Navigating Change in Life, Motherhood, And Work

Where are my SHOES?!?!

We have to leave in 5 minutes and your sister needs to get in the bathroom NOW!

Adjusting to getting my family up, fed, dressed, and out of the door for school after a summer of relaxed schedules is always a doozy. Someone can’t find their shoes, someone forgets their lunch, someone is in tears because I lost my patience while trying to free up the bathroom for the next person to use it. Navigating change can be tough, but it’s a reality that we must all face in life. 

In motherhood, we are forced to navigate change more than “normal” – whatever normal is – because our children change so quickly as they grow. As soon as you have a solid nap time down, your child decides to drop a nap. Once you finally help your child overcome separation anxiety, they start hitting other children on the playground and you have something new to work on. Then you add a new baby to the family, which is an adjustment for everyone. Then preschool starts and you have a schedule change. Then extracurricular activities are added to your evening routine, leaving you to adjust things once again. I could go on and on… 

Change never ends, which means navigating change becomes a mom superpower. We do what we need to do to be flexible while also sticking to our values and priorities amidst both big and small adjustments. This skill keeps our families united, and is also a workplace transferable skill that we can use to return to paid work after kids. 

Dissecting Mom’s Navigating Change Superpower

There are four elements that really stand out when it comes to developing the navigating change superpower to utilize it as a workplace transferable skill. 

1. Effective time management equates to less stress, enhanced confidence, and more peace in both your work and home life. Learning to time batch, delegate tasks, and automate tasks are just a few of the time management skills that can strengthen your ability to navigate change successfully. When things change, your time management skills kick in to adjust quickly.  

   At work, demonstrating that you can work quickly and efficiently is a major value add to any team. Be sure to showcase your time management skills and how you can transfer them to work when drafting a cover letter or during an interview to put yourself at the top of the candidate pool.

2. Creative problem solving in the day-to-day aspects of navigating change is critical. From major crises like medical issues and injuries to the everyday snags that are regular occurrences in life with kids, parents encounter problems that need solving nearly every day. During change, the problem is often not a lack of solutions but that there are too many options. How do you know which is best? 

   As a mom, you have become skilled at comparing various courses of action and choosing the best one for your family’s particular make-up, values, and lifestyle. This skill will carry over into the workplace as you evaluate possible solutions and find ones that best align with your company’s values, resources, and goals. 

3. Adaptability is the name of the game when it comes to motherhood and it can feel like we have two options: swim against the current or go with the flow. Navigating change successfully means adapting to the current situation by striking a balance between the new circumstances and keeping the good in what was before. As a mother, you recognize what needs to be done, and quickly create solutions to overcome the changes to keep moving forward.

   To transfer this skill to the workplace, think of a time crunch situation. When a deadline pops up out of nowhere, you have the skills to adapt and pivot quickly, weighing the options and getting the work done as it’s needed.

4. Moms build incredible Emotional Intelligence by managing the emotions of everyone in their family and understanding others' feelings as it pertains to the change at hand. We know change is hard for adults and children alike! Helping your family adjust through change – adding a new baby, moving to a new city, when a loved one passes away, when mommy goes back to work – cannot be done without emotional intelligence.

   The workplace is filled with people, all bringing their own emotions and personalities to the table as they work together as a team. You can position yourself as a key asset by showcasing your ability to tactfully and successfully work with others (even the hardest to work with!) through emotional intelligence. 

When we know that change is coming (and we know it is!), working on these four skills will help you to sharpen your navigating change superpower and leverage it when looking to return to work after a career pause. 

Practicing Your Skills To Navigate Change

As you prepare to return to work after caring for children, talk to your family about how past changes have affected them and get feedback about how you and the family handled it. You can  also journal about past changes and reflect on what you did well and what you could have done differently.

Parents Pivot offers individual and group coaching for parents looking to return to work after a career pause. If you would like assistance positioning the skills you’ve used at home to manage your household and family – such as navigating change – we’d love to help! Learn more about our programs here.

5 Steps To Reclaim Your Confidence And Return To Paid Work

“The thought of returning to work seems overwhelming, stressful, and difficult. How do I know I’ll be able to handle the responsibility of working outside the home while continuing to care for my home and child?”

I get comments and questions like this one all the time. Taking a maternity leave, no matter how long the duration, can make the best of us feel like we have dropped the “work” ball and will never be able to get it back up in the air again. “I’m rusty…out of practice…not as young as I used to be…don’t have the skills needed to jump back in…” – I’ve heard it all. 

