1. 3332 Jan_2016Jan_2016
IMAGE:shuttErstock
Whether you’re heading back to your desk after maternity
leave, or rethinking your career after years raising your children,
returning to work can be daunting for many mums – but it
doesn’t have to be, as career coach Zeta Yarwood explains
Navigate career crossroads
About Zeta
A qualiied NLP Career and Life
Coach, Zeta helps people of all
ages through empowerment
and education by successfully
combining her extensive coaching
and recruitment experience.
Tel: (055) 883196.
zeta@zetayarwood.com.
Lack of conidence, confusion over what
job to go for, anxiety over balancing work
and home life and fears that nobody will
hire you because they have been out of the
market too long, often stop mums from
even trying to ind a new role. But the fact
that plenty of women have successfully
managed to return to work after a hiatus
means you can too. Here are some
questions to help get you started.
What kind of job do you want?
If you enjoyed your previous career choice,
knowing what job you want might be easy.
If, however, you have no idea what you
want to do, the process will take a couple
of extra steps. In order to gain clarity on
potential career options you need to ask
yourself the following questions:
What speciically did I like and
not like about my previous jobs?
Write two separate lists for ‘like’ and
‘dislike’. Think about your bosses, the
company, the location, the working hours,
the job responsibilities, the people you
worked with, and the environment. When
inished, take the ‘dislike’ list and write
down the opposite of each item. This will
help you igure out what you do want.
For example, if you didn’t like working on
your own and spending all day behind a
computer, then, by taking the opposite,
you can surmise that you might enjoy a
non-oice based job going out and meeting
people. Add this list to your ‘like’ list to help
you get clarity on what you want in a job.
What am I good at?
Go back over all of the jobs you have had,
or even as far back as school or university,
and think of all the things you were really
good at or performed really well in. Now
look at everything you have done while
taking care of your family and running
a busy household e.g. leadership, multi-
tasking, managing budgets, forecasting,
negotiation, conlict/time/stress
management, event planning and so on.
We’re not looking for perfection here – a
rating of 7 or 8 out of 10 is good enough.
Remember: any time you received positive
feedback about your performance, either at
work or home, is an indicator of something
you did well. Write it down.
What are my values?
Finding a job that matches your values
is crucial. Your values are what are most
important to you. Examples of values
could be creativity, inancial security, fun,
trust, respect, leadership, innovation,
friendship, nature, environment, challenge,
design, structure, processes, achievement,
recognition, charity, helping people,
building, coaching, training, health, itness,
inspiration, intelligence. Write down a
list of 20, and then out of that 20, then
pick your top seven. Looking for a job that
matches those seven values will be the key
to your happiness in your new role.
What am I passionate about?
Examples could be art, architecture,
humanitarian causes, saving the
environment etc. With your lists, start to
think about which jobs you might enjoy. If
you’re stuck on ideas, use Google to search
for lists of diferent career options.
What else do I want?
Here, think about the type of company,
size, their values (do they match yours?),
industry, location, type of people, working
hours, salary etc. Do some research using
your criteria and make a list of companies
you would like to work for. Once you have
your complete list of criteria, you will then
need to think about what is essential, and
what you are willing to compromise on.
What obstacles are stopping me
from inding a job right now?
This could include: out of date CV,
LinkedIn proile or interview skills; small
network, or lack of a job search strategy,
money, time or required qualiication. For
many mums, the two biggest obstacles are
lack of conidence and a fear of failure.
Make a list.
What resources do I already
have to help me?
Resources include people, time, money,
skills, the internet, social media,
recruitment agencies, publications
(magazines, blogs, books, newspapers,
business publications etc.). For example, if
one obstacle is not knowing who to contact,
start with the question ‘Who do I know
that could help me?’ Write down a list of
every single person you know (this is where
Facebook can come in handy), then go
through that list and ask each one if they
can give you some advice or connect you
to someone either in your target industry/
company, or if they know someone who
can. Meet as many people as you can and
ask them to help you. What have you got
to lose? If you have a weak CV or are out
of practice in terms of interviewing, asking
a recruiter friend or career coach for help
is a good option.
If you are lacking conidence, remember
conidence comes from doing. Were you
conident when you irst started driving?
No. Are you conident now? Yes. Be kind
to yourself and appreciate you will be a
beginner to start with. But the more you
do your job, the more conident you will
become. Your employer will realise this too
and will make room for the odd mistake.
As long as you show you are learning from
them, they’ll be happy.
If the issue is deeper than that, i.e. it
is more a lack of self-belief than lack of
conidence, working with a coach is a great
way to build self-esteem. A quick exercise
you can do on your own is to write down as
many examples in your life where you were
great. Not just in previous jobs or at school,
but also as a friend, mother or daughter. Go
through the list and recognise that you have
so much to ofer.
What actions do I need to take,
starting today?
So now you have an idea of what jobs you
are interested in, a target list of companies,
the resources that can help you achieve
it. Now it’s time to create an action plan.
What steps can I start taking today to help
me get closer to my goal? Make a list and
set deadlines e.g. by Feb 15th I will have
contacted Jim, Mark, Sue and Lily. Or by
Jan 30th I will have my CV ready.
The inal step? Take action! While
getting clarity on what you want is really
important, it’s committing to taking
action that is the crucial step. Having a
plan is great but, unless you execute it,
it’s useless. If you ind yourself not taking
action, chances are you are focusing on the
potential pain of inding a new job (the
stress of job-hunting, lack of certainty, scary
interviews etc.). Write down all the positive
things this new job or career will bring
you and focus on those instead to keep you
moving towards your goal.