While we always think of how the job market has expanded over the last decade, research proves that there are more women joining the race with competitive abilities than ever before. What gets ignored is how work – life balance plays a big role in achieving the same. Having a family doesn’t stop high-potential women from getting back to work. But this comes with loads of stress, competition and commitment.

| Are you looking for that perfect job opportunity to get back into the big, bad corporate world? SIGN UP HERE for an exciting line up of potential employers!

Let’s take a moment to understand each of these elements: Stress, Competition, and Commitment.

Coping with Stress

From the time a woman makes a conscious choice to balance career AND family, the element of stress sets in. Of course, she is happy with her job and enjoys the independence it comes with. But work pressure indirectly builds in stress into her personal life.  Our socio-cultural views have conditioned us to believe that a woman is the caretaker of the house. As a woman, you are expected to take care of the daily chores at home, play the role of a back-up maid AND have a three-course meal ready for the family.  

Our rigid belief system also takes the liberty to blame it on the woman for her inability to hold the family together. Stress of this kind often goes unaddressed, and it clings to her 24/7. It causes to crumble from the inside, taking a great deal of perserverance and patience to refresh and restart every day. 

Beating competition

For a woman looking to restart her career, competition comes in many (unexpected) forms:

• Meet family expectations
• Creating an impressive resume
• Taking up challenging roles at work to prove her worth to male counterparts.
• Negotiating for equal pay

Committment to Work AND Family

A woman does not believe in the sympathy wave. She believes in herself, in her ability to juggle work and family life, and she does it with suave. Her commitment to either doesn't fade but only gets stronger.

As she learns to cope with pressure, her confidence increases, and so does her ability to outperform herself!  

The conscious choice to restart her career speaks volumes about a woman's personality. With a job market that demands manpower with robotic characteristics – the ability to multitask at any given time of day- women are leaving no stone unturned to prove their worth. When you see a woman working late hours, it simply means that she understands what the job demands and is responsible for completing the task. 

| Here's how to make a career-break work for you!

Support System

This can be considered a positive attribute only if she has a good support system - a boss who appreciates her for efforts, or a husband who stands by her, steps in to take care of the family/kids with the same kind of commitment that she does. When this doesn’t happen, it results in poor performance at the workplace. To tackle such issues some companies provide crèche facilities for their employees. These initiatives not only help in employees’ overall development it also helps them take a bold step in their career.

As more women are embarking on their second careers, it's important to identify them as not just home-bearers but also a workforce to reckon with. They're the agents of change in society.   

Whether you are just starting out, already working or want to restart your career, visit our site, browse our bank of part-time, full-time, work-from-home, and freelance positions in 4000+ women-friendly companies! Create your profile, upload your resume and start job-hunting today!

Noor Jahan Khan is a single parent and a budding entrepreneur.  Her adventurous personality keeps her on her toes.
Love for sports has filled her weekends with activities like swimming,  skating and playing badminton with her two kids. She loves to write for children and intends to publish one day. 
Making movies for children some day is on her wishlist.