With the start of the new school year, many parents are finding themselves looking at their work options, with their little ones starting "big school".
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This can be a daunting experience.
Trying to prepare our cherubs for the schoolyard, and ourselves for the world of work at the same time, can feel like juggling swords. That are on fire. While tightrope walking.
For those of us partnered parents who receive parenting payments to supplement their income, that payment stops when our children turn six years old and we are moved onto JobSeeker, with all the compliance requirements that come with it.
However, as suddenly critical the hunt for work becomes at this point, it is rarely simple.
Parents returning to work after time away to raise their minions, I mean children, often face challenges that can make this hunt for work seem overwhelming.
Many of us in this situation discover that our professional self-confidence has dissipated.
We feel like our skills and experience are no longer valuable because we haven't been in "paid" work for X number of years and we feel that we are not as valuable in terms of employability.
How many times have you answered, "I'm just a mum," or "I'm just a dad," when asked what you do for a living?
As if juggling the endless list of jobs, questions, and schedules, while seeing to the physical, emotional and nutritional needs of another human 24/7, without sick or annual leave, weekends, or even a knock-off time, hasn't honed your strengths in organisation, task prioritisation, planning and management.
Being a parent has inherent value, not just to your children but also to yourself and your future employability.
However, even if you can see this, it can feel challenging to try and make a company see it.
The stereotypes perpetuated within our society about parents and work - especially mothers - can make trying to find work after a break to raise a family seem impossible to overcome.
In a study published in the Journal of Social Issues, research showed that hirers were less interested in hiring, promoting and educating working mothers compared to childless women, whereas men were not penalised for becoming fathers.
Further research out of the US found that a woman's earnings take a significant hit when they become mothers, and that the pay gap between mothers and non-mothers is actually greater than that between men and women.
However, that said, Fortune.com reported a survey run by Great Place to Work that captured the responses of more than 400,000 employees across hundreds of companies, found that parents demonstrate greater dedication to their organisations than their childless colleagues.
Speaking from experience, I think we are all quietly grateful to be talking about something other than the Wiggles and being able to eat our lunch without having to "zoom" our colleague's bite-size morsels into their mouth first. But maybe, that's just me.
Re-entry into the (paid) workforce requires a collaboration of business and candidates.
As individuals, we need to recognise and articulate our strengths and professional capabilities to be able to market ourselves effectively within a competitive marketplace, but we also require businesses to be open to accepting the value that such a hire could bring to their workplace.
Research tells us that working parents are often more productive - as parents you learn how to not only get sh*t done, but also how do multi-task like your life depended on it.
Have you ever written a university paper while helping a five-year-old do her Barbie's hair and solve the Xbox issue, while making Vegemite sandwiches in the shape of love hearts?
Studies also acknowledge parents' people skills, conflict resolution capabilities and innovative problems solving skills.
I mean, having tried to reason with a toddler, I think they could take on the top CEOs in the country at the negotiation table when it comes to bedtime.
Parents have also been proven to be excellent time managers, demonstrate empathy, be planners and be reliable.
Above all, they are motivated by the little terrors they have at home, to be able to feed, clothe and shelter them.
Don't be daunted, parents. You're a catch! If you can raise a child, going back to work will be a walk in the park.
Zoë Wundenberg is a careers consultant and un/employment advocate at impressability.com.au