Get paid what you are worth

This week, I spoke to an employer about employing a mum to work part time. The role was credible and required experience. But the employer was keen to know if I thought it was accetable to offer the same rate as they would to a graduate - after all mums have been out of the worforce for a couple of years so they would probably be appreciative just to be paid.

WRONG. I very calmly responded that CareerMums encourages our users all the time to understand what they are worth and negotiate an even better rate based on their skills, experience, expertise, maturity and loyalty. And don't accept a cheaper rate because they are providing you with flexibility. It is a typical workplace arrangement and they will probably get more out of you than a full time worker.

I am amazed at the perception of a skilled worker once you become a mum. A good friend of mine and colleague, Karen Miles, once said that mums need a PR campaign to sit everyone in their place.

Parenthood enhances your skills and makes you a more tolerable, empathetic and organised person. And importantly, parenthood makes you less likely to suffer fools.

CareerMums in SMH and The Age

Read the article on mums returning to work: http://thebigchair.com.au/news/career-couch/baby-to-boardroom

Redundancy advice

Our guest writer, Kate McCallum from MultiForte Financial Services, provides some advice on being made redundant:

"I just need some simple advice on my redundancy payout," said Julie when she contacted us a few weeks ago. An experienced senior manager in her mid 40s, she had been with a large blue chip organisation for more than 12 years when she was told that her role was to be made redundant.

For Kates, advice, visit: http://www.careermums.com.au/content/gw_redundancyadvice

Latest issue of CareerMums newsletter

Read about:
- Dr Mataji Kennedy who transformed her career from senior HR roles to helping women cope with motherhood;
- Completing a skills audit if you are considering a new profession or have been out of the game for a while.
- 111 organisations ranging in size and spanning across all industries who have won the EOWA tag of Employer of Choice for Women

http://mailer.careermums.com.au/viewOnlineMessage.php?omid=MjY5LjEwNzE4&messageName=Candidate_Alert_290609&subID=10718&email_id=info@careermums.com.au&catGroupID=2&messageID=107

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Is flexiblity becoming more mainstream?

In the workplace, employers are in 1 of 2 camps when it comes to flexibility – they are talking about or doing it. Employers will need to adapt to more flexible working conditions with the introduction of the National Employment Standards in January 2010 which includes giving parents of children 5 and under the ability to request flexible working arrangements. If employers don’t already have policies on flexible working arrangements and parental leave, it will become imperative in the next 6 months.

Parents need to become more familiar with their employer’s HR policies. It is interesting that young women these days are asking prospective employers about the opportunities to work flexibly and where they stand on parental leave, yet women who are parents now do not consider asking these questions. Our view is stick to the facts and build a business case to work flexibly.

End of financial year checklist

A great find - an end of financial year checklist. Regardless of whether you are working or not, there is something for you.
http://www.multiforte.com.au/pdfs/YearEndChecklist.pdf

The biggest barriers to returning to work and how we can overcome it

Two critical barriers women face when returning to work include cost of child care and lack of flexible jobs. The cost of child care is an ongoing problem. The Government now offers a 50% childcare rebate which is not means tested so it is certainly a step in the right direction. However, it does not fix the long term problem that over 70% of childcare centres are privately owned. This means that Government has no control over price increases so eventually the 50% childcare rebate will be ineffectual because the yearly increase in childcare fees far outweighs the yearly inflation rate. I think the Government had a wonderful opportunity to purchase the ABC Childcare Centres but it was not to be.

The inability to find flexible jobs continues to be a major barrier but I think that parents will see a huge change in the next couple of years. Many sectors are being challenged by the skills shortage and this will bring about change. In the meantime, parents need to understand their worth and negotiate flexibility. Many employers still don’t understand the concept of flexibility so if a skilled, experienced, mature and loyal candidate puts forward a sound business case, why wouldn’t they consider it?