Stay-at-Home Mothers Returning to the Workforce

Some mothers decide to return to work after six or more years of being a stay-at-home parent. This large gap in employment has often been a turn-off for potential employers. Even if you decide to return to the field of work you were in before temporarily retiring, there is often still an old-fashioned stigma associated with mothers abandoning their careers to stay home and raise a family.

Although this thinking is out-of-date and unfair, it still exists. Many employers fear that you will not be fully committed to the job. Be confident. Many working mothers today have more experience under their belt and bring more to the table than the younger crowd.

Showcase skills obtained while raising a family. Raising a family is no easy task and many of the skills honed are marketable and transferable into the workforce. Even though today’s work force is filled with young, well-educated individuals, mothers have wisdom and maturity, which are unattainable without life experience. They offer a different perspective in the business world. Positively embrace the time you were able to spend at home and even let employers know that you feel lucky to be able to have spent the time you did at home.

By staying at home you have mastered: inventory control, purchasing, planning, budgeting, scheduling, motivation, teaching, good work ethic, loyalty, persistence, communication, time-management, people skills, multitasking and probably a dozen other skills necessary for raising a family. If you were to read this list of skills in a different context, it would appear that all the skills required to carry out typical business operations were specified. This should boost your self-assurance while transitioning back into the workforce.

Stay connected. Remain in touch with employment contacts you made while working. You never know when you will need their help again. Employee referrals are vital in the hiring process. Networking is also helpful in finding new contacts within your field. It wouldn’t hurt to brush up on workforce happenings by attending seminars, events or local classes/programs. You never know who you will meet.

Keep up to date with the ever-changing workforce. If you have been out of the workforce for six or more years, chances are that technology has passed you by. Basic IT skills, such as Internet navigation and the ability to send e-mails, are now required for almost every position. In order to remain competitive, consider taking online courses or even those offered at local community colleges. If your career requires specific certifications, make sure those are current.

You also want to update your resume and cover letter. References, skills and experience are gained over time and you want to make sure these are included. When you find a job that you feel matches your skills and that you would be able to perform, create an appealing application to present to employers. Your resume and cover letter should be skills-based instead of highlighting the employment gaps. Do not be afraid to mention any volunteer work you have done while out of the paid workforce. This unpaid work can often translate into a paid opportunity.

Overall, remain positive. If a perspective employer does not recognize your extensive resume after working as a stay-at-home mother, then you probably do not want to work for them anyway. Be patient, the right job is out there.

Using Job Recruiters – Part 2: The Upside

If all networking possibilities have been exhausted, then it is usually a good time to turn to a job recruiter. A good job search consultant should be able to help any qualified candidate find a good job fit. One must be enthusiastic when working with a recruiter. Although recruiters would like to place candidates, they will focus on candidates who keep in touch and are quick to follow-up.

Make sure there are no fees associated for the recruiter’s services. There are legitimate recruiters out there who do not charge the job seeker; they will be compensated by the employer. Also, have a clear career path in mind and find a recruiter that specializes in a specific field of work.

It would also be wise to pick just one recruiter. If more than one recruiter is being used, it is important to let them all know exactly who else is distributing the same resume. If this is not clear, two or more recruiters may be fighting over the commission rights from a candidate’s placement.

A high-quality recruiter will do more than simply mass distribute a resume. Recruiters have access to jobs that are not publicized. Often employers seek out recruiters to fill specific high-level, or even 100K+ salary positions. They are seeking only well-qualified individuals to fill these exclusive positions and it is easier to have a recruiter weed through resumes and candidates. This way the employer is presented with only the most experienced applicants.

Since recruiters have relationships and work directly with many employers, therefore increasing the exposure of potential employees. This can be an extremely beneficial situation for job seekers to be in since many employers do not provide direct contact information when applying for a position.

The recruiters’ connections will also prove valuable as they will be able to provide insider information. This will give applicants an advantage when polishing resumes and interviewing. Recruiters are also there to help with final job agreements. They are skilled in salary and benefits negotiations. Remember, the more you make, the more the recruiter makes!

Using Job Recruiters - Part One: The Downside

Job recruiter, also known as headhunter and job search consultant, is defined as someone who “can work on his/her own or through an agency and acts as an independent contact between their client companies and the candidates they recruit for a position.” The decision to use a professional job recruiter is a personal one, but here is some information about them to guide you in your search for the perfect job.

There are two types of recruiters: “retained recruiters” are secured by and work directly for employers and receive a salary for their work with or without placement results while “contingency recruiters” are independent from employers and are paid per referred candidate. There are also executive or niche recruiters, which also fall into one of the above categories, who usually focus on high-level positions that are rarely publicized.

Although there are many upsides to using a recruiter, there are some negative aspects as well. For instance, contingency recruiters are paid commission for each successfully placed candidate. Their commission is usually between 20 and 30 percent of a candidate’s starting salary. In these cases, candidates may get short-changed with a starting salary. Cost-conscious employers will be looking to reduce their recruitment fees by paying the headhunter a lower commission, which will, in turn, result in a lower starting salary.