Building your confidence to return to paid work is the first step to following your dreams and finding satisfaction at both work and home. I know that you haven’t been out of work so long that you are no longer valuable. In fact, the opposite is true: you are more valuable than ever! 

Consider Past, Present, Future: Steps To Building Your Confidence To Return To Paid Work

The best way to build your confidence is to acknowledge where you’ve been, recognize where you are, and not limit where you go next. The following mindsets will help you balance all three when making the transition back to paid work after a career pause. I suggest journaling about each of these areas, using the questions to help you process and think through each one. 

Remember. What did you do well before your career break? What did you enjoy? What energized you and got you out of bed in the morning? What do you hope fill your plate (and what do you hope to leave off)?

Reviewing your resume, past emails, and reflecting on past projects are great ways to jog your memory and remember your strengths before your break. 

Notice. What are you currently doing well? What matters most to you now? Is there anything that has changed about your interests and preferred activities? What energizes you and makes you excited to get out of bed in the morning?

I encourage you to consider all of the things you do daily at home that are valuable skills in the workplace. Don’t think you have any? Think again! Consider other “mom” skills such as leadership, saying no, budgeting, teamwork,  relationships building, research and problem solving, adaptability and agility, strategic thinking, communication, motivation, and organization.  

Dream. What would you love to do when you return back to paid work? How does your past influence your current reality and vice versa? What changes can you make to balance the two and dream big for your future? What would a perfect day look like? Is there an ideal routine that would make working outside the home easier?

Don’t be afraid to make seemingly “unreasonable” demands while you dream. If you think it will never happen, now is not the time to tell yourself that. Dream big!

Plan. What does remembering, noticing, and dreaming reveal about the direction you should go as you return to paid work? What can you eliminate from your plate to make the return less stressful and hectic? Who makes up the village that will support you?  What seems realistic and what seems out of reach? 

Now is a good time to share with a trusted partner, peer, or mentor what you’ve been remembering, noticing, and dreaming about for your return to paid work. Wise counsel is often the best way to see things you are missing, or to push you towards going after that dream that you think is unrealistic. Keep revising your plan until it feels challenging, yet achievable.

Pro tip: The best way to build your confidence is to make a plan that breaks your to-dos into small baby steps, which sets you up for…

Do. This is the step you’ve been waiting for! What action can you take today to boost your confidence? What can you do this week? This month? Maybe practicing some of those transferable skills mentioned above? Perhaps it’s hiring a career coach or joining a Facebook or LinkedIn group to chat with other working moms. You can also Craft The Perfect Return To Work Elevator Pitch and attend a networking lunch. 

After remembering, noticing, dreaming, and planning, your confidence to return to paid work will be sky high. You’ll feel prepared as you take the steps needed to achieve your goals.

Next Level Confidence Boosting

You have the potential to return to work and achieve success at home and in your career. Partner with Parents Pivot and take advantage of our confidence-boosting career coaching program. We offer 1:1 coaching as well as group coaching that will equip you with the tools and resources you need to build confidence and return to work successfully. 
Want even more tips for boosting your confidence? Check out 4 Tips to Boost Your Self-Confidence When Job Searching and Overcoming Return To Work Challenges.

What’s Your Summer’s “One Thing”?

What's one thing you can do this summer that will make everything else easier (or unnecessary)?

It might take some time for the answer to this question to come to your mind. As busy moms, we have dozens of things on our plates at any given time: chores, budgeting, parenting, volunteer commitments, kid extracurricular, health…to name a few. Especially during the summer, there seem to be new (and fun) things to juggle that mean our ongoing commitments and responsibilities seem even harder to manage. 

Audiobooks are my favorite busy mom hack, and I’ve been listening to “The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results” As we head into summer, it’s been a great reminder for me to stop the busyness, slow down, and focus on one thing that is important.

Reasons To Narrow Your Focus

Here are a just a few takeaways from the book that can help ease the stress of your busy mom life:

Less is More. One of the biggest takeaways from this book is that doing less, or focusing on one thing, is actually a more productive way to manage my todo list and time than trying to multitask. You are more efficient, productive, and will achieve a more successful result if you narrow your focus to do one thing at a time. 

Baby steps are steps in the right direction. By taking smaller steps to your bigger goal, you get less overwhelmed, harbor less stress, and boost your own morale by celebrating small wins. 

Focusing creates habits. If it takes 66 days to form a habit (which is what the authors suggest), then focusing on your one thing will help you stick with the habit routine you want to form. Habits are the means by which highly successful people meet their goals… if they can do it, you can too!

