The Best Tips for Progressing in Your Career as a Parent

Parenting and having a career is a topic on the Cleverly Changing parenting blog

Trying to balance your career and family life can be difficult, and you might often think that you have to completely ignore your career in favor of caring for your children or that you must put it on the back burner for a certain length of time. However, you do not have to choose one or the other, and there are many ways that you can progress in your career and be a parent that is present for their children and who does not miss out on many of the major milestones of their childhood. 

Take an Online Degree 

One of the largest steps that you can take to advance your career is always to take another qualification. However, as a parent, you may feel as if you are unable to do this due to the time commitment that studying for a degree can mean. Not only this, but you might be worried about having to move away to take the degree of your dreams, which could mean that you must spend a lot of time away from your children. There is a way to get a qualification while also staying with your kids, though, and this is to take an online degree. An online degree can ensure that you are ready for more responsibility when you do return to work and can even be taken while you are on maternity leave or otherwise taking time off from your career. An online degree can be studied for at any time of the day or night, allowing you to create your own study schedule around the needs of your children. Then, you should consider taking an online degree in subjects such as criminology, which can then allow you to get the leadership position that you need alongside bringing your kids up. 

My Personal Experience

Personally, as a social media manager, I opted for online certifications that I could complete from the comfort of my own home. While homeschooling my daughters, I knew I also wanted to earn money on the side as a work-at-home parent. In addition, I also have increased my skills (i.e., learning HTML, blogging, content creation, some photography, etc.) by following my passions and doing research independently.

Look for Remote Opportunities 

Although you might want to follow your original career plan to the letter, sometimes, when you have kids, this is not always entirely possible. Then, rather than following your dreams in terms of the physical, in-person job that you have always wanted, you should mix this up by looking for remote opportunities that can allow you to enjoy a job in your field that demands a lot of responsibility without having to spend a lot of your time away from home. This will allow you to skip many of the awkward challenges of balancing parenthood with your career, such as finding childcare, while allowing you to get the job of your dreams- though not always in the form that you imagined. This will then allow you to progress in your career without being completely restricted by your familial commitments and will even allow you to both look after your family and work at the same time. 

More families are home while their children learn remotely, so working from home offers more flexibility. More jobs allow people to telecommute than ever before. In my experience, it’s imperative to have a good computer with a strong internet connection. Still, you can also work as a nanny, daycare provider, home health nurse, CNA, and other jobs that don’t require computer skills.

Network With Other Moms

You might believe that being a mom is only a detriment to your career. However, this is not the case, and there are many ways that you can make being a mom benefit your career. For instance, you should consider networking with other working and professional moms you know, as this could lead to natural connections that could help you to develop your career, such as the possibility of clients or business partners. By networking with other moms, you may also be able to glean tips and advice on how to excel in your career while also handling your children, and you may even be able to work together to progress in your careers, such as sharing out childcare responsibilities, for example. 

It is also motivating being among other moms with dreams and ambitions. I love networking with moms because I quickly learned that we can put our talents to use in creative ways. One popular way moms make money, build their resumes, and prestige is by writing books. In fact, I’m a four-time published author myself.

Consider Returning to Work 

Maternity leave can create a gap in your employment history,and some women prefer to quit their jobs to look after their children full-time for the first few years of their lives. However, sometimes, returning to work in person might be the best option for you or might be the path that you want to take. If that is the case, you should speak to your manager about the possibility of your return and consider asking to work part-time or on a more flexible basis at first. You should also look around for childcare options or consider asking for help from your friends and family, who might be able to share your commitments to your children out and ensure that they do not prevent you from being able to get your dream job role. You might also consider speaking to your colleagues about what is happening in your workplace and any changes that have occurred to ensure that you are up-to-date by the time that you have returned to the workplace. 

Keep Your Goals

It can be easy to lose track of your career goals when you become a parent, and they may be starting to get dusty. However, rather than abandon them completely, once you have had a child, you should return to your goals and look at them with a new perspective. Although they may not completely work for you anymore, you will usually be able to adapt them to your new situation and family so that you still have a target to aim for while at the same time taking into consideration that your lifestyle might not be the same as it was when you first wrote then. However, by keeping your goals in mind and plotting out new steps to reach them, you will be able to ensure that you carry on working toward career progression regardless of other potential distractions in the form of your children. 

Progressing in your career as a parent may seem impossible, with your children taking up a vast proportion of your time and energy. However, this is not always the case. Instead, you must simply think carefully about your next steps when it comes to keeping your career in sight for the foreseeable future while your children are still relatively young. This will then allow you to have the best of both worlds and to ensure that both your career and your children can thrive. Becoming a parent doesn’t mean that you have to give up on your career goals.

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