Additionally, job recruiters often have many qualified candidates with whom they are working. In the effort to make money, they will concentrate on the best resumes first. Less qualified or poorly written resumes may end up at the bottom of a recruiter’s stack, which leaves a job seeker right back where he/she started before they employed a recruiter.

Since money and placement are motivating factors for recruiters, many of them pressure candidates into positions that are a less than perfect fit. If a candidate’s resume is spruced up to land a job, then that person may end up in a position for which he/she is not fully qualified. Frustration will ensue and it is all downhill from there. In order to avoid these mishaps, make sure an honest, ethical and trustworthy recruiter is employed.

How baby boomers can work for you

There are 303,882,247 people in America. 76 million of them are baby boomers. Now, not all of them will retire. And not all of them will retire at the same time. But most of their jobs will be up for grabs. What does this mean for you? Fewer workers equals more job openings, which in turn, means more opportunities for you. And there are many things you can do to ensure yourself one of them.

The “skill gap” or “knowledge gap” will become a huge issue for every industry that currently employs baby boomers (which is all of them). A great idea is to learn as much as you can about the industry you’re interested in, how it works, tricks of the trade. Get a baby boomer mentor if you can. The skills and knowledge you retain will ultimately be to your advantage when the retirement frenzy begins.

When their top-level employees retire, companies will start to hire more from within than outside for replacements. Why? They are losing a good percentage of workers and they already know their current staff is capable. The talent pool is getting smaller and smaller, so if you can get a foot in the door of the industry you want to be in, that’s as good of an idea as any. Even if it’s just for a little while; it should pay off in the end.

If you do get an interview, something to bring up is the fact they will assuredly lose some percentage of their employees due to retirement. Mention that you are a quick learner and would love to train for the job while those employees are still there. This would counter the loss of productivity and add to the efficiency in which new hires can fully take over.

The baby boomers in America are reaching retirement age. This fact ultimately leads to the formerly high unemployment level starting to decline. So look up - better times are ahead for everyone.

“I haven’t had my coffee yet” and Other Excuses for Grogginess

Now let me set this up for you; I’m not a small-talker. I don’t like to make small talk to random strangers that I’ll presumably never see again. And even worse than small talk, I dislike silly little clichéd phrases, like “Well, the early bird gets the worm”. That said, can’t we all put cream and sugar into our coffee in silence? Apparently not, because those words actually came out of my mouth one day.

Over the condiments table, I had an early morning chit chat with this guy about how early it was. And that’s when I said it, the dreaded “Yeah, I haven’t had my coffee yet.” Dun Dun Dun…

So the point is, that coffee really does start to muddle your brain when you haven’t had it yet. And if you are one of those people that need their coffee, I might have a solution. In the morning, instead of sleeping in until the last possible second and trying to condense all of your morning activities, try getting up a half hour earlier. Yes, I said earlier.

Here’s why. Sometimes our bodies need to get a running start, especially in those first morning hours. This means that all of that groggy, slow time before we’ve had our coffee needs to happen at home, and you need the time to do that. By gaining this extra time, you can make a little something to eat and relax. You’ll be calm and ready for the day. It also means that you won’t be in a rush on your way to work.

When you finally do get in to the office you wouldn’t have felt pressured to have gotten there by nine, and you’ll be in a far better mood. Then, because you ate, you’ll jump right into the work for the day and you’ll be surprised at how much and how fast you get things done. Your productivity will soar. By the time you look up, it could be lunch time!

Know your Role

“Sometimes a player’s greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the team.”— Scottie Pippen

We have all felt at one time or another that maybe we are not as important or advantageous to our company as we think we are. Unless you’re in an industry that boasts instant results, such as stock brokering or sales, there is no way to really know how what we do affects the bottom line. And it would be nice to know that we truly are contributing to it.

When you come into the office and do the same thing, day after day, the work can certainly become tedious. More so than that, you may start to wonder how your daily toils actually contribute to the company. Would anyone even notice if you stopped?

The answer is yes. Bosses don’t give out “busywork”; they assign work that needs to get done for the betterment of the company, even if it’s in small ways.

Not the office superstar? We can’t all be, and chances are if you’re not by now, there’s probably a reason for it (of course I could be mistaken and if you’re offended, then by all means prove me wrong). The only thing to do, then, is the work that’s put in front of you. Do it well. Make the company or whomever receives your work, proud. And don’t be bitter if the superstar gets all of the praise. Know that they wouldn’t have gotten there if it weren’t for the work you did.

Are you the assistant? The go-through girl? The make-sure-this-gets-done guy? Know your role in the company and embrace it. If and only if you excel at that position will you move up in the company. Don’t get frustrated or discouraged; keep up the positive attitude and the hard work -- even if it is a monotonous task.