Career

Original post to Silicon Valley Moms Blog

I am a 27 year old stay-at-home mom who's studying to become a medical transcriptionist.  My husband recently lost his job and I do not want to work outside of the home.  I still have quite a ways to go before I finish my studies so I was wondering what other types of stay-at-home professions there are out there and how do I get involved with them.  If anyone has any information out there for me, please contact me at puffedbroccoli2002@yahoo.com or reply to this blog.  Thank you.

Heather Stephens

 

Explore new possibilities, stretch your imagination—dig deeper.

On June 20, 2008, by a vote of 278-146, the United States House of Representatives passed H.R. 5781, the Family Leave and Medical Insurance Act, which would grant federal workers up to twelve weeks of paid leave. The tantalizing taste of victory may make you want to start dancing in the street. Yet, in a Simon-Says like dichotomy, the passage of this bill in the House is at once a giant step and a baby step.

It is 8:00 pm and you have an interview scheduled for tomorrow morning. You decide to select your attire for the interview. Standing in your closet, you survey the array of jackets, slacks, blouses and sweaters.

Conversation with self begins.

I would like to hear from moms that had to make a decision whether or not to stay at home with the kids or continue on your career path. What was most frustrating? What was the most rewarding of your choice? What factors influenced your decision? Any advise?

If it were fun and easy, we’d already be doing it. Nothing inspires me to scrub my floors, clean the chandelier or bake pies from scratch as much as when I’m faced with an overwhelming task. Looking for a job, writing a resume, or even thinking about the next steps can be enough to propel me into a cleaning frenzy.

Last weekend I had the good fortune to watch my middle school daughter in a lead role of the local "High School Musical" production. What amazed me most was seeing how resilient kids can be when faced with microphones the are on the fritz, missed cues and forgotten lines. They just kept on singing and dancing. Do adults lose some of that resiliency when it comes to our careers?

Conducting a job search can be tiring -- it takes a lot of effort.

Why?

Because you don't know exactly when you'll actually accept a job offer, or even what job you'll actually take. If you knew the "what" and the "when," then you'd just work backwards and plan out your job search, right? If you knew you'd have a job in 3 months, then you could predict that one week before that, you'd have a final interview. And two weeks before that, you'd have a first interview. And three weeks before that, you'd send in your resume.

If you're a job seeker with a Blackberry, beware the syndrome that may plague your search...

Terse Reply Syndrome

According to their amazing tongue-in-cheek (or maybe this is really serious?) website Terse Reply Syndrome (TRS) affects many BlackBerry® users today. TRS is often associated with those who send email replies that are shorter than one sentence, pay no attention to tone, and disregard answering direct questions with any detail.

Here's a short quiz designed to help you better understand your symptoms and if they relate to TRS.