Working Mom, Interrupted. 4 Tips to Help You Keep Your Work Game on Point When You're Not Working (But Want to Be)

Up until the end of June this year, I’ve been a working mom since Madeline was born four years ago and that’s the way I love my life; unapologetically, confidentially, an enthusiastic working professional. However, with our move to Pittsburgh, my work mojo has been put on pause as I get used to a new city and look for a job. For now, I’m a SAHM until the right offer comes calling.

If I’m being honest, not being employed full time has been a hard transition. To be fair, I have enjoyed being home with my daughter. I’ve been able to experience all the wonderful and amazing things she learns, does, and discovers on a daily basis that I would have missed out on if I’d been in the workplace but still in the back of my mind, I long for the days of the 9 to 5, fast-paced work environment and outlets to use my creativity that I just don’t get being home all day with my child.

When you’re unemployed, whether it’s because of a move, unforeseen circumstances or the decision to make life changes, it can be challenging to break into a new work scene, especially when you’re new in a big city. I’ve been fortunate to be gainfully employed for the majority of my professional career but I’ve also been met with times of uncertainty and unemployment.

During these difficult times, it’s easy to become discouraged and lose hope but DON’T. Truly, every cycle of employment and unemployment is a season so today, I’m sharing four of my best kept secrets to help you keep your work game on point when you’re not working but want to be.

LinkedIn Should Be Your Best Friend.

This one should go without saying but it never ceases to amaze me how many professionals don’t have a LinkedIn profile. I know that not everyone is into the social media scene; if you don’t want to keep up with a Twitter, Pinterest or Facebook account, fine, I get it but if you are a working professional, especially one who is job hunting, you should have a LinkedIn account and here’s why…

LinkedIn is a robust social media tool that offers you free marketing and exposure of your resume, skills, background and experience. You have the opportunity to upload samples of the work you’ve done, accomplishments and most importantly, gives you the chance to receive written recommendations from peers and supervisors regarding your work prowess. This can be a huge plus when you’re job hunting and interviewing because you can direct any potential employers to your page for these recommendations and samples. The important thing to remember here is if you’re going to have a LinkedIn profile, you need to make sure it’s a complete profile. This is not something you can do halfway as it’s a reflection of your business acumen. As a hiring manager, there is nothing worse than finding your profile on LinkedIn only to see that’s it’s incomplete or missing information. To get an idea of how your LinkedIn profile should look, I invite you to take a look at mine here.

LinkedIn also offers the following programs for job hunters:

A.      LinkedIn Answers & Group Conversations. This is the perfect way to keep up with what’s going on in your industry while getting the 411 on who’s hiring, which companies are the best to work for and for purposes of networking.

B.      Recruiters. A large majority of LinkedIn’s membership is comprised of head hunters and job recruiters who do nothing but look for their next perfect addition to the workplace. I’ve been contacted several times from recruiters and while the positions haven’t worked out, I know that I’m being found.

C.     Job Search Function. Gone are the days of companies spending thousands to advertise their open positions in newspapers. Where are they posting? You guessed it – on LinkedIn. The job search function is amazing and for Premium members, you can refine your search to salary range, specific job titles, cities and even specific companies.

D.     LinkedIn InMail. For Premium members, you have the opportunity to contact the hiring manager directly regarding jobs you’ve applied for and to find out additional information on a specific position you’re interested in. I’ve done this numerous times and have even received a job interview from contacting the hiring manager directly. It does make a difference!

Wake Up, Get Up and Show Up.

Being unemployed does not mean you’re on vacation. I know it’s tempting to sleep in and enjoy a little leisurely time in bed but don’t. Set your alarm to wake up around the same time you would if you were waking up to go to work. This helps to keep your body in its routine but more importantly, helps you to stay focused for the day ahead.

