Going Back To Work After An Extended Maternity Leave: Not As Easy As It Seems…Until Now
After I had my first child, I took my three-month maternity leave and decided I wasn’t ready to go back to work when it ended. Factors like a job heavy in travel and an immediate housing move to a far suburb from the city where I worked, made my decision clear cut. Soon after, I had two more children and fell into a stay-at-home mom role. I was happy to fill this role, but always planned to go back to work once the kids were older.
When my youngest was two, I decided now was the time to head back into the working world. I diligently put my resume together, created a portfolio and headed out the door excited for a continuation in my career path. Instead of my working world welcoming me back, I found it very difficult to reenter the business I knew, was passionate about and had several years of experience to show. One staffing agency in particular told me I would be at the bottom of the pile of applicants due to my “glaring” hole in my resume. Suddenly I felt like my time spent at home dedicated to raising my young children was being looked at like a jail sentence served. They even had me questioning whether I had made a mistake by staying home.
After feeling defeated, I received a message via LinkedIn from Allison Robinson, the founder of The Mom Project ™ asking me if I wanted to be part of her talent pool. The Mom Project is a digital platform and community connects the large, often underutilized pool of educated and professionally accomplished mothers with project-based opportunities at world-class companies. The big difference between The Mom Project and other staffing services? The companies doing the hiring are aware the applicants have gaps in employment due to motherhood and are “okay” and even excited to work with this group of highly-skilled women.
In addition to project-based work, this company offers a Maternityship™ program to provide companies with coverage through gaps in staffing created by parental leaves of absence while also providing mothers a bridge back into the workforce.
The Mom Project responds to two business realities: First, a massive talent drain in our nation's economy as highly qualified women with children voluntarily leave their careers at some point—approximately forty-three percent according to a Harvard Business Review study. Second, the need for organizations to efficiently scale through business peaks and valleys using less traditional staffing models—with forty-five percent of the global workforce projected to be independent workers by 2017.
The Mom Project understands the staffing industry needs to adapt to changing times. This company was started by a working mom who understands career paths and child raising intersect in several different ways. What works for one mom, may be different for another. But when a mom is ready to re-enter the workforce, there is now a resource willing to accept her back right where she left off.
Have you had similar experiences when trying to go back to work? Please comment below and let me know your thoughts.
If you are interested in learning more about The Mom Project or wish to sign up, please visit their site at www.themomproject.com for more information.
