our member benefits

• 4.1: Getting started
• 4.2: Membership
• 4.3: Women returner tips
  • 4.3.1: The Return to Work Mindset
  • 4.3.2: Personal Branding for Mums
  • 4.3.3: Your career break
  • 4.3.4: Job hunting check list
  • 4.3.5: Job searches
  • 4.3.6: Recruitment agencies
  • 4.3.7: Application forms
  • 4.3.8: CV’s
  • 4.3.9: Career breaks on CVs
  • 4.3.10: Speculative applications
  • 4.3.11: Cover letters
  • 4.3.12: Enjoying the interview process
  • 4.3.13: 5 Popular Interview Questions
  • 4.3.14: Practice Interview questions
  • 4.3.15: Body Language for your interview
  • 4.3.16: Negotiating your job
  • 4.3.17: What employers want
  • 4.3.18: Family Friendly Employers
  • 4.3.19: Remote Working – The Opportunity & Benefits
  • 4.3.20: Women & Franchising - What's Stopping You
  • 4.3.21: Women & Franchising – A Successful Combination
  • 4.3.22: Settling in
• 4.4: Free Webinars
• 4.5: Workshops & Webinars
• 4.6: Consultations
• 4.8: National Career Events

Mums Returning to Work – Is your personal brand confident and engaging?
Branding is not just something that applies to products or service we buy. It is as relevant for mums wanting to return to work.

Developing an authentic and confident personal brand is something I feel particularly strongly about for mums returning to work. Everyday like all of you mums out there I complete the daily ritual of school runs and as a result meet and observe lots of mums. Over the years I’ve noticed some character traits in the playground. Do any of these scenarios sound just a little familiar .....

Three basic Mum personal brands:
Mum Type 1 slides into the playground as quietly as possible. She keeps her head down as she doesn’t want to be noticed and stays near the edges of the playground not making contact with others. She feels too shy and concludes that the other mums don’t want to talk with her as they are already huddled in groups chatting. Plus she doesn’t really know what to say. She makes no attempt to make eye contact and looks at the ground until the children come out from school and then makes a hasty retreat to the safety of her home.

Mum Type 2 dashes into the playground like a whirlwind. She’s been busy busy busy all day! She wants to share all her information with anyone and everyone who has looked up and unwittingly made eye contact. She moves quickly around the mums huddled together as she wants to talk to as many of them as possible. She is loud, very obvious and draws a lot of attention to herself. When her children come out from school she still doesn’t leave the playground as there are still other mums to talk at - I mean talk to - as she has some forthcoming school events to organise and wants to let everyone know and persuade them to attend.

Mum Type 3 walks into the school playground calmly. She holds her head up and walks with a purposeful stride. She quickly scans the mums huddled together and chatting. Her face is open and smiling as she makes eye contact or possibly even waves over at fellow mums before walking up to a friend or two that she hasn’t caught up with. She starts by asking how they are and what they’ve been up to. This Mum is quietly confident. She looks self assured before you even talk to her but her chat is open, friendly and inviting.

Now I may have exaggerated these mum types just a bit for dramatic effect but there is some reality in the images I paint. In fact a recent article and podcast by the inspirational Nancy Clark CEO of WomensMedia talked about the very same point as people walked into a room. Their posture and how they walked in to the room created a lasting impression that directly affected how others in the room responded to them. 

To be successful with your return to work and the ongoing management of juggling work and home life you will need to connect and build a network of supportive people. In fact a well connected, informed individual is what most employers want. In a previous news posting this week I talked about lucky people being those who can make and manage connections.

Of our 3 exaggerated Mum brands which one do you think is going to be most likely to make good connections and ultimately be lucky?

Understanding your personal brand doesn’t have to be a complex branding exercise as undertaken by the big consumer brands but it does need to be authentic to you. It is not an act that you put on but something you nurture and develop. I recently came across Malcolm Levene who is a Personal Branding expert and has worked with some huge leading names. He sums up personal branding really simply - click here to read his recent blog article on personal branding.  

After picking up a few tips from an expert like Malcom or listening to Nancy's podcast you can start updating your personal brand ready for your return to work. Get practising in that school playground and make those connections and get lucky!