Get up and get ready. Shower, dress, make your bed and coffee and do all the same things you would normally do in the morning if you were employed. Since I’ve been home with my daughter, I’ve found that if I get up and get going like I normally would if I were employed, I have a greater sense of accomplishment and drive for the day ahead.

Show up. Set a daily goal for yourself on how many jobs you’re going to apply for and follow through. For me, I make it a point to apply for 3 jobs per day. You may want to do more but try not to overload yourself. By the time you research a company, write cover letters and actually apply for each position, it can all be very time consuming and draining so make sure to set a daily goal that you can accomplish.

Clean Up Your Social Media Presence.

When you have a job and a steady paycheck it’s easy to become complacent with how you conduct yourself online but this can be to your detriment when you’re unemployed. It’s a 99.9% guarantee that any potential employer, boss or HR manager will be doing a Google search to find out who you are online. What will they find? You shouldn’t be posting these types of things anyway, but no potential employer wants to find pictures, tweets or status updates from you talking about how drunk you were at a party last weekend nor do they want to see your private domestic squabbles being played out in a public forum.

Clean up your act.

Choose profile pictures and cover photos for all of your accounts that are professional and friendly, and while you can never 100% delete anything from the Internet, go through the feeds of each account to see what things you may want to consider removing from your pages and profiles. These things may be found anyway through other sources but trying to minimize the risk is worth the work. Don’t be naïve in thinking that potential employers will not look you up online. This is a foolish and stupid mistake. As someone who has been a hiring manager, I can tell you that when I receive a resume, the very first thing I do is Google you to see what I find.

Think of it this way…

If you’re applying to be the social media manager for my company’s social media accounts, do you really think I’m going to hire you to be in charge of my company’s online presence and manage its online reputation if I see that you’re a hot mess online yourself?

Bottom line, grow up and clean up your act.

Network! Network! Network!

When I worked for the Chamber of Commerce, the one most important thing I learned about business was the power and influence of networking. This couldn’t be a more important tactic to utilize on a daily basis then when you’re unemployed and looking for your next opportunity.

Pull your contacts and resources to find out who you’re connected to and who may know someone in your industry that can help you get introduced to the decision makers for each position for which you’re interested. Again, this is where having a LinkedIn account becomes very beneficial. For each position listed on LinkedIn, there is a graph to the right side that shows how you may be connected to the company with either the hiring manager or other employees from the company through connections you already have. If you see that there is a potential connection, email the contact you already know to see if they will introduce you online. If I receive a message from someone I know and respect highly in my industry who wants to recommend someone they know for a position open within my company, I’m ten times more likely to listen and take notice. Never underestimate the power of your connections.

If you’re new to a city, visit your local Chamber website to find out what business networking events are going on in town that you are able to attend. Simply showing up to events, meeting new people, introducing yourself and making connections in person is a great way to get your foot in the door while cultivating business relationships. You never know who is looking to hire or if a company is in the middle of a reorganization and looking for new talent, you may be just what they’re looking for. Chance favors the prepared mind. Often times, many companies hire in this way before a job is even posted so stay connected and get out there!

Being unemployed and having your work game interrupted is never easy but with a few basic skills and resources as the ones mentioned above, you can be on your way to securing that next great gig. What tips and advice would you share for other working moms who are unemployed but looking for work?

Why I Don't Pin Your Content (And How You Can Change That)

For bloggers and business owners, Pinterest is a potential plethora of traffic, growth in readership, potential customers and endless exposure. It’s easy to become mesmerized by the shiny, pretty packages it contains and become complacent about the things you pin and how you use Pinterest in correlation with your blog or business…

But you really shouldn’t.

As a marketing professional, I see four common {but huge} no-no’s that happen all too frequently, especially with bloggers so today, I’m going to share my industry expertise to help you avoid these common pitfalls of Pinterest.

Problem One :: Your Pin Graphics and Pictures Suck.

