Jupiter
It's a life stage familiar to many women. You've taken time away from work to bring up your children and reduce childcare costs. Now you want to return to work. But you're not the woman you were two, three, five, 10 years ago. You might have totally different interests and want a new career to reflect the new you or you might want a job that fits with your children.
But a lack of career advice is preventing mums from finding work after having children, according to a recent survey by Women Like Us.
Their survey of over 1200 women looking for work found that although many want to change careers, only 35 of the same women said finding a job that fits around family life was their priority.
Sadly, many women are accepting a career downgrade, with only 35% believing their current job, or the jobs they are applying for match their previous work level and skills.
Emma Stewart MBE, and co-founder of Women Like Us, which provides this much needed career advice and low cost workshops for mums eager to return to work, says: "It is short sighted that as a society we target the national careers service primarily towards school and college leavers, whilst Job Centres are primarily geared towards guiding the unemployed back to work.
"It means women returning to work after having children are falling through the gap for professional careers support. Being neither students nor unemployed where do these women go?"
Returning to work after having children is probably the only time in adult life, when a woman might contemplate changing career or looking for a new kind of job.
"And yet most feel like there's a 'black hole' in place of advice or support. The last time that most had access to guidance of any kind, was when they themselves were children – if at all.
"Quality careers support can mean the difference between taking any job and finding a satisfying career that fits around family needs."
More than two thirds of the mums surveyed said had never had career advice in their lives - or last received it whilst at school or university, before attending Women Like Us workshops.
Are you struggling to find work that fits with you and your family?
Have you attended a Women Like Us careers coaching workshop?