Have you Fallen Off Your Career Ladder?
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.
