Return to work tips specific to parents

- Stay active - participate in relevant trade associations, attend workshops or events, take an evening course, stay up-to-date with industry reading, or participate in networking functions. These activities are ways of keeping yourself and your resume up to date.

- Volunteer work is great way to maintain work experience while on parental leave

- When researching the job market - talk to everyone you know! Let family, friends, and your Mothers Group know that you are looking for a job. If you communicate your desire to return to work with other people, you never know where a job lead may come from.

- Consider temping or contract positions to start with to give you a taste of returning to work.

- If you are considering a career change, research the industry well and if necessary, do a short course to get up to speed.

- Keep your resume short and be succinct. 2-4 pages is a rough guide depending on your experience. Do not include your marital status, age or number of children.

- Don’t discuss you’re your family when applying for a role. You can talk about them later when you get the job. Be clear about your suitability to a role, your core skills, your flexibility requirements, and how much you are worth.

- Don’t under value your non-paid work – everything you do is important. All you need to do is turn it into ‘work speak’ – for example, tuck shop duty involves customer service, handling money and working as a team.

- Working from home is not a solution to paying for child care. After 6 months of age, all they want is your attention.