You may have the best advice for getting your baby to sleep through the night. You may have the best idea for how to refinish grandma’s old bookshelf and you may very well have all the answers on how to get through potty training without pulling your hair out but no one on Pinterest will ever get to your site to read your material or re-pin your content. 

Why?

Because the Pinterest graphic for your material sucks or in a lot of cases, is completely non-existent.

The fix: The reality in using Pinterest is that it’s a visual medium. The sheer existence of Pinterest relies on pictures and graphics. Your potential users are drawn to pretty, well-designed pins for content and in most cases like myself as a blog/business owner, I will absolutely not share or re-pin content that doesn’t look clean or professional.

Why?

Because what I pin is a reflection on my brand and business. Everything I do with regards to Shiraz In My Sippy Cup sends a message to my followers, but more importantly, potential customers and business partners. So while you may have kick ass content, most people on Pinterest won’t ever have the chance to read it because they won’t click through your crappy graphics to get to your site.

Any blog or business should have a monthly budget allotted for post graphics and here’s the good news – you don’t have to invest a ton of money into software products to get pin-worthy posts. What’s my secret? For about 99.9% of my Pinterest graphics, I use Canva.com. The best part? The majority of my use is FREE. Canva is a robust graphics program that allows anyone with any level of graphics knowledge, the ability to easily and effectively create professional, pin-worthy posts. The program has pre-made Pinterest templates that you can customize to your liking and if there is a charge, the fee is usually only $1. In a month, I may spend $5 or less for all of my posts and in my opinion, $5 is worth it. I would drop that on something useless in a month so why wouldn’t I invest it into my business?

Problem Two :: You Don’t Make It Easy to Share Your Content

So there I am, reading your post, and I LOVE it. You’ve got me hook, line and sinker. The only problem? 

Nowhere on your site do you give me the ability to pin your post. I hover over your pictures hoping the “Pin Me” graphic pops up but alas, no dice. I look on your sidebar and at the bottom of your post for your social media sharing icons but, nope. You don’t have those installed either. What’s the deal?

The fix: The inability for me to easily and conveniently share content is a huge pet peeve of mine in the blogging world. I’m completely dumbfounded that so many bloggers still don’t understand this one simple concept in sharing content: Your readers want simplicity. 

We don’t want to have to copy and paste and pull up links and basically sign a mortgage through the Pinterest website to simply share your content. You can fix this very easily by visiting Shareaholic.com and installing your own social media sharing icons for your site. The whole process from installation to completion took me around five minutes and the gains to my blog have been invaluable as the app also includes stats and analytics. My readers can easily select the Pinterest icon to share my posts and of course, I always have a pin-worthy picture to accompany my post.

Boom. Done.

Problem Three :: You Love To Go on Pinning-Sprees

I have literally seen certain users pin 50 – 100 images in a five minute period; everything from food, to sports, to silly pictures, to well…crap. Nothing will tune me out more than spam and yes, when you’re pinning like your life depends on it, I call that pin spamming. It’s overwhelming but more, it’s downright annoying.

The fix: Set aside a few specific times per day to pin and during those times, be focused on what you want your content to be. Remember, what you choose to pin is a direct reflection of your brand. Try to be specific in your goals and what you’re trying to accomplish. If you know that you and the hubs are getting ready to do a huge kitchen overhaul, consider setting up a private board.

Pinterest came up with this nifty little idea a couple of years ago and it really doesn’t get used to its full potential. These private boards are an excellent way of pinning a ton of stuff without clogging up your fellow pinners’ stream.

Problem Four :: Your Pins Don’t Go to Permalinks or Are Broken Links

So I’ve found your incredibly well-designed Pinterest graphic and you’ve pulled me in with an interesting title. I take the bait excited to read what you’ve got and click on your pin to only find that you’ve either deleted the page on your site that it’s associated with or the link doesn’t work. Annoying!!

