Working Mums in the UK
Working Mums in the UK

Lets get the ball rolling this is the page to let it all out,  

Flexi-time or flexible working hours are a real god send to anyone who is employed, but particularly for working mothers. Instead of having to fit in childcare arrangements around work and juggling about 60 balls in the air at the same time, just to watch some of them drop, all at the same time, flexi-time gives you the chance to sort out hours which suit you and can cut out all the pressure of having to be somewhere between the hours of 9 and 5.

Flexible working practices also benefit the employer, since he or she can be aware that the work is going to get done, even if you do it at home in your pyjamas, or you stay late in the office some night, just to catch up.

It even can make workers more productive. How often have we all sat at our desks and simply been unable to concentrate? Well, with flexi-time, if you do hit a mental brick wall, you can just leave work and come back when you are refreshed and ready to tackle the challenges ahead.

When your child is ill, or they need to come home early from school for whatever reason, or your childminder cannot work on a particular day, then a flexible approach to work, means that you can have a flexible approach to looking after your children and you can accommodate changes that happen at the last minute.

If your current employer is reluctant to introduce flexible working practices, then why not try to find out more about other companies in your locality who do offer this benefit? You can often contact a recruitment agency and ask them and if your company still is not keen, well use the contacts you have made through the agency and perhaps land yourself a job that will offer you this facility!

Increasingly people are becoming much more aware of the fact that work is just work and indeed there is much more to life than simply working all the hours God sends. This is particularly true if you have kids. After all, you can work long hours, they can have all the latest gadgets, toys and i-pods etc, but if they don’t really know you and if you don’t know them, then what is the point of it all? Do you want their memories of childhood to be ones that relate only to the material possessions they had, rather than fun times with Mummy and Daddy?

Isn’t it better to spend as much time with your children as possible, before they grow up, fly the nest and you wonder just where on earth the time went?

Well if you are thinking about whether or not you are working too much, then the chances are that you probably are! But just because you have been working long hours, doesn’t mean that you have to carry on that way. You may be able to cut down your hours and adopt a flexible working arrangement with your employer. Or you may be able to look for a new position that offers you a chance to work fewer hours and spend more time with your children.

There are so many recruitment agencies around, that can all help you to find the kind of hours that you need, at the right kind of pay scale, so you can get help to find the job that offers you the chance to play a really big part in your children’s lives, but also gives you the opportunity to carry on with your career. In other words, you really can have your cake and eat it too. Which is great news, not just for you, but also for your kids as well!

Have you taken a career break to provide childcare at home and you want to return back to work, but are finding it hard to get back onto the career ladder? Perhaps your circumstances have changed and you are now having to stop being a stay at home mother and are now contemplating being a working mother. So how do you get back on the career ladder?

The best way to re-establish yourself in the workplace is to get a position, even if it is one that is slightly lower than the position you were in before you had children. It is always easier to find a good position, when you are employed, rather than still being at home. Then you can either try to gain promotion internally within the company you are working for or use that company as a springboard to launch yourself back up the career ladder.

You may also want to think about undertaking further training and/or education. This will demonstrate that although you are now serious about being a working mum and you want to sharpen your skills and acquire more skills to help progress your career.

Try to make sure that you can adopt flexible working or flexi-time, so that you can fit work in easily around childcare arrangements. Then you will be able to meet all deadlines and won’t have to drop work to plug unexpected any blips with childcare. This proves your reliability and commitment to the company and should help you start again on the career ladder. If that may be difficult for you, then consult a recruitment agency about which vacancies they have that offer flexible working and perhaps try out new types of employment: you may find that you love doing something which you would never have dreamed of doing before.

Above all, be realistic. You have taken a break and may not be able to command the same salary you had prior to leaving, but once you get a  foot on the rung of that ladder, there is no reason why you cannot quickly rise to the top of your chosen career.

If working part time seems as if it would be too much hassle, then perhaps you should think again. Full time mums really can fit jobs in around school hours and there are lots of different positions that you can try out. Schools are often a great place to work in, since you are able to work hours that are not longer than your children’s school days, so you can pick them up from school.

Jobs available at schools are varied, from teaching assistants right through to lunchtime or break supervisors.

But if you want to get away from children for a bit, why not think about taking a job from say 10-2, which gives you enough time so that you can get to school to pick up your children? Whilst it is great being a full time mum, part time work also offers the opportunity to meet other adults and have an adult conversation for a change.

You could consider working from home, but for many mums returning to the workplace is also about widening social horizons, so working at home may not be the place for you, since you won’t meet other people. But if you relish the prospect of peace and quiet after the noise of children around the home, then working from home, may be a great way to kick-start your career again.

Before you make any snap decisions about whether to go out to work or get a job that enables you to work from home, sign up with a recruitment agency, to get some temporary jobs that will give you a real flavour of what is available and, perhaps more importantly, you will be able to find out exactly where you want to work and how many hours you can fit around your full time role as a Mum!