Keeping your skills up to date while on parental leave

During parental leave, many parents often experience a lack of self confidence when it comes to their career and the prospect of returning to work. It is so common, and happens simply because you are removed from the workplace for a period of time.

Experience has shown that women who have returned to work are pleasantly surprised at how quickly they fit back in, and how much knowledge they have actually retained and gained.

In order to make the transition back to work as smooth as possible, it’s important to maintain your skills while you’re on leave. Be proactive. Seek out opportunities that enable you to retain and build on your current skills.

Visit the following URL to get some ideas on how to keep your skills current:
http://www.careermums.com.au/uploads/Keeping%20Your%20Skills%20Up%20To%20Date.pdf

How employers can embrace flexible work arrangements in an economic downturn

Now is a great time to embrace flexible work arrangements to counter fluctuating business needs and performance.
Examples of employment strategies include:
1. Hiring people on a part time basis instead of full time;
2. Enhancing flexible work policies to allow for staff to take more unpaid leave; and
3. Allowing staff to reduce their normal working hours during peak holiday periods (eg: lead up to xmas, school holidays etc)

Selling yourself in an ecomonic downturn

Recent chaos in the financial markets has seen business confidence around the globe plummet, including Australia. Furthermore, many news services are reporting that jobs growth is slowing - see the following article: http://business.smh.com.au/business/jobs-growth-slows-20081009-4x4p.html

If you are currently looking for a job, it may be worth re-thinking your approach. There may be an impact on jobs growth but there is still a skills shortage that will get progressively worse over the next decade. There is still work to be done, but right now, employers may actually prefer to take someone on part time while they ride out the economic downturn. This is where you can come into play by offering your skills and expertise on a part time basis until business picks up. You are offering your flexibility in return for their flexibility.

Productivity Commission response to paid parental leave

The Commission proposes the introduction of a taxpayer funded paid parental leave scheme that would:
- provide paid postnatal leave for a total of 18 weeks that can be shared by eligible parents, with an additional 2 weeks of paternity leave reserved for the father (or same sex partner).
- Provide the adult minimum wage (currently $543.78) for each week of leave for most eligible employees.

All employees with a reasonable degree of attachment to the labour force (average of 10 hours per week or more and continuous employment for 12 months prior to date of expected birth) would be eligible, including the self employed, contractors and casual employees.

Non eligible parents would be entitled to the equivalent of the baby bonus.

This is a huge step in the right direction. It will take Australia years to catch up with other OECD nations, but this is a welcome start.

The Federal Government will need to properly review the Productivity Commission's findings on businesses paying superannuation and funding paid parental leave upfront before being reimbursed. There are potental concerns that this may create further discrimination in terms of hiring women in general and hiring mothers who may decide to have more children.

For more information, go to: http://www.pc.gov.au/projects/inquiry/parentalsupport/draft

Group Interviews

Recently, one of our users asked me about how to approach a group interview. She was looking to re-enter the workplace and was very nervous, so needed a few tips and hints. I gave her some tips, and without knowing the outcome of the interview yet, she was really pleased with her interview performance and felt very confident.

This is what it is all about - developing the confidence again to handle interviews regardless of the outcome. An interview is about 2 things: how well suited your are to the role based on your experience, and whether you as a person would be suited to the culture of the organisation. You are who you are, and sometimes your personality may not suit the role you are going for.

These are the tips I provided:
- Ask for information on the group interview before it happens. What is the structure of it? What will you be required to talk about?
- Just be prepared. Stick to how your skills will benefit the job you are going for.
- If you can back up your skills with previous experience, be ready to do so – both paid and non-paid work!
- Do not talk about your family circumstances. It is no one’s business but yours.
- Gauge the interviewer. Get a sense of what he/she is like. Do they prefer short answers or do they want you to elaborate? React to this as the job interview is just as much about finding the right style of person who will fit the organisation as well as tapping into your core skills set.
- Make sure you look good! If you feel good, you will radiate confidence. Ensure your outfit is chosen at least 24 hours before!
- In a group situation, it can sometimes be intimidating for some people. You will need to speak up and promote yourself when the time is appropriate. Remember: if you don’t, no one else will!
- Shake off being nervous – it is another experience and if you don’t succeed, review what you need to do next time and move on to the next challenge.

Should you work as a permanent part time employee or a casual employee?

Every week, CareerMums receives questions from our users on a range of topics including career advice, career options, employment law, resumes and more! Below is a question we received recently, with our response:

Question: I'll be returning to work shortly after a period of time on maternity leave. I'll be joining a new employer and have been offered the choice of accepting either a part-time or casual employee. I'd like to know if you can provide me with advice on how to accurately calculate the financial comparision between both options, hence aiding in my decision on which to accept.

Answer: It is hard for me to assist without knowing all the information. Ask the HR department to do the calculations, and get them to specify your entitlements as they will differ e.g. treatment of leave days. In addition, please refer to the following web page for more information that may help: http://www.careermums.com.au/resources_useful_services.php#workplaceresources

GetUp! Paid Parental Leave Campaign

CareerMums is proudly partnering with GetUp! for the Paid Parental Leave Campaign. Australia is one of only two developed countries without paid maternity leave. The government is looking into the issue, but unless there's overwhelming community support they won't set six to twelve months as a minimum standard - a standard supported by research on health and development, social welfare and economics.

Join over a dozen prominent organisations in this campaign by adding your name to the petition. Visit the following web address to show your support:
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/AllTheOtherKidsAreDoingIt?id=381