The fix: It’s a good idea to do some maintenance on your Pinterest boards from time to time. If you delete a blog post, make sure you take down the pin on Pinterest so that it doesn’t keep getting re-pinned. Before you pin content to your own boards, click through the pin to make sure it works and that the information is correct or better, something you would want your business or blog associated with. Many times I’ve found that links don’t work or that I don’t really agree with the author’s viewpoint in their post.

Bottom line, if you’ve got the time to cruise Pinterest, take the extra couple of minutes to check and make sure the pin works because if all I’m getting from you are constant issues, I’m out.

So there you have it. My professional advice on how to avoid the top four common user mistakes I find most on Pinterest. What issues do you run into that drive you crazy?

5 Ways Being a Working Mom Sucks

As I’ve mentioned many times before, I enjoy being a working mom. Even before I had my daughter, I took an enormous amount of joy in working. There’s a lot to be said in achieving and accomplishing goals that are all mine and mine alone. There is a lot of self-fulfillment for me in working. That said, there are the not so great parts of being a working gal now that I’m a mom.

{ONE}

Sick/Vacation/Holiday Days // Before Chickie, those days were all mine to do with as I pleased. If I wanted to take a personal day to stay home and be a vegetable it was fine. Now? No way. That time all goes to Chickie as back-up. I live in constant fear of having enough sick/vacation/holiday time to use in case Chickie gets sick because let’s face it – toddlers and preschoolers are little carrier monkeys and it will eventually happen that a dreaded sickness will hit. The good thing is that both Michael and I work for the University so we accrue time the same way so there isn’t that inconsistency and both of our bosses are very understanding but, still. The cold reality is that employers nowadays are only sympathetic to a point. Having time available to use is critical in staying out of hot water.

{TWO}

Scheduling Appointments // When your doctor’s office is only open the standard M-F, 8-5 it makes it difficult to squeeze in appointments for myself or Chickie with only an hour lunch. SOOO…therein lies having enough time built up to use because an hour usually isn’t enough time to do it all. It usually takes an hour just to get to my car, pick up Chickie, get there, and wait to be seen let alone go through the actual appointment. 

And don’t even think for a moment that you’re actually eating lunch that day. That's comical.

{THREE}

Day Care // Ay yi yi…where to even start with this one. It’s a whole mixed bag of things: the mommy guilt that someone else is “raising” your child, the fact that no one will ever do a good enough job as you will in taking care of your child and disciplining them the way you want or would, and how on top of it all, it costs a bloody fortune. Day care, while an important necessity, just sucks. Plain and simple.

{FOUR}

Time // There never seems to be enough of it! Both Michael and I get off work at 5 so it’s a mad dash to get Chickie from school, get home to get dinner done, and then have time together before bath and bed at 7:30. You do the math…that’s only a couple of hours of good quality time every night with Chickie. I think we do the best we can but most days, it feels so inadequate and let's not even mention the nights that Chickie gets picked up from school and is in a horrible mood. The witching hour...it just makes everything more difficult and leaves us frustrated. 

{FIVE}

Weekends are a HUGE Energy Drain // Neither Michael nor I are used to running after Chickie all day like she does during the week. Y’all, it’s downright exhausting! It’s also the Catch22 – it’s great to have time with her but by the end of the day, we are wiped out and honestly, the both of us are usually napping during her nap time!

Having said all of this, I wouldn’t trade my decision to work for anything. I know that I’m definitely not stay at home mom material and that I’m a better mom for Chickie when I’m doing things I enjoy and pursuing my own goals/wants/wishes. I just wish there was a better balance to it all. 

What have you found to be your biggest challenges as a working mom?

It's Really Very Simple...Don't Be an Asshole.

 

On Saturday during Maddy's nap time, I decided to visit a thrift shop down the road from us that I've been itching to check out for a while. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have a love of antique stores, thrift shops and Goodwill stores. It takes some time, but you can often find great things in these stores and I'm always one to look for a bargain. 

