How to bounce back in a career after being a stay at home mum

It can be hugely daunting to return to the workplace after a career break especially if it’s been over 5+ years. Many mothers feel like their skills may have become outdated, they don’t know how things have moved on, they may have lost their confidence speaking or presenting in meetings. It will take time to rebuild the confidence, skills and knowledge to walk into an interview and sell themselves for a job.

Its one of the reasons I launched the Supermums Training Course to help upskill mums who want to return to the workplace. Over six months they go on a journey to learn the some of the most in-demand skills that employers are needing right now, as well as work with a one to one mentor, peer group and coach to re-build their confidence over a period of time and equip them for their first role. This investment has paid off as many of our mums have landed their first job on their first interview, which is amazing after 10 years out of work.

What is important however is that they don’t undersell and dismiss the skills they have acquired as a stay at home mum. I think during the pandemic any parent will understand the challenges of managing kids at home..it’s not an easy job :-)

We asked our network of mums what skills they valued and presented at interview which they feel they acquired as a stay at home mum and here is what they said....

“Multi tasking, scheduling, leadership, project management, mathematical reasoning, communication”

“Problem-solver, active listener, conflict-resolution master, and multi-tasker!”

“Well under pressure, adaptable, out of the box thinker, good communication“

“Financially savvy, adaptable, stress management, networking, empathy, project management, self-motivated, organized, problem solver.“

“Adept at managing shifting priorities. Creative at coming up with alternate solutions to achieve the same goal”

“Patience, Managing conflicting, priorities and moving goalposts, Stakeholder management, Resolving disputes, Financial planning and budget management”

“Time management and multi tasking”

“Influence and negotiation”

Soft skills are highly valued by employers so don’t be shy about selling these attributes. Employers value these attributes of mature professionals as well as the appetite to learn and invest in themselves to further their career progression. Do share your career goals and ambitions so they can see you are hungry to learn and be successful. Many of our Supermums have landed their jobs on their first interview, which is amazing!

Read some stories here about mums to have faced the fear and taken the leap back into work

Erika’s story - Originally from France and Living in London Erika skilled up to become a Salesforce Admin and then Developer and landed a job at Deutsche Bank after 3 years out of work. With Supermums Erika loved working with her one to one mentor and working on a real life project in her native language. Read Erika’s full story here https://supermums.org/case-studies/day-in-the-life-erika-from-stay-at-home-mum-to-salesforce-developer-in-18-months/

Hindy’s story - Originally from USA and living in Isreal Hindy had predominantly been a stay at home parent with occasional work on the side. She skilled up to become a Salesforce Administrator and landed a job at OwnCrowd after 16 years out of work. She felt the hands on work experience was instrumental to her landing her first job and relished the mentoring support to build her confidence. Read Hindy’s full story here https://supermums.org/case-studies/day-in-the-life-hindy/

Sam’s story - Based in the UK, Sam previously worked in beauty and had been out of work for 13 years. Supporting her husbands business on the side she was already working with Salesforce and decided to train up as an Administrator with Supermums to carve out her own career path. The work experience was a real turning point for Sam. Read Sam’s story here https://supermums.org/case-studies/day-in-the-life-samanthas-story/

Mums join our courses globally and we deliver them in three timezones. If you would like to discuss the career path and the Supermums training course then please find out more here https://supermums.org/training/salesforce-admin-course/