This Is How to Keep Your Career Alive after Having a Baby

Here are some tips by Pamela Weinberg, co-founder of MYOBmoms that can help you keep your career alive after having a baby.

Current Job Market:

74% of at-home women are successful in finding jobs
Hot areas (e.g., environmentally sound companies and products, not-for-profits, consulting)
Flexible work options are more available now as a result of the work-life balance movement: companies are now more receptive to part-time or independent contractor positions; telecommuting more accepted
Websites for flexible jobs: www.idealist.org, www.urbaninterns.com

Keeping your Career top-of-mind while you are at home:

Attitude: consider this an opportunity, not an obstacle – it’s a time to reevaluate, reassess, start over, pursue different options and directions. Deal with limiting assumptions.
Set goals: – the time goes quickly. Setting mini-goals and deadlines will help structure you and make sure that you accomplish what you want.
Smart volunteering: Prioritize values with time – make sure you are doing what you enjoy and using your skills (if you want to write—volunteer to write school newsletter; want to go back to a development job—chair the fundraiser).

Tips for Keeping Your Career Alive:

Focus on skills-based resume (take stock of what you have been doing as a SAHM) and continue to build your resume through volunteer work; entrepreneurial opportunities.
Stay current: read the right periodicals/blogs for your field of interest.
Utilize social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) but be mindful of your digital footprint — google yourself periodically; that’s what prospective employers will see if they look you up. (utitlize www.mashable.com or www.techcrunch.com to keep you up-to-date).
Informational interviews – learn about a new field, or keep current on your former.
Elevator speech: be able to articulate what you are looking for, and why you are qualified for it, so that you can make that pitch any time, to anyone (avoid “Just a Mom”).
Invest in yourself (time, business cards, wardrobe) www.vistaprint.com for free or low-cost business cards.
Develop a plan & schedule the time to follow it through!