I did my usual browsing and enjoyed the quiet time I had to myself for a while. It's not often that I'm able to go anywhere without a vivacious and busy child strapped to my side so I relished my solitude for this brief time. Two hours later, I found a few good items to buy and made my way to the checkout counter. What I found there however, was not expected.

Standing in line in front of me was a young pregnant woman who appeared to be in her last months of pregnancy. With her were her two other children - a toddler and another child around four to five years old. With one glance, it was easy to see that this poor mother was overwhelmed, exhausted and stressed. To make matters worse, the two children with her were breaking down; crying fits, tantrums - the works. 

The store was very busy and packed with shoppers and as I looked around at the people in line in front and in back of me, I heard the judgmental, grumpy, critical references from other shoppers regarding her children's crying and behavior yet, no one would step up and offer any assistance, even the other mothers there with their own children (you know, the same ones who've probably had this very same problem themselves and know how it feels?!) It was at that point that I realized that even if I stood there silent not saying a word, not being critical, that I was still allowing the bad to happen to this woman if I didn't stand up and do something to help. So I did. I stepped forward and asked if there was something I could do to help. It was a simple gesture but immediately, I could see the panic, the worry and the stress drain from her face as she released a sigh of relief and her composure eased a bit. I took the kids and kept them occupied for the time that it took for their mom to pay for their clothing and leave.

I don't tell you this story to boast or to earn brownie points in the eyes of anyone. I tell you this story because it is extremely bothersome to me as to why this problem - this lack of courtesy, respect and downright civility and concern for others in our society, even has to be an issue to begin with. Have we become so shallow, so self-centered and so jaded as humans that we can no longer put aside our own feelings to help those in need?  Simply by looking at this woman it was easy to see that she was in distress and needed a helping hand yet, there were none to be found. What would it have cost anyone to take a few minutes out of their day to help this woman occupy and entertain her children while she tried to check out? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Yet - it was easier for most people to stand around, do nothing and be critical all at the same time. 

As I walked out of the store, this young woman was waiting for me. She wanted to thank me for taking the time to help her with her children. More so, she wanted me to know how much my act of kindness really meant to her. You see, this woman's husband had lost his job a while back which in turn, led them down the stairway of debt, bankruptcy and loss. Not too long after they were forced to move out of their home because of a foreclosure, her husband decided he couldn't deal with the stress, the disappointment and the embarrassment of life and what had happened to his family so he decided to commit suicide. She was left to be alone - 8 months pregnant with two children - scrapping to make ends meet to provide for her family all while trying to keep it together for her kids. 

Friends, we never really know the struggles of others. Everyone is fighting a battle of some sort. Why do we find it so incredibly easy, to off the cuff, be assholes to others... and usually, for no good reason? Yes - it is a strong word to use but it's the majority of the mentality that is allowed to exist and permeate in our society today. We don't get our way? Act like an asshole. Experience disappointments, letdowns and trials? Act like an asshole. Encounter a single mother with two crying kids and it's annoying to you? Yep, you guessed it - act like an asshole. Most of us are so wrapped up in our own little worlds that we fail to see that we're not the only ones living in it.  

Where is your heart? Better yet - where is your brain? It's the very basic principle of extending a helping hand to those in need that we try so very hard to instill in our children yet we lack the actual work and showing by example of what the words "Be nice to others" really means. Children, while they hear our words, actually learn by our actions. 

What are yours saying? I encourage each of us to try a little harder to be a little better. Most people on a day to day basis are simply trying to live their lives the best they can - in their homes, in their jobs and with their children. Calm the hell down and cut people a break. Isn't life hard enough on each of us without all the extra added hostility and hatefulness? Wouldn't you want the same courtesy and kindness extended to you if you needed it? 

In the end, you can be one of two things: you can be kind or you can be an asshole. It's a conscience choice that you make...the amount of effort that goes into being one or the other is the same.

{This post originally appeared on the blog in November of 2013 but seriously bears repeating...a lot.}