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How To Prepare For A New Career After Kids: A Simple Guide

preparing for a new career after kidsDo you want to prepare for a new career after kids, but you feel nervous and uncertain about where to begin? Understandable.  Here’s a simple guide to help you prepare for starting a new job – and offer you useful tips and insights about what you can expect.

Note: This essay was written in collaboration with Rebecca French.

If you’re ready to start a new career after having kids, you’re not alone in feeling fearful and confused . Many moms who go back to work after an extended break feel full of self doubt and insecurities.

This info will help 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.  

6 Tips to Prepare For A New Career After Kids

1. You May Need To Retrain:

New Career After Kids is doable and scaryYou may need to refresh your skills somewhat if it’s been a long time since you had a career after having kids.

This doesn’t mean you need to start from scratch and go back to university.

You can find things like “refresher courses” that have been updated to the latest standards and to meet regulations.

These courses can be especially helpful for catching up with the latest technology.

You should 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 an online MBA degree, since this could be useful for helping you progress the career ladder and even start earning more.

2. You Will Probably Deal With Guilt:

New Career After Kids can be scary at firstGuilt is universal mom problem.

The important thing to remember when dealing with the dreaded mommy guilt: the fact that you’re feeling guilty means that you care about your kids. So by default: You’re a good mom.

Also going starting a new career means you’re providing for your kids. You want to give them the things they need. This also makes you a good mom.

Finally, you’re getting a new career is setting a good example for your kids. You’re showing your kids that in life – some things have to be earned – and aren’t just given.

3. You Can Ask For Flexible Hours:

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 a lot of companies will offer this as a benefit to their employees – especially to parents because they want to have a more family friendly working culture.

Note: Many companies won’t offer this as an option unless you specifically request it. But if you ask in a warm and personal way, many employers are far more accommodating than you’d imagine.

4. Ask About Childcare Incentives:

Career After Kids is good role modeling for kidsAs 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 they might 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. After all, admittedly, good childcare can be difficult to find. Plus, 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.

If your employer doesn’t offer such incentives, this still 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. Asking another family to help out is a terrific solution. You will know your children are being well looked after. And you’ll be able to go back to work without incurring a massive cost.

5. Start Slowly:

start slowly to build New Career After KidsAlthough 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. You can speak to your employer about how you can get started slowly. This is also a good way to get your kids used to being apart from you a little. You will especially want start slowly if your kids are young and used to having you around.

6. Ask About Working Part Time Or From Home:

think about the career you want after kidsNowadays working from home is more common and accepted than ever. So this is definitely something that’s worth asking about when applying for jobs. Or even speaking to your employer after you’re hired.

Working from home allows you the best of both worlds.  You can still be there for your kids when they need you. And, you can focus your creative energy on something you enjoy at the same time.

Of course, you will need to be able to focus on work. So you will need to arrange for your child to be taken care of somehow. Plus you will require a certain level of discipline and willpower not to be distracted by your kids and home environment.

If working from home isn’t an option, then you should consider working part time. This will enable you to go into the office to work. Plus you still to get enjoy the social aspects of spending time at home.

Note: This essay was written in collaboration with Rebecca French.

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