How To Choose Your One Thing

You may be wondering, “how on earth can I choose just one thing to focus on when I have so many?” Remember from my opening question that your one thing should make everything else easier, or unnecessary. Give it some thought, and use these steps to help guide you to choose wisely:

First, reflect on what you want to accomplish this summer. It could be a habit, a task, or a project. What is one thing that you REALLY want to accomplish?

Next, think through tasks or habits that would make other things easier. For example, maybe your one thing is to ensure everyone wakes up at the same time every day. Establishing a solid morning routine for your family might be the best way to mitigate family conflict that you’ve been managing for months. If your family always wakes up at a certain time, you can plan other activities accordingly so that you aren’t rushed to get out the door. By creating a consistent wake-up schedule, you can create a smoother, more efficient start to each day, making subsequent tasks throughout the day easier to manage since arguments, tantrums, and “I can’t find my lucky shorts!!!” panic attacks are minimized.

Plan ahead to focus your time. Ensure that you have time set aside each day to focus on your one thing. You will be tempted to skip it some days, or multitask. Don’t do it!

Say no to other non-essential things. Focusing on one thing means…focusing on ONE thing. That means you are saying no to everything else that isn’t essential and isn’t your one thing. You are saying yes to moving forward and making your one thing your priority for this month, summer or season of life.

Hold time for accountability and reflection. Focusing on one thing may seem like it’s too easy, but you’ll be surprised at how fast you may slide off track. Find someone or something to hold you accountable and check in regularly to ensure you are sticking to your goal. 

What one thing looks like in real life

For me, I’m focusing on making Parents Pivot even better as an organization. We are hitting the 5 years in business milestone this month! It’s exciting and it’s an opportunity for reflection. That means, I am investing in a coach as a thought partner to help me reflect on all that we do well and see where we go from here to increase our impact for returners and working parents. I am setting aside at least 3 hours each week to focus on this process. I am setting milestones to reach each month this summer. It felt overwhelming at first but once I broke down the steps and started the process it feels more manageable.  

At Parents Pivot, we partner with moms at pivotal points at the intersection of career and life like returning to paid work after a career pause, navigating parental leave, or leveling up your leadership within an organization or as an entrepreneur. If that is the one thing you’d like to focus on, learn more about our 1:1 and group coaching options. We would love to help you focus, and achieve your dreams!

How To Craft The Perfect Return To Work Elevator Pitch

“Hi, I’m Anna McKay! I’m hoping to find a job, but I’ve been out of work for 3 years taking care of my kids. I’m just a mom who wants to get back to paid work, but I’m rusty. Do you know of any job openings?”

Worst. Elevator pitch. EVER!

Don’t let a terrible first impression shoot down your chances of securing a job after a career break. If you are a parent who has taken a career pause to care for your children, you can return to paid work with confidence and secure your dream job! A job search elevator pitch is the perfect way to begin.

A job search elevator pitch is designed to let people know that you are looking to re-enter the workforce and what your goals are for returning to work. Below is a simple framework to help you craft a return to work elevator pitch and tips for addressing your career gap. 

How Do I Address My Career Break When Returning To Work?

A common fear that parents often have when returning to paid work is if - and how - to talk about their career break. First, yes! A career break is not a bad thing and there are many ways that you can position your break as a positive, rather than a negative.

There are dozens of transferable skills that you are building at home while caring for your children that are valuable in the workplace. Your experience at home is just as impressive as your experience anywhere else – so sell it!

A few examples include: leadership, saying no, budgeting, teamwork,  relationships building, research and problem solving, adaptability and agility, strategic thinking, communication, motivation, and organization. 

A good elevator pitch provides you with a framework to confidently talk about your career goals without stumbling over the fact that you’ve had a career break. 

Framework for A Great Return To Work Elevator Pitch

Your Elevator Pitch should be well thought out and rehearsed. Use the following framework to write out your thoughts and then practice it over and over again until you can say it with confidence without stumbling over your words or saying, “ummm.” The more you practice saying this out loud the more comfortable you will be! 

First, introduce Yourself. Begin your elevator pitch with a brief sentence summary of who you are and what your experience is.  

• “My name is Anna McKay and I have X years of experience in...”

If you are looking to change career fields, you can instead say:

• “My name is Anna McKay and I am exploring the field of...” OR “I am taking courses in...”

Outline Your Relevant Skills. After you give your brief introduction, share your relevant skills and value. Make sure you stick to skills that are relevant to your target career by using the above list of transferable skills as a guide to get started. (For even more mom skills that transfer to the workplace, click here.) What professional skills have you connected to? What have you enjoyed doing in your volunteer experience? Be sure to tap into your excitement and passion here so that it’s obvious you are eager to return to work.

