Mums 2 Work

A few years ago, as my children were being dropped off at nursery, I met mums who were excited at the prospect of their impending “freedom” and were looking forward to finally doing something for themselves, to “re-activate the mind” was a common phrase. We all had different aspirations and goals: part-time, full-time, freelancing, charity, art courses, getting fit and starting one’s own business to name just a few. Our family then moved to Singapore for 5 years and having recently moved back to London, I have met many of the same women asking themselves the same questions, now that our children are entering secondary school. Many of course spent years trying different options to various degrees of success. What struck me though is how many are still looking for their passion or where they have found it, how many are still looking for ways to make their dream a reality.

More recently, I was running a workshop at Warwick University entitled “Career Transformation”. Somehow, it was attended only by women either wanting to move to the next step in their careers or simply wanting to re-enter the workforce after a career break. The participants were united in their feedback: how good and helpful it was to be able to discuss their issues, goals and plans with women in similar situations. Hence the idea grew for the Mums 2 Work workshops.

What is the Mums 2 Work offering?

Each Mums 2 Work session consists of a 3.5 hour workshop followed by a 1.5 hour one-on-one counselling session designed to help women identify their goals, skills, values, areas of interests and constraints. We will then begin to identify themes and possibilities to further explore. The one-on-one counselling session will be focussed on practical tools and action-planning. 

Is this for you?

• Do you want to return to work after a career break, but feel stuck?


• Are you working but wanting to find a new direction which fits better with current priorities?


• Are you not necessarily looking for paid employment, but just for a direction which will allow you to be fulfilled and make a contribution?


• Do you know what you like to do or what you want, but are not sure what kind of job would match your skills or how to go about it?


• And of course, if you are not a mum, but are asking yourselves these same questions, then this is for you too.

What will the workshop itself cover?

The workshop will be restricted to 6 participants. You will be given a short questionnaire to fill in beforehand to enable you to start thinking about some of the questions we will be asking during the workshop.

The objectives of the workshop are twofold:

• to help mums/women reflect on who they are, what they have to offer and what their vision is


• to help identify potential “careers” and practical tools for getting there

In order to achieve our objectives, we will cover the following topics:

• Clarifying key elements of short and long-term vision and goals


• Recognizing transferable skills, values, areas of interest


• Making sense of priorities, themes, constraints


• Identifying the best job search strategies to effect change:

o Activating your network

o Conducting Informational interviews – The PIE method

o Leveraging previous/current employers

• Identifying next steps

What are the one-on-one counselling sessions about?

The One-on-One Counselling sessions will focus on your individual needs which could include:

• CV


• Clarifying your story


• Interview Practice


• Networking techniques


• The outcome will be a personal action plan

Who am I?

My name is Nathalie Ross Metcalf. I have a Management Consulting background with over 12 years of experience consulting to FTSE100 companies mostly in Australia, Europe and Asia. In 2002, with two small children, I left consulting and set up a coaching and training consultancy mostly targeting Professional Organisations. In 2004, my husband’s job took us to Singapore where I managed to continue some of my work. I also started working at INSEAD as a Career Coach. Today, I am back in the UK, still coaching and training Business Schools, training Organisations in business skills and coaching Individuals. I have an MBA and Masters in Coaching (completing Dec 2010) from INSEAD. The theme of my thesis is around work life balance for women.

I have three children aged 12, 10 and 5 and live in West London.

How do I find out more?

Contact: enquiries@positionignition.com to express your interest in this workshop

www.positionignition.com

Comments

[Sutekh]

Thanks Natalie for this information