Motherhood comes with many sacrifices, and for some mums, that means giving up work or a career when kids come along. But what happens when you want to return to the workforce? There’s a solution that will let you head back to work after having kids, without starting your career from scratch.
As as we all know, even if you had a fulfilling job, there are many reasons you may choose to step out of the workforce when you have a family. Eventually, though, kids grow up, go to school and, one day down the line, they leave home. Or perhaps your financial situation changes and you need to return to the workforce, and you need to be skilled up and employable. That’s why it’s a smart idea to keep up with the skills you brought to the marketplace during your career, even when you’re not working.
Keeping Your Skills Sharp (while staying at home!)
How do you ‘keep your hand in’ when you’re no turning up to an office every day? Well, one excellent way to keep your abilities and skills sharp is to pursue continuing education even when you’re not in the job market. Sure, it’s a tough call to keep a class schedule when you’re busy taking care of a home and family, but during this time online courses can provide the flexibility you need to study (when the time’s available!), and work with your lifestyle.
Health Management: A Continually Changing Field
If you’re a mum who had a job in the health professions, an online degree can open up opportunities for your next step. For example, one online degree that applies to a broad spectrum of careers in the health field is the Master’s in Health Management.
Advances in healthcare proceed at a rapid pace, and just a few years out of the workforce can make a difference in the amount of knowledge and skill you have to draw on. Continuing education is beneficial for any career, whether you’re right in the thick of it or have put your career on hold for a stretch. In this case, a Master’s in Health Management prepares you to take a leadership role in your next job in the healthcare field!
Networking Opportunities (and succeeding with support)
Spending time with fellow students, whether online or in person, is a great opportunity to learn from one another and connect. You can be a valuable resource for each other when looking for post-degree employment opportunities. In addition, something like the curriculum in a master’s healthcare program includes a supervised internship to allow you to practice the skills you’ve learned. Working in a clinical environment will give you the chance to make connections that could help in finding a job once your degree is complete.
Taking Up Where You Left Off (without suffering a salary or seniority gap!)
Re-entering the workforce and heading back to work after kids with a master’s degree will help you make up for lost career time. The years you’re at home are a replacement for a period of time that would have been an opportunity to advance in the workforce. By returning with a higher degree of expertise, you’ll be able to skip ahead to the point you would expect to be if your career had continued during those years of raising a family.
Moving into a Leadership Role (outside the home)
One of the goals of the master’s program at Southern Cross University is to graduate healthcare professionals who have a strong interdisciplinary competence. Healthcare leadership positions need to be filled by people who can work across specialties to create a cohesive healthcare team. Leadership is about more than providing management and supervision, and core classes focus on teaching skills and interpersonal competence in the workplace.
Starting a Healthcare Practice (of your own!)
Depending on your background and work experience, getting a Master’s in Health Management could be an opportunity to set up your own practice in a related healthcare field when heading back to work after kids. Counselling is one profession that can be launched with a master’s degree under your belt. Courses in health systems, management and leadership are some of the classes designed to give you the knowledge and organisational skills needed to set up and run your own counselling practice.
Take the Time to Move Ahead (but at a pace that suits you)
An online master’s degree program generally takes two years of part-time study, and it may seem like just one more responsibility to add to your busy days and weeks. But remember that there will be breaks between modules that allow you to catch your breath. If you invest the time and effort it requires to achieve an advanced degree, the benefits gained will be worth the sacrifice. By making up your mind to study diligently in the present, you’ll be sure to reap rewards in the future.
Find out more about Southern Cross University plus information on a Masters in Health Management.