Here are a few examples of what this part of your job search elevator pitch might look like:

• “During my career pause, I have discovered that I really enjoy raising money for causes that I believe in.”

• “Implementing new technology for schools and nonprofits to get them up to date has been so rewarding.”

• “Building relationships with team members and motivating them in my role as volunteer chair was one of my favorite parts of that job.”

Share Your Results. After listing your relevant skills, share the real world results of your skills.

“Because of the research that I did around best practices for fundraising for our school gala we were able to increase our fundraising by 20%.”

“As the household budget manager, I’m able to balance 3 kids and their extracurricular activity fees, a healthy meal budget, and fun vacations – all while staying under budget.”

Tease Your Benefits To Employers. Next, it’s important to include a sentence or two about how you will add value and be a benefit to an employer who hires you. 

“I know that one of the important aspects of this job is building consensus to get things done. You can’t imagine how hard it is to get consensus on a volunteer board but I did that and know I can do that for you too.”

Finally, end With A Question. To end your elevator pitch strong, ask a question about what you are looking for. Don’t ask if your contact knows of any specific job openings. Instead, ask if your contact knows of any companies doing the kind of work that you want to do in the industry that you want to work in.

“Are you aware of any schools or non profits that want to improve systems and streamline processes?” 

Review Your Elevator Pitch. We love this helpful framing from HBR: Your elevator pitch introduction is your current situation. The middle section is your past. The ending is your future  where you want to go in your career. 

And remember, it’s called an elevator pitch because it should be short enough to say between floors when riding in an elevator. 30-60 seconds at the most!

Take Your Elevator Pitch To The Next Level

If you are still struggling to craft an elevator pitch that truly showcases your value and rolls off the tongue easily, THRIVE Group Coaching is the perfect place for you to hone this job search skill, get feedback from a professional coach and a community of other returners just like you, along with support along many of the other steps in your job search process like getting clear on what you want to do when you return to paid work, creating a resume, interviewing, optimizing LinkedIn, and more that will help you secure a great job. 

The next THRIVE cohort starts June 4th.  Learn more about THRIVE coaching today!

Parents Are The Ultimate, All-in-One Coach

There are many types of coaches in the world: health and wellness coaches, life coaches, career coaches, sports coaches, spiritual coaches, financial coaches… And then there are coaches that are a mix of all of these types of coaches, better known by a different title: Mom, Dad, Grandma, Papaw, Nana, Auntie…the list could go on.

When you are a new parent of a baby or toddler, you coach your little one to walk, talk, and not eat gross things off the floor.

When your little one grows into a preschool age child, you transition to a behavioral coach, focusing on the development of relationship building and social skills.

When your child reaches elementary age, you are an academic coach, sports coach, emotional support coach, health coach, and so much more.

As your child moves onto junior high and high school, you continue sharpening those coaching skills to a more advanced level, while adding driving coach, romantic relationship coach, and probably a few more, to your repertoire.

And then one day you’ll wake up with an adult child who continues to need you for things you perhaps didn’t expect: financial coach, how-do-i-do-my-own-laundry coach, career coach, and general life coach. 

It’s clear that being a parent means you have superior coaching skills no matter the age of your child. You listen, encourage, guide, provide feedback, and more. When you are ready-to-return to paid work after a career pause, it’s important to showcase professional coaching skills as part of your value – because it’s true! You’ll be placed at the top of the list of potential candidates if you can relay your parenting skills confidently and with the right positioning.

How Do My Parenting Skills Compare To Professional Coaching Skills?

When it comes to parenting, your coaching skills at home and on the go are easily transferable to the workplace. And the word “coach” doesn’t have to be in the job title for coaching to be a benefit to the position you have your eye on. Any leadership position, from mid-level manager to executive, values coaching skills. Positions that work on a team (which is pretty much all of them!) also benefit from coaching, as it can draw the team closer together and strengthen morale and project outputs. 

Hiring managers are usually looking for someone who is skilled at:

• Actively listening (and empathy)

• Asking powerful, strategic questions

• Offering constructive feedback

• Assisting with goal setting

• Problem Solving 

• Providing accountability 

• Celebrating success and learning from failures

To confidently showcase the skills you developed as a mother in a cover letter or during an interview, you need to understand how you exercise each of these skills regularly and be able to provide examples of your successful execution. Let’s break down each coaching skill listed above, dissecting what each entail, with examples of how you’ve used them in your parenting: 

Actively listening (and empathy) - When your child is really upset about something, you excel at discovering the root cause of the issue by actively listening and showing empathy. You listened for the thing not being said and in doing so, you likely discovered that they weren’t actually upset about the issue you originally thought (not wanting to go to school) but instead that there was an underlying issue (being picked on at school) fueling their response to the situation (needing to get on the bus). By actively listening, you showed you cared while also processing everything they had to say. This allowed you to see the bigger picture and helped them find a solution to the root cause.

