Career Planning for Stay-at-Home Moms

Connie writes: Lesa, Do you have any advice for women who used to be career girls and have now decided to be stay at home moms? I would like to re-enter the work force in a few years when my kids are in school. I am wondering what activities, programs, etc. I should be involved in now so that when I do start looking to get hired I am as appealing as some of the other candidates, even if I have a 5 year gap in my job history. It seems like a daunting task to get back out there again after such a long time so any advice for what I can do now to make that time easier would be great!

Connie: The big question is, do you want to go back to re-enter the work force doing the same type of work you were doing when you left? If so, stay current on that industry by joining groups on the internet that discuss the industry’s news and events. Contribute to the online community through posts to blogs and group discussions. You’ll meet new people this way, which may help when you begin looking for a job a few years down the road. If you can attend conventions, seminars and/or trade shows related to the industry during these years that will be helpful too. Don’t hesitate to meet people and tell them your story – you’ll be surprised by how much support you’ll receive when you tell folks that you’re just staying in the loop while attending to your young family. If you’re not going back into the same line of work then of course you’ll want to prepare yourself for whatever it is you do want to do when you re-enter. Follow the same path by participating online and in person where and when possible.

Either way, if you can volunteer your skills from home while on maternal sabbatical that is ideal. Simply put yourself out there to various organizations telling them exactly what you’re doing and why. It should look something like this either in writing or over the phone: “Hi, my name is Connie and I have a professional background in ___________. I’m planning to stay home with my children until they are both in elementary school and would like to keep my skills sharp during that time. I’m calling/writing to see if I can volunteer with your organization. What I can offer is ____ hours per week from home, and I have everything I need in order to provide these services since I already have a computer and internet connection. I can also help out with ___________ and __________ and if it’s okay for me to bring my kids along, I can be on-site ____ hours per week. I have excellent references and look forward to talking with you more about this soon.”

Beyond that, you know if you’ll need to keep current on any licenses you need for your line of work so you should take whatever classes or tests that are required. Stay active, stay connected and you should be able to re-enter the work force fairly easily when the time comes.

*This post was written for the Reaching Hire career advice column on SearchWarp .

Veterans Day Blues

Today is Veterans Day and I am certainly thankful to all of the vets who throughout our history have fought hard and suffered so that we as Americans are able to continue our free and prosperous way of life. I am of course particularly thankful for the vets in my life, and the list is fairly long so I won’t go thanking them all here by name. You know who you are – thank you.

What bums me out is thinking of all of the veterans who have honorably left the military after serving proudly, only to find themselves seemingly unemployable. I don’t think that anyone necessarily deserves opportunity based only on their class, creed or color, but it does seem like there should be more awareness among the employment community when it comes to veterans.

I’m not suggesting an ill proportionate amount of respect or worship, but a simple acknowledgment of what veterans have accomplished by serving honorably, regardless of their position in their particular branch (Army, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard or Reserve forces). They have all been through rigorous training of some sort, and most have completed a fair amount of technical training in many different areas of radio, computer, satellite, network or mechanical subjects. The skills they learn simply in the process of learning all of that are valuable to many organizations as you can be assured that if veterans have one universal skill, it is adaptability (IMHO).

To all of the unemployed veterans out there looking for work, know that there is a small army of employment professionals who sing your praises and work towards identifying opportunities for you to transfer your skills into. I wish you the very best, always.

How about you? What are your thoughts on employment issues specific to veterans? Are you a vet currently looking, or do you know of one? And what about resources for these folks to help them get where they’re going professionally? I’d love your input.