Looking for a new position, yes I am need of a change of career and very ready for it, and watching the One Show last night, where they were talking about mums finding it hard to return to work after having a child it inspired me to write this blog.
I have added a section about getting back work in my new up and coming book..watch this space…. in progression.
After having a child it can be tricky subject and sometimes is a big dilemma of whether to return to work or not after having a child. In my opinion it is when you are ready and what suits your current needs. Never feel pressurized in returning to work if you don’t want to.
I decided after having my son to return to work, but to work part time. I was out of work due to being made redundant just before I found out I was pregnant, and took me ages to find another job whilst pregnant, and in the end it became too late and so I went straight on maternity leave.
I took it for grunted on how hard it would be to find another job. After I had my son and my maternity leave finished I was ready to go back, but didn’t want to miss out on my son growing up.
I wrote down what hours I was able to do and wanted to do and looked for evening and weekend work, I managed find a job working in Tescos. However it was tricky at the time with my husband doing different shifts aswell to do the evening hours so I looked for a weekend job and managed find one, working in a call centre, where I am working now.
Now my son goes to nursery I now work Fridays and Saturdays, but now looking to do more hours but in a different role, as I no longer want to do telephone work. I love writing and eventually would like this to be my full time career but until then I will need to continue to work elsewhere to help me financially for the time being.
If you are not sure and can’t make up your mind up whether to return to work then write down why you want to and what is holding you back from returning to work. Take it one step at a time.
It is up to you what you decide to do if you feel you need more time to adjust to being a parent then take that time. Becoming a parent is a massive adjustment in itself and it will change your life, you can start to see things differently including work.
I know some mums who have used the time whilst on maternity leave to learn that they want a whole different career and work path altogether, you never know to be honest until your baby arrives how you are going to feel about working and your life in general.
So take sometime to think about what you really want and if you do decide you want to go back to work then my tips are:
work out your hours you wish to work and days
find jobs based around those hours and days you wish to work
Update your C.V based on the jobs you are searching for
You can get help from the Job Centre if you need help with your C.V and if you go onto Universal Job match and Indeed.com they have daily job vacancies on their site. These are the main two job search engines I use and indeed was how I found the job at Tescos and in my current job.
Be aware when you add your C.V to websites such as Jobsite and C.V Library for example you may start to get some agencies ringing you about vacancies. Be aware many won’t have a job available and just want you on their books.
I kept getting agencies contacting me to say they had a vacancy available only to get there and they didn’t. Plus they kept sending me to vacancies which were difficult to get to and I specified that the job had to be easy to get to by local and public transport.
To keep tabs on the jobs I applied for I bought a file box and kept my job listings I applied for in my file box.
Do your own research on the companies you apply for as it looks good when it comes to an interview that you know something about the company and it gives you an idea about the company and if they have a good working reputation or not.
What ever you decide remember it is your choice and no matter what no one else can make that decision apart from you.
Please comment if you too have advice for parents returning to work after having a child as sometimes it is good to know we have that shared support.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
The parenting adventures 