Asking powerful, strategic questions - Coaching isn’t about teaching and telling; it’s about guiding and instilling self reflection practices. By knowing what questions to ask (like after a disappointing grade on a test you might ask your child what they learned from looking at the questions they missed) and when to ask them (after you’ve empathized with them), you help others come to their own conclusions about their problem at hand instead of just telling them what to do (you should spend more time studying next time). 

Offering constructive feedback - Practice makes perfect is a popular statement that is flawed at its core. If you practice something the wrong way over and over again, you’ll keep doing it the wrong way. And perfection is often unattainable. You are able to provide constructive feedback (I noticed you are kicking the soccer ball with your toes and the ball doesn’t always go where you want it to. What if you try kicking it with the inside of your foot instead and see what happens?) to guide others towards progress over perfection (more consistently accurate soccer ball kicks).

Assisting with goal setting - Each summer, a friend I know sits down with her kids and helps them come up with goals for their summer vacation from school. Goals have included learning how to tie their shoes, learning to ride a bike, completing the summer reading challenge at the local library, and volunteering at a local food pantry one weekend a month. Knowing how to set appropriate and realistic goals for your kids proves you have what it takes to coach others in setting professional goals for themselves.

Problem Solving - If your child has a problem that they just can’t figure out (that math equation is t-r-i-c-k-y!), it may be easier to just solve it for them but you know the value of letting them find a solution on their own (a deeper understanding of math concepts and higher long-term grades). You coach them each step of the way to allow their own brain to process and do the work themselves so that they grow as a person who can confidently do it on their own next time.

Providing accountability - Not eating in your bedroom is a rule in my house, and I’m confident that if I didn’t hold my girls accountable to this rule, I would find dried up apples and moldy PB&J crusts under the bed. As a parent, you know how to follow up and ensure that what needs to be done, gets done. You are a great accountability partner!

Celebrating success and learning from failures - Riding a bike can be a traumatic experience. Everyone falls down and skins a knee and elbow at least one time before they successfully ride it more than a few feet. As a parent, you were right there cheering on your child and encouraging them to keep going when they fell, giving them tips on how to keep their balance next time. The process to get to the end goal can sometimes be difficult, but the celebration that happens when it's achieved is worth it (let’s bike to the ice cream shop for dessert)!  

Find Return To Work Success Through Career Coaching

Successfully showcase your parenting transferable skills as desired professional coaching skills by partnering with a career coach who specializes in helping parents return to work after a career break. Parents Pivot is ready to help you take the next step in your life’s chapter that satisfies both your desire to return to paid work while also being the greatest parent you can be. You can do both, with confidence! Check out our 1:1 and group coaching programs to get started. 

The Best Training for Being a Project Manager: Parenting

• You have five random ingredients in your pantry that you must use to figure out dinner for tonight.

• Book fair orders are due Tuesday.

• You have three places to be on Wednesday night, all overlapping in time. 

• Band fees and dance recital costume fees are due at the end of the month.

When you read this list, did it feel similar to your to-do list? Moms juggle so many things, it almost seems comical to write them down on a list like this. We balance our children’s schedule, keep track of their events and due dates, manage the household budget, get creative when we don’t have time to stop by the grocery store, and so much more.

As a return-to-work career coach for moms returning to paid work after a career pause, here is what I see when I read this list: 

• You have five random ingredients in your pantry that you must use to figure out dinner for tonight. [CREATIVITY, RESOURCEFULNESS, & ANTICIPATING PROBLEMS}

• Book fair orders are due Tuesday. [DEADLINE MANAGEMENT]

• You have three places to be on Wednesday night, all overlapping in time. [TIME MANAGEMENT]

• Band fees and dance recital costume fees are due at the end of the month. [BUDGETING]

Your life as a mother IS project management lived out in real life, 24-hours a day. If you are considering going back to work after maternity leave, or after you have stayed home for years to raise your kids, you are not starting from scratch when it comes to experience and skills. You are a wealth of experience, knowledge, skills, and not to mention incredible stories. The key is knowing, and learning, how to position your real life experiences as a mother in terms that a hiring manager will understand and see the value you bring. 

Translating Project Management Skills In The Home To The Workplace

Let’s look back at our list and break each one down into the skills you exercise when you complete each item, and how you can translate these skills into resume, cover letter, and interview gold.  Each item may seem simple on the surface, but as any mom knows, nothing could be farther from the truth!

