Five ways networking can help stay-at-home moms restart their career

Being out of the job market for more than a year can play havoc with your confidence levels, especially if you’re a stay-at-home-mom. The key is to have a plan, and interestingly, the only person who can help you out of this situation is you! Here are five ways networking can help you restart your career:

Networking helps define your approach

It is said that the world is made up of introverts and extroverts and that these broad categories define your approach to social and business networking. What is uncontested, though, is that attending networking events and building your personal connections with people adds social currency to your bank. There can – and will – come a day when who you know matters. Very often, it doesn’t have to be someone high up the ladder – just someone who is in the right place at the right time for your restart to happen.

Networks give birth to infinite more networks

Your chances of meeting the right person, who is in the right place at the right time for your restart, multiply when you get out there and meet people from the industry in which you want to restart your career.

It’s a learning curve

Get connected to more like-minded people in the industry. Do not only think of how you can benefit from them. Network for the sake of learning more and sharing what you have learned. This will ultimately lead you to the right resource that can help you out with the right career re-entry. The road may be long and rough, but once you get to your destination, you will be filled with pride for having crossed those hurdles with guts and determination.

Boosts confidence

Socializing and networking increase your confidence levels, and teach you a lot about people you interact with and how you can strike up a conversation with someone you don’t know. Exchanging ideas, information, and opinions is always a great way to keep yourself in the know of current trends.

Attend events and increase your chance of landing a job

So, while your friend might proudly show off her contacts list on social media, you can proudly show off a business card you secured after a brief but informative chat with the same person!

Attending conferences/workshops allows you to connect with people from your profession, and to stay abreast of industry trends. Attend webinars and events held by various companies – you can find out about these from different groups on social media, as well as event aggregator websites online – as well as other suitable networking opportunities where you can meet key people who can connect you to your dream company.

Attending offline networking events that are free to register and even remotely connected to the role you’re looking for gives you an edge in finding the job want. Your chances of building a network are greater when it is face-to-face rather than on Facebook, where all you see are perfectly curated selfies.

Neha Bagaria is Founder and CEO of JobsForHer.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)