Divorced, Stay-at-Home Moms

Cohen says its important to prepare children for the changes that mom's return to work will bring. She suggests talking to them early and often about your job search and bringing them to work with you when you do start so they can see where you go when they are with the babysitter.    

"You want to convey to children that your interest in going to work is not a rejection of your life at home with them," says Cohen. "Focus instead on how it's about developing a part of yourself that you put on the back burner for awhile."    

But when you land that job interview, Cohen recommends avoiding any discussions about children and flexibility until after you're confident they want you for the job. She said sometimes a better approach is to work full-time and prove yourself before asking for flexibility.  She says you want to head into any interview well-prepared and full of confidence, even if you don't feel that way inside.   

"We told women if they could psyche themselves into a mindset that they didn't really need the job, they were able to go into the interview with what appeared to be a more confident mindset," says Cohen. "The more focused you are, the more passionate you come across. The better you come across, the more job offers you'll get."

Stacey Tiedge Alatzas of Bel Air, Md., is a freelance journalist, blogger and new media consultant with 12 years of experience writing and editing for daily newspapers.


FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT RETURNING TO WORK:

iRelaunch.com
BackontheCareerTrack.com
MomCorps
Career Women
Flexible Resources Inc.
W2W Ventures
HBWM.com 
HBWMCanada.com 
WorkAtHomeKit.com 
eDirectoryofHomeBasedCareers 
MomsWorkAtHomeSite.com 
HireMyMom.com 
    

WHAT WOMEN WANT WHEN RELAUNCHING CAREERS

"Back on the Career Track" Co-Author Carol Fishman Cohen Says Relaunching Women Look for Three Cs: Control, Content and Compensation. For some relaunchers, control of their schedule is most important. "Some people want to be home when the bus gets home, or they want to work full-time but get a month off in the summer," she says. For others, the content of the job is the most important thing. Who they'll work with, the prestige of the company or the fact that the company is a non-profit may be the most important factor for them.  And for some, their compensation is the biggest issue. "Am I going to be paid what I'm worth or what is fair?" She says some women will trade one C for another. "They intentionally decided to come back at a salary lower than they had when they left," says Cohen. "They wanted lower stress jobs because their kids had lots of needs. When the kids got older, they recouped the compensation they lost."


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