If you’re a mom who is thinking about heading back into the workforce, there are many factors to consider before diving back into the labor pool. Depending upon how long you’ve been spending your days caring for your wee ones, the workforce may have changed dramatically from the last time you held a full-time [paying!] job.

Here are five steps to prepare you for hitting your job search running:

1. Conduct a career evaluation, either by yourself or with a career counselor. Going back into the workforce may be an opportunity for you to find a job that you will not only to excel at, but also enjoy. You have a chance to spend a little bit more time finding a job that is the right fit. You may have more flexibility in your requirements, so you may not need a full-time job, or you may be more flexible in your hours than other job hunters and this can be a big benefit to certain types of employers.

Working with a career counselor will give you can chance to discover not only what you might enjoy but what skills you have that you are actually good at. These are two key components to long-term job satisfaction.

2. Define what you are willing to put into and hoping to get out of your career. Be very clear going into your job search how many hours you want to work a week and what those hours look like.

• Are you willing to work three half days?
• Are evenings an option?
• Are weekends an option?
• o you want to be home when the kids get home from school?

Put all of these things on a piece of paper so everything is planned out before you begin looking for a job to prevent you from wasting time on jobs that don’t meet your needs.

You also want to think about what you want out of your career and especially how much money are you hoping to add to the monthly budget?

By looking at how many hours a week you want to work and how much money you want to bring in, you will have idea of what type of salary you need to make this career work for you.

[If you are thinking about going back to school, there are many things to consider, check out our blog on Heading back to school? 5 Things you need to know.]

Other things that are important to think about when deciding upon your new career include:

• Do you work better alone or as a part of team?
• How do you handle conflict?
• How much direction or oversight do you want/need?
• Do you want to lead a team or be in charge of other employees?
• Are you willing to travel or work odd hours?
• Do you want something with stable income and/or hours (i.e. salary or commission)?

Being aware of what you truly want will help you find a career that fits your exact needs.

3. Stick to your list. Once you’ve outlined what you are willing to put into, and wanting to get out of, your new career, you need to stick to your guns. Double check your list and make sure that it is all needs and separate out the wants and then don’t compromise on the needs.

Far too many people make what they think to be short-term compromises only to realize a decade later that they’ve been miserable the whole time.

4. Dust off your résumé and take a long, hard look at how your résumé relates to the jobs you for which you are applying.

Stay-at-home mom is a highly advanced technical career and you have developed many skills that are probably not reflected on your résumé. Scheduling, project management, resource allocation, financial management, culinary arts, and more are all skills you have perfected over the years.

Your résumé really is your first impression to a potential employer and needs to stand out enough from the crowd that you get noticed and offered the opportunity for an interview.

This is a great reason to get help with your résumé to make sure it is as effective as it can be to unlock doors that otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to get into to and save yourself time, stress, and money.

5, Brush up on your interview skills. Once you are in the door, you still have to nail the interview. It’s probably been awhile since you have been in a high-stakes interview and you don’t want to burn job opportunities practicing. The time to practice is before you start handing out those impressive résumés you have created.

An interview coach will help you make sure the impression that you are making is powerful and effective. Even the smallest of behaviors can undermine your words if they are not aligned.

Learn how to answer the difficult questions and how to delicately sidestep questions your employers shouldn’t be asking (and even knowing which questions you shouldn’t be asked).

If you are ready to head back to the workforce, don’t leave your career to chance. Our career counselors will help you create a powerful résumé and nail the interview. They can guide you to a career that you will not only enjoy, but excel at. Schedule your free consultation and take the opportunity to find out how we can help you head back to the workforce successfully. Don’t hesitate. Schedule your free consultation today.

About the Author

From an early age Matthew loved to talk, and now he gets paid to do just that.

Having grown up with Learning Disabilities and overcome them, Breakthroughs is an opportunity for him to give back. Now Matthew is an Educational Therapist with over 20,000 hours of experience working with children and adults with learning challenges.

When not in the office Matthew can be found seeking adventure with his wife and children, preferably on a mountain or in a kayak.

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