Not every job is a great fit for a mom who has one or more children at different ages. One child may need to be dropped off at kindergarten, another to high school and a third kid who prefers to walk to school nearby as they’re a teenager now. While employers are looking for the most suitable person to fit a position and to some extent be devoted to that employer, for working moms, their first priority is always their children. Finding an employer who understands that reality is not always easy.
Let’s look at how a mom can find better employers willing to be understanding.
Letting a Recruitment Agency Help You
It’s always a good idea to see what a recruitment agency can do for you. Get signed up as soon as possible and describe the type of position that you’re looking for. Tell your needs to your recruitment agency. At the end of the day they want you to be happy in your new position. The agency wants each placement to be satisfied and to stay in the position. This way the agency, the new employer and you will all be very happy with the outcome.
With some agencies, they often will place people in positions even if they’re not ideal for them because they hope they are adaptable to the situation. You should decide for yourself ahead of time what your true priorities are and the things that are non-negotiable. If you have to leave work to collect your kids from school in the afternoon, then you’ll need to state that as a requirement. Good employers are often only too willing to adjust their plans for a job when they like you, want you to join their team and can see the need to tweak the employment contract to accommodate a request.
Tap Your Mommy Network
You probably know plenty of moms who are long-terms friends. Either you met at school or college and have stayed in touch or they’re people you first met at work. Alternatively, there are many moms who bring their young kids to school or drop them off at kindergarten. These are all women who are good to talk to and get to know. Many have a job just like you and will happily talk with you about whether their employer is friendlier or unhelpful to the reality of being a busy mom. You’re sure to find a few moms who talk well of their employer and the flexibility they’re granted because they have kids.
Children-related Event Sponsors
There are some events focused on children in the local community. These events will often have one or more corporate sponsors that put money towards paying for the cost of putting on the event that day. Usually they’ll have at least one employee on-hand at the event representing the company. While they may or may not be able to talk at length about the benefits and flexible options for parents who work for the company — such as childcare facilities on the work premises – they can usually put you in touch with the right people at the company. This gets you an initial point of contact and from there you can discuss what jobs they may have available now or in the future.
Make a List of Family-Friendly Local Employers
It’s never a bad idea to make a list of the companies that you know are friendlier to working moms. Forgetting the names of these businesses when looking for another job is easy to do. Therefore, it’s a good idea to jot them down on a pad of paper or a spreadsheet including contact details, their website, and notes about the benefits they offer parents to encourage them to work there. You never know when this kind of information will prove useful later. Any casual conversation with another mom (or dad) can illicit a new snippet about their employer’s benefit scheme or other attractive aspect to their employment contracts that’s worth noting down.
Final Thought
Finding an employer that’s friendlier to families and working mothers isn’t always that easy. For some, their pursuit of profit and service of their customers is what they care about. However, the good news is that there are plenty of mom friendly employers out there when taking the time to seek them out.