As a stay-at-home parent, your focus for a while has exclusively been on raising your children. The thing is, if your children are getting to that stage of more independence and are spending more time at school, then it’s very likely that you’ll want to look at going back into the workforce and no longer be just about being at home with the kids.
There is nothing wrong with being a stay-at-home parent, but when you are at home, you may feel fearful of losing some of those skills that you have built up in your career. You don’t even need to study if you don’t want to: not when there are lists of the highest paying jobs without a degree out there for you to utilize and apply through. While the work that you do in the house is valued, it’s often not compensated financially, and that’s the only thing missing. Are you looking to get back to work after you take some time off? Well, we’ve got some tips for you to make sure that even if you had a lot of time out of the labor force, you can hop back in. Let’s take a look below.
Speak to somebody about your CV
When was the last time you took the time to look through your resume and update it? When was the last time you wrote a cover letter for a job? Of course, you know that cover letters are to be changed with every job application, but your CV may only need some small tweaks if you’re looking to get back to work after you take some time off as a parent. Then the best thing that you can do is get somebody else’s eyes on your resume and ask them how you can make it pop. It has to be as up-to-date as possible. When you add in the time that you’ve taken off as a parent, make sure that you write down some of the things that you’ve been doing at home. Being a parent requires a high level of time management and organization, as well as the ability to implement conflict resolution. Yes, we’re talking about toddler tantrums!
Get your pitch ready
An elevator pitch is a summary of why somebody should hire you, and usually this is in the form of a good cover letter. Being a parent is always going to be a big part of your life, but when you’re applying for work, you don’t necessarily have to focus on that part. Instead, you should look at why a company should employ you in the first place, rather than anybody else. Concentrate on some of the things that you did before you turned to having time off as a parent and what you’d like to achieve after. Going back into the workforce is a big deal and you should consider that.
Look to enhance your existing skill set
If you’re looking to get back to work after you take some time off, then you need to go through a little bit of a refresher to see if there are any skills that have been updated since you last used them. For example, if you worked in marketing a good few years ago, then there’s every chance you may need to have a look at refreshing your knowledge on current marketing trends and the way that marketing is used for businesses if you’re not.Well versed on digital marketing. For example, you may want to do a quick course in search engine optimization or analytics.
Take your time
You do not have to jump back into a high-powered corporate job if you don’t want to. You can take your time and choose to consult as a freelancer or go part-time when you go back to work. It may be tempting to start exactly where you left off, but you are not the same person you were when you left the corporate world. You’re a parent now, which means you have gained a whole new level of skills and your personality will have changed accordingly. People tend to go back into work slowly after they’ve taken some time off to be a parent, and there’s nothing wrong with doing this. In fact, you might find that one opportunity leads to another.
Keep networking
If you’re not quite ready to jump back into the workforce, but you are putting the wheels in motion to do it, then the best thing you can do is start networking again. Make some connections by doing favors for people and go to industry events in the same industry you were in that you’re looking to jump back into. This can help you to reach back out again to other people and put your thinking cap back on. We all know that the thinking cap you use as a parent is very different from the one that you use in the office. Speak to previous colleagues or even your previous boss to see what you can do. In terms of networking?
Refresh your working dictionary
The general public always dislikes jargon because it alienates them from the conversation. But in the workplace, the jargon that you use is going to keep you connected. If things have changed in your industry, then get up to speed with the new jargon that you should be using and learn what it all means.
Look at volunteering
If you’re not necessarily ready to jump back into the same workforce that you left before you started paternity or maternity leave, have a look at new industries and volunteering within them. Perhaps parenting has told you that you have a passion for something completely different. Volunteering is not only an excellent thing to have in your CV, but it can really help you to expand your network, especially if you’ve lost contact with people while you’ve been raising children. Volunteering isn’t always guaranteed to lead to a job, and you know that, But that doesn’t mean you can’t get so much out of it.
