Money Makers: How to Use Parenting Skills When Job Searching

 As highlighted over the last year, caring for children is one of the most common reasons parents leave the workforce. In fact, a FlexJobs survey found 38% of working parents either reduced their hours or quit their jobs entirely due to childcare responsibilities amid the pandemic. 

For parents planning their return to the workforce, many may face challenges with explaining career gaps to prospective employers or translating the unique skills gained through parenting into job search success. 

To help job seekers and parents reentering the workforce, FlexJobs has shared the following guide covering how to use parenting skills when job searching, including the top 6 transferable parenting skills. 

 

The Career Coaching team at FlexJobs is happy to discuss this and offer advice on how working parents can land a flexible, remote-friendly career!

How to Use Parenting Skills When Job Searching 

Own Your Worth

Don’t sell yourself short by devaluing your time out of the conventional workforce. Be proud of the meaningful time, energy, focus, and attention you put into parenting and be confident as you talk about it, whether in person or on paper.

Plus, keep in mind that the skills parents utilize to raise kids and manage the home are extremely valuable. In fact, studies estimate that if stay-at-home moms and dads were paid for their services, they’d earn around $178,201 annually! Look at what it would take to outsource what you do as a parent, and you’ll be amazed at how many skills you bring to the table.

Move From “Parent” to “Employee”

Don’t limit yourself to thinking only about skills you used in your capacity as a parent. Think also about the skills you have as an employee and examples of how you’ve used them. Are you the treasurer for your homeowners’ association? Have you led a mission trip? Think outside the box—you are your own best advocate.

Recognize Your Specific Skills

As a leader in your home, you’ve practically been running your own corporation. Not only have you had to master communication and influencing skills, but your planning, time management, problem-solving, performance management, and disciplinary skills have all gotten a major workout as a parent. 

These types of soft skills are exactly what employers are looking for. When you’re ready to apply to jobs, rather than listing things you’ve done on your resume, phrase them in terms of the skills and talents required to do those things. Then list the projects as examples of those skills, with a sentence or two about your role and your achievements.

Demonstrate That You Are a Fit

Identify the jobs you want and highlight all the relevant keywords in job descriptions. Then, be sure those keywords are on your resume, so you make it past applicant tracking systems and show up in hiring managers’ searches. It’s also good to have three or four success stories ready to share in the vernacular of the corporate world. For example, coordinating the PTA correlates with organization, implementing daily routines shows your capabilities with systems, and managing money demonstrates fiscal responsibility.

Change up Your Resume Style

If you’re going for a position where the potential employer may look less favorably on employment gaps in your resume, consider creating a functional resume rather than a chronological one. This way, you can highlight the strengths and skills you have that are most relevant to the job and draw less attention to the dates.

6 Transferable Skills for Parents

1. Adaptability

Anyone with kids knows that the only certainty in raising children is uncertainty! With plans frequently changing on a dime, adaptability as a parent becomes a must-have skill in the home. The good news is that learning to be flexible and to expect the unexpected is also essential in the ever-changing world of work. Being able to adapt quickly and pivot will help you get the job done and stay positive, no matter what career you choose.

2. Budget Management

Few things make you realize the value of money like having to figure out how to stretch your money to care for another human being (or two!). As you learn to create budgets and prioritize saving as a parent, you’re also honing the financial management skills that can help you manage departmental budgets or take on financial tasks in the workplace.

3. Communication

As a parent, you’re constantly communicating with your children and have likely learned how to effectively persuade, negotiate, facilitate, and mediate. You also have to communicate with everyone in your children’s lives, from teachers and coaches to doctors and other parents. This ability to share ideas and information in a way that even kids will understand will serve you well in any job that requires you to communicate with others (which is nearly every job!).

4. Listening

Just as important as communicating is the ability to really listen to your team, whether that’s your toddler in the middle of a grocery store meltdown or your coworkers working through the kinks in a project. As a parent, you listen to your kids so they feel respected and acknowledged. In the workforce, being able to not only listen but hear what the other person is saying is crucial for success as a manager or if you’re working with clients.

5. Prioritizing and Time Management

At every age, raising kids necessitates that parents work through countless daily tasks. Getting them dressed, driving them to and from school, helping with homework, cooking them meals, caring for them when they’re sick, and so much more—it all has to be done. Moms and dads are uniquely suited for prioritizing all of these tasks throughout the day and managing their time to get everything finished. Employers value employees who can take a full workload and figure out how to tackle it all in the order of importance. Fortunately, parents often have this skill in spades.

6. Problem-Solving

When you’re a parent, problem-solving is one of the most important transferable skills in your toolkit. Your kids need you to either solve or guide them through solving a variety of problems in their lives—sometimes on a daily basis. This ability to anticipate, identify, and solve problems is key to success in any career and at every level of employment.