You have five random ingredients in your pantry that you must use to figure out dinner for tonight. 

What’s really happening: The reason you only have 5 ingredients to work with for dinner is because something came up earlier in your day that required you to skip your grocery store run. You have a child at home that has a health issue, which means simply swinging by a fast food drive thru is out of the question. You now have to figure out a dinner that everyone in your family will eat using what is already in your pantry.

Workplace Translation: When circumstances change and put you into a tight spot, you use your creativity and resourcefulness to make things work. While it’s not ideal, you know how to change tactics when curveballs are thrown your way. You may have even anticipated that something like this might happen and have a back up plan in a pantry always stocked with a can of soup, sandwich bread, and cheese for last minute grilled cheese and tomato soup night. (Ask me how I know 😂) You will do what it takes to get to the end goal.

Book fair orders are due Tuesday.

What’s really happening: You decided to clean out your kids backpack because it was overflowing with papers. You found a crumpled up book fair flyer and order form with the due date written on it – Tuesday – which also happens to be tomorrow. Your schedule tonight is jam packed with extracurricular activities, but you know that your child will miss out (not to mention be devastated) if they miss getting to shop at the book fair tomorrow with her class. You need to consult your budget to figure out how much she can spend, load money onto her ewallet for safe and easy payment, and review the flyer with her so she knows what’s in her budget (and age-appropriate) to purchase. 

Workplace Translation: You are no stranger to last minute deadlines and while you prefer to not operate in “fire drill” mode, it’s sometimes inevitable. You can manage a tight deadline by thinking through everything that must happen between now and then, and ensure nothing gets missed that would compromise the integrity of the project. You keep your cool when communicating direction to team members who may have dropped the ball (causing the fire drill in the first place), and respectfully work together to get the job done, on time.

You have three places to be on Wednesday night, all overlapping in time. 

What’s really happening: You are a single parent. Your daughter has band practice from 6-7:30pm at the middle school building. Your son has dance practice from 6-7:15pm at the local studio down the street, and you signed up to volunteer in the community from 6:30-8:30pm. It’s humanly impossible for you to be all three places at once without making someone late, making someone wait to get picked up, or just plain not showing up. Your only option is to solicit help with pickup and drop off from a family-friend.

Workplace Translation: There are often busy, sprint weeks when managing a project requires full-stream-ahead dedication, focus, and grit. During those times, you aren’t afraid to ask for help to make sure everyone involved has what they need to get their job done, on time and without sacrificing someone else’s work. You also know that you would pitch in to help out another team member to collectively get the project over the finish line.

Band fees and dance recital costume fees are due at the end of the month.

What’s really happening:  With busy, involved kids in school and a household to run, budget is always on your mind. Extra-curricular fees can get expensive when you add everything up, and you seem to have more expenses this month than usual. You take a look at your budget and find ways to cut back in other places, temporarily, so that the extra expenses don’t negatively impact your budget overall. 

Workplace Translation: You understand that it sometimes takes an investment in order to achieve project success. Understanding how to balance expenses with income is key to ensuring a healthy bottom line overall. 

Return To Paid Work In Project Management

All of these to-do list items on a moms list are packed with read-between-the-lines stories that can attract the attention of hiring managers looking for someone with project management skills. If you are considering returning to work after a career pause, consider all of the ways your mom skills are transferable to the workplace to position yourself at the top of the candidate pool. If you need help building your confidence, writing your resume, tailoring your cover letter, looking for a job, or practicing for an interview, Parents Pivot is here to help! With years of experience placing moms back in the workplace after a career pause, we are confident that you can transition to paid work with success. 

Start here to learn more about the resources available to you!

How Managing An Efficient Home Can Land You A Job

I’m convinced there are two types of people in the world: those who use the walk to the bathroom to clean up on their way, and those who don’t. 

Personally, I fall under the first category. When I walk around my house, I am always aware of things that need to be put in their place. So when I’m walking to the bathroom, I’ll pick up a toy or rogue shoe on my way and put it in its place. My kids are the opposite: they will only pick up toys when it’s the designated time to pick up the house…certainly not on their way to the bathroom!  

There is nothing wrong with either tendency, but if this bathroom-trip multi-tasking describes you, or if your efficiency reveals itself in other ways, I have good news! You can leverage your efficiency skills to land a job when returning to work after a career pause. 

