Nine 2 Three

Home Candidates Returning to the Workforce?

Returning to the Workforce?

Your youngest child has just started school and for the first time you have some days free between the hours of nine and three. You start to think about how you would like to spend your new found freedom. Although you miss your little ones, you also enjoy the feeling of freedom and some time to yourself. It is at this time that many women’s thoughts start turning towards part time work. ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could work a couple of days – even better if I could finish early and still be home for the children’?

Sadly at this point most women give up on this thought as unrealistic. Loss of confidence is also an issue- after all you may have been out of the workforce for ten years, things have changed, technology has moved on and you no longer feel as capable in the work force as you once did.

Women need to find their confidence again and take that first step forward toward reaching their goals. Yes technology has moved forward, but there are a myriad of courses out there run by TAFE and private colleges to address this. Many courses are run between school hours especially to cater for women with family responsibilities. Take the step – enrol in a part time course to upgrade your computer skills. Work on your skills at home by trying to integrate the computer and the internet into your daily life.

• Read the news on the internet at night, instead of watching the TV.
• Send emails to your friends and family.
• Find websites you like and visit them regularly.
• Set up your family budget using an Excel spreadsheet.
• Type up shopping lists in Word and print them out each time you go shopping.
  The more that you use Information Technology in your everyday life, the more at home you will become with its application and use.

Spend some time thinking about all the competencies you have developed being a wife and mother. List them down and think about the skills you have gained whilst out of the paid work force.

• Time Management- how do we get everyone to their after school activities and have dinner on the table at a reasonable hour!
• Delegation- organising the family to help out with jobs that need to be done.
• Organisation- have all tasks completed within a time frame for all members of the family and still organise the five year-olds birthday party!
• Budgeting-making that income stretch and stretch and still eating well!
• Conflict resolution – break up that argument between the children and sometimes the hubby!

Use the corporate jargon for your skills and start to think about yourself as an excellent manager of people, time and money.

Transfer some of these skills onto your CV and instead of saying ‘home duties’ for a ten year period, show some studies (your newly enrolled course) and some skills you have acquired.

We parents have the added qualities of maturity, responsibility and reliability which all employees’ value so highly. So be confident in your capabilities and realise your own potential.

For further information give Nine2Three a call on 1300 923 000.