Life after Kids: How to Give Your Career a Kickstart.
Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that for most women, having kids hinders their career. Whilst forward-thinking employers, particularly those in the public sector, might claim to support female staff who take career breaks to raise a family, the reality is that being away from your job for a year or more is not good for your career. Some women do make it work, but success often comes at a huge personal cost. Sure, you might be the type of person who is happy to return to work within weeks of giving birth, but most women are not. Luckily, there are ways to keep your career on track, or even kick start an ailing career after a break of many years – and here’s how.
Continuous Professional Development
Undertaking a program of continuous professional development, such as an MSN online, is a useful way of staying up to date with what’s happening in your sector. This is especially true if you work within a profession such as nursing, where guidelines change every few years. Instead of switching off to all things career related whilst you are at home with your children, consider studying for a masters in nursing online, so you can work in your own time and fit your studies around family commitments.
You don’t need to devote a huge amount of time to staying in the loop within your chosen profession, but any time you do spend attending conferences or reading up on the latest developments will stand you in good stead when you decide to return to work.
Stay in Touch with Colleagues
The last thing you will probably feel like doing once you are on maternity leave is talking to your colleagues, but keeping in touch is the smart thing to do. You don’t have to spend hours joining in conference calls or checking your work emails. Instead, stay in touch with one or two trusted colleagues and touch base with them every week or so. This will keep you in the loop with the latest developments at work, so when you do return, you can slide back into the daily routine without feeling like a fish out of water.
Train for a New Career
Sometimes a break from the everyday grind of work is enough to highlight how much you hate your career. If this sounds like you, use your enforced break to consider your future options. Maybe a sideways career move could work for you, or perhaps you are ready to try something completely different. Either way, look at your options and consider whether a training course or ADN to NP programs are right for you, and if it is a good fit, sign up for an online study course to help you take your career to the next level.
Don’t let a career break ruin your future chances of promotion. With a bit of effort on your part, starting a family could be a golden opportunity to take stock of where you are at right now.
