It is not the smartest idea to take a career break in the middle of a recession if you can help it, but sometimes we are forced to do this and certainly must if we are expecting a new arrival. These days with household budgets being stretched so thin, the thought of being a full-time mum, while attractive, is not realistic. As soon as we are able and are ready, we need to get back into the job market to find a way of catching back up financially.
With unemployment rates so high, the labour market can seem to be an even more daunting proposition than usual. This is not the time to falter though and it is important to prepare your negotiation skills and boost your self-confidence, ready for battle. To start off with, you should make a thorough analysis of your financial position and needs for the months and years ahead. While you must always be reasonable, cut out anything that you don’t really need. Be very clear in your own mind about your financial requirements, what you absolutely need as a minimum and what is ideal.
You may well have been perfectly happy with your career before you took the break, but you should now evaluate exactly where you are, whether you want to go back into that arena or explore something completely fresh. Should you start your own business? If your financial analysis shows you that you can expect reasonable returns from self-employment and still make ends meet, then this option may allow you to create a good deal more flexibility in your life, down the road. You are being faced with some significant and potentially very far-reaching decisions and you might want to consider professional coaching at this time. Thankfully, coaching for women in your situation can definitely help you to determine what to do.
It’s important to be positive and never to focus on the negative. Focus on all your strengths, which you should write out on paper and keep on your desk at all times. Reinforce your psyche and project yourself in all your conversations, phone calls and e-mails.
When looking at a particular position, always consider jobs that may be beneath, but would naturally form part of a career progression in this field. In this case you may well be over-qualified, but it is a stepping stone closer to where you want to go and if you over-deliver at what you are doing you will become eligible and soon achieve the position that you really want.
Even in this tough hiring environment, those people who really stand out, help and over-perform will still get ahead of the unfortunate majority who do not. If you remember that it is in your mindset to succeed, then you will.
Call on all the inner strength that you know you have as you will certainly need it. It is easy to get disenchanted by the negative news we hear about the economy and jobs every day and while you might begin to think that the task is very difficult, don’t think that it is a hill too steep. Remember to take the journey one step at a time, being fully confident of your ability and your readiness for a particular position before you start to contact the employer. A useful tip — take a deep breath and even stand up when you make a phone call. A slumping posture, or a sagging mindset will not help. Remember to smile as you talk as well!
These days, online life coaching can provide you with the boost you require when you need it, especially in those periods of negativity. You can do it!
Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!
