Returning to the Workforce as a Mother

Returning to the Workforce as a Mother – Would Getting Your MBA First

Create a Better Future for You and Your Family?

If you decided to take a break from your career while your child was very young, but are planning to return to work once he or she is a little older and in school, it can be a bit of a daunting prospect. If you had a promising career you would like to go back to, you may be concerned that in the time you were not working, you may have become a less attractive prospect to employers for jobs at your previous level or higher, due to being out of the industry you worked in and perhaps behind on the latest news and advancements. You may also find that many of your old contacts and connections have moved on, and that other people have ‘caught up’ with where you were, making getting the jobs you want more competitive than ever.

Boosting Your Qualifications

Of course, there is no reason to let this get you down or settle for a job that is less than you would have taken prior to becoming a mother if that is not what you want. You can use the time before you return to work to gain new qualifications that can enrich your value as a prospective employee, and help you mentally prepare to return to professional life.

One of the best qualifications to go for in this situation is an MBA (Masters in Business Administration). It is a universally recognized advanced qualification for people in management or business leadership roles, and will help you to reach higher levels in your previous field as well as removing a lot of the obstacles that an extended break from work can present.

What Background Do You Need to Study for an MBA?

One of the great things about an MBA from an employer’s perspective is that to take one, you need to have at least three years of professional experience as well as a degree. This means that people with MBAs are people who have been able to demonstrate their skills in the ‘real world’, rather than people whose knowledge is purely from academic teachings. The reason why MBA candidates need this kind of background is also that it is a study path that will ask you to think about how the things you learn can be applied in a real business environment, and you need to have experienced this world to truly understand how things work, no matter how much you have studied.

It also prevents people from gaining an MBA too early in their careers, meaning that professionals with MBAs are not competing with people fresh out of uni without professional credibility won through experience. This makes it a very good study path for women who have had professional jobs but are currently on a break – they have the prerequisite experience and can use the MBA to boost their employability before returning to the market.

Studying Around Your Life

Because MBA students are older, it is a course of study that by its very nature has to take into account the fact that many people who take it have families and commitments. Some people do MBAs while working full time, whereas others do the course full or part time. You can do quite a lot of the course online if you pick the right provider, and this can make fitting study around your home life easy. The benefits of online MBA courses are obvious – you can get all of the support of a credible university like the University of Birmingham, which was ranked recently as one of the top MBA providers in the UK by The Economist as well as being chosen by The Times as the best university in the UK overall in 2014. Choosing a good university that is not too far away from you but offers distance learning tends to be the best choice, as it means you don’t have to travel too much when you do need to be on campus and also get your qualification from a well respected institution.

Where Can Your MBA Take You?

An MBA doesn’t just make you a better candidate when you apply for jobs, it will also strengthen your knowledge and performance, and help you get back into a professional way of thinking after being out of the business world for a while. Of course, those skills can also be taken with you should you decide the employment market isn’t for you anymore and you want to start your own business!

Doing an MBA can be a great way to arm yourself with great skills and better employability when you are preparing to go back to work as a mother.