So. You took time out from your engaging and hard-won career to take care of your family.
At the time, leaving your successful job seemed like a bit of a wrench, but you had new and immediate challenges on the horizon – like learning how to button up a baby jumpsuit, and working out how the pram fits in the boot.
“Sure, I’ll be back as soon as they stop feeding,” you told yourself. But then, you felt they needed you during the toddler years, or perhaps another little soft-headed bundle came along. “I’ll get back to my career when the last one starts school,” was your consoling remark.
But by that time, you’d been sucked into the vortex of community volunteering, making up the army of stay-at-home mothers who keep the country (and our education system) running, with endless, unacknowledged fundraising and support work. Plus you still had children to raise and a household to run. Usually without the welcome addition of domestic help available to your income-earning counterparts.
Now, some years later, you realise that the shining light of your professional career is barely a flickering flame. In a haze of nappy changing and lunchbox creation, you’ve lost contact with your former colleagues. The workplace has moved on and you haven’t ridden the wave – you feel like you have some serious skill gaps. Perhaps your professional registration or qualification has lapsed. When people ask “what do you do?”, you’re embarrassed to describe yourself in terms of your former profession – it’s so distant, that you feel like a faded movie starlet, clinging to former glories.
Plus, you’re not so sure that the career you once had would be compatible with you or your family’s needs. Your previous lifestyle, filled with late nights in the office and high-pressure deadlines, won’t mix well with attending kids dance concerts and making sure science reports are in on time. Part-time jobs in your profession are like hens’ teeth. Your priorities have shifted – you aren’t interested in a high-powered, high stress job anymore, but you do want to feel valued and intellectually stimulated.
You’re trapped, right?
But then, it hits you: Taking a career break doesn’t need to be a sacrifice – it can be your golden opportunity.
To have had the chance to pause, reflect on your career direction, start over, take a new path, is something to be grateful for.
Think back to high school. Remember that feeling that life was full of opportunity, and all you needed to do was start? What did you really want to do? Were you considering more than one option? When you were working, did you dream of leaving it all and pursuing something new? Or perhaps you had dreams of starting your own business one day? Could you consider any of these alternate life paths now?
Many clients come to Career Smart Mums to find new direction in their careers. I recommend several techniques, including:
- Being curious about occupations – there are new occupations being created all the time
- Exploring myFuture, Australia’s career exploration website
- Interviewing their networks to learn about what occupations
- Taking personality assessments such as the free Human metrics online tool which makes occupation suggestions based on personality
For many mums, a new direction can also mean involve re-training, and will often require enrolling in further short courses or tertiary. Be curious, and use the wave of new, flexible education options available to your advantage.
Don’t view a stint as a stay-at-home mum as the end of your career. It can be a new beginning, and an opportunity to forge a different and satisfying career path. Now is your time. All you need to do is start.