What Efficiency Looks Like At Home

As a career coach who has helped hundreds of moms return to paid work after taking time off to focus on their family, I’ve come to realize that most moms don’t see the incredible skills they are building at home as valuable anywhere outside of their own four walls. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

As our trip to the bathroom example demonstrates, you are always looking for ways to do things as quickly as possible, with the least amount of effort. If you have to go to the store to shop or pick up your curbside grocery order, you will also stop by the library to return books, drop off a box of kids clothes at the thrift store for donation, and make a hands-free phone call while enroute to schedule your next oil change. You’ll find the quickest, most efficient route to make all of your stops. You can get more done in an hour of running errands than most people can do with two. 

Efficiency is also the name of the game when it comes to budget. When you have multiple mouths to feed, you’ll find a way to stretch each dollar to buy the highest quality, healthy food for the cheapest possible amount. You’ll get creative with what you have, taking the pantry challenge to a whole new level by using up those random ingredients before they expire.  

Efficiency at home also means motivating everyone in the family to chip in and do their part. When everyone is pitching in with cleaning, cooking, cleaning up, laundry, putting their own stuff away - your home runs much more efficiently and doesn’t put all of the burden on one person. Sharing responsibility is an important part of managing an efficient home.

These are just a few ways that moms are sharpening their efficiency skills at home during a career break. And efficiency is a much sought after professional skill that will catch the eye of hiring managers when you are ready to return to work.

How To Showcase Efficiency During A Job Interview

The job hunt can be daunting for moms who have taken a career break to care for their children. Whether your break was just a few months, a year, or a dozen years, you still have a lot to offer in the workplace. When it comes to standing out among a sea of applicants, positioning the skills you’ve learned and honed at home is an easy way to build your confidence. Here are a few tips for showcasing household efficiency as a professional asset a hiring manager can’t say no to.

1. You are efficient with your time. When it comes to getting stuff done, you look for every opportunity to get it done as quickly as possible, without sacrificing quality. The example above of hitting all of your errands in an hour, finding the shortest route and taking advantage of the driving “down time” to get yet another item checked off is a great one to share during an interview!

2. You are always looking for ways to maximize a budget. Sales, negotiation, and lower seasonal prices are just a few angles you consider when it’s time to make a purchase, big or small. You are also creative when it comes to timing purchases to be efficient with the actual ordering process as well. A household budget complete with utilities, healthcare costs, extracurricular fees, food, clothing, and much more is an easy parallel to a team or project budget.

3. You are a great team connector. You can look at a team of people (AKA family!) and see everyone’s strengths in a unique way. You rally the troops to do what they do best to efficiently get to the end goal. Your after-dinner clean up routine can be a great example of how you ensure everyone pitches in so that one person doesn’t do all the work inefficiently.

Careers That Value Efficiency 

There are many positions that value and look for efficient employees to join their teams. Here is a quick list of a few jobs to consider if you leverage your efficiency skills when returning to paid work:

• Project Manager

• Operations Manager

• Office Manager

• Online Business Manager

• Business or Management Consultant

• Supply Chain Manager

• Business Auditor

Pay special attention to job postings that mention this skill specifically, then make sure to prominently highlight this in your resume, cover letter, and during the interview.

Other Transferable Mom Skills To Leverage When Returning To Work

When preparing your resume, cover letter, and interview talking points, consider other mom skills such as leadership, saying no, budgeting, teamwork,  relationships building, research and problem solving, adaptability and agility, strategic thinking, communication, motivation, and organization. 

For even more mom skills that transfer to the workplace, click here.

Build Confidence In Your Skills With A Career Coach

Knowing that your mom skills are transferable to the workplace is just the start of landing you a job after a career pause. If you need help building your confidence, putting together a job search strategy, or practicing for the interview, Parents Pivot is here to help. We offer one-on-one personal career coaching as well as group coaching to meet you exactly where you are to meet your goals. Learn more about how Parents Pivot can be your one stop shop for everything you need to return to paid work!

Return to Work Success Stories of 2023

Here at Parents Pivot, we’re on a mission. We believe that taking care of family should never break a career, so we’re passionate about ​​helping people who have paused their career to return to paid, meaningful work they love. In 2023, we had the joy and privilege of partnering with several moms who successfully returned to paid work after a career hiatus (one as long as 19 years!). We were thrilled to celebrate their accomplishments with them!

Parent Pivot’s THRIVE Like A Mother coaching group guides paused parents and gives them the tools they need to rediscover what fulfills them, clarify their direction, and job search with confidence. And our 1:1 coaching provides customized support with career transitions. Both options have helped many paused parents and parents navigating career transitions find (and land!) the job of their dreams.

The women below are just a few of the Parents Pivot clients who either graduated from THRIVE or worked with us 1:1, and who successfully secured a job in 2023 after completing coaching. Join me in congratulating them and cheering them on in their newest endeavors!

