Summer can be a burden for working parents, especially mothers. That’s because the American school calendar is predicated on a family structure that hasn’t existed for decades. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2022, 73% of mothers and 93% of fathers with children younger than 18 were employed. That’s a lot of families that are scrambling to figure out how to cover care for up to 12 weeks.…
Working Mother recently shared an article on their Facebook page by a woman lamenting how much harder her life is than that of her parents, a stay-at-home mom and a working dad. She outlined the ways she feels she is getting the worst of both their worlds – having all the work pressure her dad had with none of the leisure he enjoyed because of his non-working wife. And, also,…
There seems to an unending number of articles written that tell moms to “put themselves first.” The reason that these articles keep getting written is because so many moms feel overwhelmed and stressed out. But the advice doesn’t seem to match the problem — if you are overwhelmed trying to meet everyone else’s needs, an article that tells you to put yourself first, even if it explains why you need…
One question that I’m frequently asked is “Does anyone read cover letters? And, if not, do I need to bother with one?” The short answers are it depends and yes. Talk to a bunch of recruiters and pretty soon you will hear the same thing: they don’t read cover letters. But you still need one, and it needs to be customized for each job. The reason is simple: A great…
Name: Wendy Padua Company and position title: Zendesk, I started as a field marketing intern and my contract was extended as a field marketing associate. What did you do before taking a break? I had two very distinct career tracks. My early career began in a small, high growth software company based in Atlanta. I worked in the marketing department, and the environment feels very similar to what I’m experiencing now at…
Name: Trisha Almeida Company and position title: Demandbase, I started as a solutions consultant and was hired full-time as a project manager. What did you do before taking a break? I worked as a project manager in IT. I started my career as an engineer, grew into an analyst position, and when I quit I was working as a project manager. How many years of experience did you have before your…
Name: Viviana Bhandari Company and position title: Demandbase, software engineer. What did you do before taking a break? I was living in Costa Rica where I worked as a customer service rep for call centers for different companies. I moved to the US for my husband’s career and I wasn’t able to get a work visa right away so I used the time to finish my degree. How many years…
Of all the amazing people I’ve had the privilege of meeting, Tiffany Dufu stands out. She was the president of The White House Project, was part of the launch team for Lean In and is currently the chief leadership officer of Levo. And that’s just a few highlights – her list of accomplishments is so long and impressive it would take an entire blog post to fully represent them all.…
In her new book, Work Pause Thrive: How to Pause for Parenthood Without Killing Your Career, Lisen Stromberg digs into the reasons why women take pauses in their careers and the steps they can take to successfully return. Relying on extensive social-science research and data about who leaves the workforce and why, Stromberg centers the narrative of Work Pause Thrive around the idea that pausing your career can enrich your career and your life. Covering everything from the complex…
I was very inspired by a recent Claire Zillman article in Fortune about the mayor of Sonoma, California. Partly, I was inspired because I believe it is good for our civic life when more women – across all sides of the political spectrum – run for and serve in public office. But Rachel Hundley also inspires me because hers is a wonderful reinvention story. And, a story of diving in…
