speak to the employers about the kind of candidate profiles that they typically invite to interview and are keen to speak to. Get to grips with how employers undertake the vetting process and find individuals with the pedigree to complement the roles they’re offering. They will likely accept online degrees, but be sure to do your homework before completing one.
Conduct plenty of research into the different courses out there, and into which will enable you to kick-start the career you’re longing to get a foot in the door to.
Seek A Course That Interests You
You’ll be pleased to hear that you can have both; there’s no need to have to give up one to enjoy the other. Millions of mothers worldwide are able to enjoy a fruitful, lucrative, and engaging career as well as be a parent to children. Assuming you have a partner, they can share responsibilities if you’re set on returning to work to focus on your professional life. You might have to make some sacrifices along the way, but don’t give up on your dream if your partner can pick up the slack.
If you now feel ready to embark upon pastures new and begin a new career arc, then don’t let anything stop you. This is your life and your dream, and it’s there for the taking. If you know what professional you’ve like to pursue, then get the ball rolling at your very first opportunity. Online courses are well suited to new parents as they are flexible and allow you to work remotely – you’ll be able to study in your own time and at your own pace.
Strike a Perfect Work-life Balance
If you want to ensure an ideal work-life balance, then you’re going to have to work hard to ensure you invest in both quite equally. To do so, you will need to implement some sort of routine and stick to a plan.
Don’t be afraid to ask for assistance from others if you need someone to mind your child and or children while you attend interviews, workshops, and conferences. Equally, bear in mind that there will be instances in which you’ll be required to stay home rather than work and study. When you’re at home, try to focus on enjoying the moment and keep your work life separate by turning off your phone or having it in flight mode, redirecting emails to someone else, staying away from your computer, and scheduling family activities that will keep you busy.
Be Realistic
Be realistic in your expectations before starting your new career path, as you will have to seriously consider money, timing, length of study, and workload before deciding upon the area of your intended professional dedication. You need not dismiss your dreams altogether, but you might have to put them on hold or stall them for a little while longer. To save disappointment and disheartenment, curate a five-year plan that allows you to see your future progression in front of you to monitor closely.
Break the five years into smaller, palatable sections that you will aim to achieve smaller tasks within. Make sure that you’re chipping away towards your dream job, succeeding to overcome barriers and obstacles, and going through, even slowly, ticking off objectives that your plan’s comprised of.
