Recently, my friend asked me if I could help review her resume. She's a stay at home mom who is thinking about going back to work. We were brainstorming what kind of skills she can transfer to her resume while she's a stay at home mom? Which made me think that I probably should do the same. As I go through things I've done as a mom, I'm amazed to see there are many skills involved as a mom.
I understand that most the skills I mentioned here are my own specific experience. Not every mom has the same experience, but here are what I think my experiences are:
1. Being persuasive. What would you do if you ask someone to do something and that person says "No". From my experience, I get that answer a lot especially when the baby turns the magic number 3. I figured, there are two things I can do. I can be very authoritative " I command you to do this... or forever will hold your peace..." and get ready to twist her or his arm, or I can do in a more persuasive way... What usually works at home is " Only kids who do this, will get one kiss..." (Kisses and hugs are our "currency").
When it gets old, I'd say" I know kids your age can do this... I know you can surprise me with what you can do...." That usually works like a charm for my kids, but may not with others.
It really shows that moms are trained to learn every person personality and use her persuasiveness to encourage the person.
2. Persistent. Sometimes, the persuasiveness doesn't work. Mom has to keep trying again and again with many different options that needs some creativity.
3. Delegate. Giving choices and consequences. I took a class about 'love and logic'. It talks about giving empathy and let the kids learn from the choices and consequences. I think it works both ways. I felt that I'm not feeling guilty with the choice she made and at the same time, she learns the consequences from her choice.
4. Creative. I can't emphasis enough to be creative. You don't have to be an artsy person to call yourself creative. I do believe every mom has some creativeness. E.g TV time... How many times do I have to battle with how much is too much TV time ( read my
flower power blog). With this creative and fun method, we both are happy.
5. Planner. I noticed in general, moms are a planner. If you prepare snacks for a long trip or even plan to stop by an eating place during a day trip, you must plan be a planner. May be I should say I'm a natural project manager. I don't believe in multi-tasking or some people would call it continuous partial attention = CPA.
I plan for snacks and drinks for a long trip. I've always have a bag filled with the book(s) that I'm reading, pencil, a sketch book which is useful when I'm waiting for my daughter's piano class. In addition to that, I have one bar, small water bottle, first aid kit in my purse. When I pick my daughter from school, I'd bring some snacks so she can eat on the way home and ready for homework when she arrived home. I'd have my washer and dryer running while I'm blogging or doing some computer activities.
6 Good communication/ writer. Blogging, Facebook, Twitter... no, it's not a waste of time is you choose to use them as a learning tool. It forces me to think like a writer and online marketer. I have to think about an interesting topic to blog, interesting opening and ending. I'm constantly improving written English.
7. Counselor/adviser/ "Software programmer" . Noticed that I put quote on the "software programmer". My husband, who is a geek, are sometimes referring our daughters as something that needs both "software" and "hardware". "Hardware" are when we provide the basic needs while the "software" are when we teach about value.
As the children grow older, I learned the needs changes. Other than making sure she fills her tummy with healthy food, I need to fill her heart and give good example, self confidence, good morale and love.
8. Fast learner. What would you do when one day, your daughter said, "I want to be a leopard for Halloween... ". I could spend $30 or more for a costume, or I can search on the web on how to make a costume + buy the materials with 40% off coupon + some creativity = a decent costume that makes your kids happy, save money and a new skill on how to sew.
9. Easy to adapt. One thing I learn..., kids doesn't know schedule. Yes, probably when they are older, but when they are still a baby, they have their own schedule and you need to adapt. When I have our first daughter, I thought I could do laundry, made the bed, cook, vacuum the floor and play with the baby... Done. In reality, I have to wipe the tables at least 5 times... The minute I'm done with vacuuming, I need to vacuum the floor again as there are more cheese on the floor. At the end of the day, I miss my schedule and awfully tired. Now I learned to be happy with what I can accomplish today. Yes, I write plan, I write goals for the day... If I didn't achieve it, I'll try to do it again tomorrow.
Those experience really shows mothers have a lot of skills. It's not only one specific skills but it's a LOT of skills. So yes, I think I could mention this on my resume:
"A persuasive, creative, planner, fast learner, easy to adapt person with good communication and delegation skills who is ready to rock the world..."
What do you think?
