by Selina J

Created on: June 01, 2008

About a year ago, money was getting tight so we decided it was time for me to take on an extra job. Thus, I embarked on the wonderful journey of job searching.

At the time, I was working part-time out of our home taking care of human resource issues for a doctor's office. Plus, of course, I was also busy being a mom (of a special needs daughter and typical son) and wife. Just finding time to simply sit down and look for a another job was difficult. It has been said that finding a job can be a full-time job in itself.

I started my search on-line, but I also picked up the job magazines at the grocery stores and looked in newspapers. At night when the kids were in bed, I would search craigslist.com and monster.com as well as read through the papers. Ultimately, I found that the on-line search worked the best for me, for within a month of starting my search, I had attained not just one, but two more part-time jobs that both came from on-line leads.

What was key for me was to find positions that I could work around my life's - and my kid's - schedule. If I didn't have children, it really wouldn't matter to me when I work. Because of the kids, I was aiming for something I could do when they were in school a majority of the time, on the weekends, or when my husband came home from work. This makes sense for us not only because I didn't want to miss out on a lot of time with the kids, but financially we wouldn't have to be paying to have them somewhere else (if they were already in school or if my husband was watching them). We are not fortunate to have family around to help us out, so having a job with a flexible schedule, or one that coincides with my family's needs, was a crucial part of my search. I was fortunate to find such jobs during my search. One of the jobs even allowed me to bring my kids with me for certain trainings.

I feel being a parent probably helped me perform the search more effectively because I had to automatically narrow the field down to what worked with our schedule. Every parent wears many hats, and from my parenting experience, I have become extremely efficient and organized, which I feel came across in my interviews. I was snatched right up!

Although I have three jobs now, I rarely miss a morning song or bedtime story with my children. I stay connected with their schooling by volunteering as secretary of the P.T.A. Parenting definitely played a role in my job search, but if you keep looking you will eventually find the opportunities that may enhance your role as parent without losing out on time with the kids.

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