Career coach and author, Tessa Armstrong, considers the options available to working mums in a post-lockdown landscape
This year has brought an unexpected change to the careers and working lives of working mums. When lockdown was announced in March, many mums were required to change their routine overnight, taking on home school duties with no preparation or even teacher training! It has been a challenging and uncertain time for everyone. Home became a place for work, school, entertainment and relaxation, and a new work-life balancing act had to be quickly established.
Now that schools are returning for a new academic year, we enter a fresh phase where many working mums are hoping to discover how to move forward in their careers from this time of change and uncertainty. From being furloughed or facing redundancy to managing normal or reduced working hours combined with home schooling, working mums are starting to look to what the future holds for their careers. The question is, how do you prepare to make changes in your career in a post-coronavirus world?
Whatever your circumstances, all working mums have been affected by Covid-19 and the unpredictable disruption to their lives. Although the continued uncertainty is inescapable, it is important to find a way to move forward and be open to opportunities which will lead us into 2021 and beyond.
Flexible working, wellbeing, career options and portfolio careers are some of the main areas of change currently being reviewed by working mums as they consider their best-suited career paths.
Flexible working and wellbeing
Working patterns have changed over the last few months, allowing for more flexibility and working from home arrangements. This has prompted thoughts on how our working lives can benefit from this flexibility. Can we work around our family and home life in a more beneficial manner? Spending more time at home in recent months has enabled us to discover what really makes us happy and feel good about ourselves. There will be changes many individuals will want to make to their home and working lives now and in the future.
Career Change
There were many people who, before the time of coronavirus, were considering a career change, and still wish to pursue this, as well as those who currently feel they have not been treated well by their employer during the pandemic. If you are thinking of a career change, there is something in the vast and varied world of careers for everyone, to fit all personalities, skills and interests.
Start by identifying your passions and making links between them by stretching your imagination. For example, if you are interested in young people, education and creative writing, perhaps expand your thinking beyond teaching. You could investigate writing short stories or educational materials, or working for a charity that promotes creativity in young people. There will be so many different and exciting strands to explore. You are aiming to find a role in which you can use you most enjoyable skills in a field you are most passionate about.
Portfolio careers
As the way we work is changing, there is an increase in choice and variety in the job market, together with the increase of part-time and contract roles, all of which can allow working mums to be more creative and flexible when designing their career path. There is also a recognition that each individual has a variety of skills and interests that can suit more than one role.
The portfolio career fits into this way of working really well. It has many parts to it and involves you having two or more jobs at any one time. The advantage of creating a portfolio career is that it can enable you to form a working environment to suit you. You will be available for opportunities to fulfil different skills and interests whilst being in control of how your career balances with your lifestyle.
This time of change can be a chance for working mums to reset, rethink and re-establish their working lives as we emerge into the new world of careers.