Managing a Career through the Childbearing Years

From Anita Borg Institute Wiki

Advice

Don't go to lunch with people you don't like. Don't go to meetings you don't need to. The goal should be to spend your time at work as effectively as possible so you can GO HOME and spend quality time with the people you love. And when you get home, make the time count. Three hours of dedicated time with your kid is worth more than a whole day of being there but not really paying attention.

Be creative in using and forming your support network. Being engaged in your child's school life is very important, but you can manage this in several different ways. One of the panelists doesn't have time to get involved in afterschool activities, but she's very good at calling for fundraising, so that's where she really wins over the fellow parents and school administrators.

Have an off ramp and an on ramp plan for maternity leave. Stay abreast of the culture and changes in your company when you are out with friendly lunches with coworkers and reading your email once a week. Figure out what is being measured before you come back, and figure out what your value proposition is for the company.

Advice was divided against whether to try and negotiate for more maternity leave. The panelists advised taking as much as possible, but other women in the audience agreed that sometimes you just want to be able to go back after two months, and to leave the door open.

The universal advice was to learn how to manage the guilt, or it will crush you.

Grace Hopper Blogger Dee McCrorey: Managing a Career through the Childbearing Years [1]

Resources

www.workoptions.com Site for resonably priced, professional templates for drafting maternity leave and telecommunting proposals