Return To Work Success Stories: THRIVE Graduates & Coaching Clients

Congratulations to Dr. Anna Marie Campbell, Ph.D., who returned to paid work as her own boss after a 4 year career pause! Reach out to her if you are a small or mid-sized non-profit in need of a grant writer to help you thrive in today’s competitive funding market.

We are so excited for Anna Marie! She came to Parents Pivot uncertain about what she wanted to do, unclear about how to navigate the job search process, and unsure about how to leverage her experience, and look at her now. Bravo, Anna Marie!

Hear directly from Anna Marie in a Parents Pivot Masterclass where she shared her story – watch the Masterclass on-demand now. 

After pausing her career to care for her son during the pandemic, Teresa secured a job as a project manager specialist after participating in the Spring 2023 cohort of THRIVE. Teresa was also featured in our Parents Pivot Masterclass. Be sure to watch and hear from this return-to-work successful momma! Best of luck, Teresa!

Congratulations to Monica Heather Martin on returning to paid work!

Monica was a THRIVE participant and returned to paid work for CenterPoint Energy as a customer service representative after a 19 year career pause.

Congratulations, Alice H! After a 2.5 year career pause, she graduated from THRIVE and landed a job at IES Holdings, Inc. as Treasury Manager. Here’s what she said about her THRIVE experience:

“I joined THRIVE because I wanted additional support in my job search. I also needed accountability as well as support, doing this with other moms who have been out of the workforce for a while…I am so glad I decided to invest in myself. The program was wonderful in many aspects: having the understanding of other moms in similar situations, a wonderful coach who was insightful as she was encouraging and supportive, as well as the course material to arm you with the right tools and mindset.”

A graduate of the summer THRIVE program, Keary returned to paid work as a marketing manager for Pediatric Home Service. They are so lucky to have her, and we know she will bring tremendous value to her team. Congratulations, Keary!

After a year of retraining and upskilling, Laura has embarked on a new career journey by joining the team at NorthWinds Technology Solutions as Client Success Manager for Delta Dental of Illinois. We can't wait to see how she brings her skills and passions to this next chapter of her life. 

On LinkedIn, she shared some incredible nuggets of wisdom that she’s learned over the past year:

Today I'd like to share a few thoughts and pieces of advice for all of my fellow job seekers (and especially returners):

“Take advantage of every opportunity to learn and grow. Whether it's technical or soft skills, every challenge you pursue gets you one step closer to your ultimate goal! 

Build your network. Be honest and vulnerable. Nurture your relationships with your "support team." Create content. Share learning. Send personal messages. Reach out. Ask for referrals - they work! 

Patience and perseverance are key. Don't be afraid of rejection. The current job market is brutal, especially in tech. You're going to get rejections. But the right position will eventually come along, and when it does, you'll be ready! I am actually grateful for all of the "no thank you" responses because I ended up with the PERFECT opportunity instead of just AN opportunity.”

Congratulations to Zankhna who was in our Fall 2023 THRIVE group coaching cohort and returned to paid work a month and a half after joining THRIVE! 

Leveraging her volunteer experience in her unpaid work, experience as an entrepreneur and her Project Management Certificate, Zankhna will be returning to paid work as an administrative assistant role with a company that values her skills and experience. 

She appreciated participating in the THRIVE program which helped her confidently convey her skills to her employer on her resume and in her interviews.

We are so excited to celebrate all of these returners getting back to paid work!

Want Your Own Return to Work Success Story?

If you’ve been considering a return to paid work but are overwhelmed by it all, you are not alone! Many paused parents have faced the same struggles of not knowing what they want to do, worrying they’ve been out of the job market too long, or feeling intimidated by the job search process. (Or all three!) The good news is, it doesn’t have to be as hard as you think! Parents Pivot is here to help you through the return-to-work transition, whether that means warming back up to your old industry or discovering meaningful work elsewhere. Explore our parents' roadmap to see all the many ways we can partner with you to find your best fit.

While you’re there, be sure to sign-up to get your FREE “3 Must-Haves for Returning to Paid Work After a Career Pause” master class video. You’ll gain valuable insights about the current landscape for returning to paid work, work through some of the most common struggles returners face, hear from someone who successfully returned to paid work after a career pause, and discover the three things you must have for a successful return to paid work.

And don’t leave the Parents Pivot website without checking out these Words of Returner Wisdom! The women in this blog post share their experiences returning to paid work after a career pause and what they learned from the process. It’s a goldmine of advice for anyone seeking to write their own return to work success story.