RETHINK, REDEFINE AND REINVEST By Monalisa Singh

Devanshi is a 33-year-old woman, married for 7 years and a mother of 4 years old baby.

She was a scholar in her college days and was the first to land up with a lucrative job. She was intelligent and was doing so well in her professional career but ended up quitting the job after she gave birth to a kid. Reason? There was nobody to support her in looking after her baby, nor was any work from home option available to her. Faced with this quandary, she decided to take a break from her professional career and devote her time to bringing up her kid. She thought that she would restart her career after the sabbatical required to raise her kid.

How many of you can relate to Devanshi? Many perhaps! Many of you would have gone through this phase of life; taking the tough decision of quitting a job for the sake of your family. It is a story that syncs with the lives of many women.

Every human being has to go through a phase of transition in his/her life. But when it comes to women, though the transition from being a girl, a daughter, a wife and a mother, is similar to the male counterpart, yet the hardship faced by women and challenges associated with each of the phases is quite different, having different magnitude.

There will always be a continuous challenge and societal pressure for women to cope up with. Women will always find themselves in many quirky expectations like “damned if they do" and "damned if they don't".

Whether you are a housewife or a working woman, you can achieve your dream. Just because you have grown older while taking care of your family responsibilities, doesn't mean you can't find career ideas to get work and become financially independent.

In fact, this is the period of your life where you are more independent and have enough time to develop skills and learn a new hobby.

In the past, once motherhood is attained, women lives changed drastically and her identity used to get lost in her motherhood. But now, slowly and steadily, things are changing for good. Now, women too are in search of an identity for themselves, want to be independent and have an urge to chase their dreams. Here are some career options from which you can choose to start walking and cross that white picket fence.

1. TEACHING AND TRAINING

Teachers and trainers share information with an audience to help them learn new information and though teaching is a great second career many might not have eligibility and also to some people teaching in the classroom might not be appealing. Thanks to technology teaching and training are now no longer limited to classroom jobs. In fact, the pandemic has opened many new ways to teach and train your audience. If you have a background in teaching you can also target jobs related to HR or training or combine both and be a training coordinator.

You need to enhance your skill a little bit and there you go into a whole new world of imparting knowledge.

2. IMAGE CONSULTING

Image consulting is one of the best careers options as it comes with working flexibility. It also helps you to earn well. Being a woman we are also concerned about our looks and styling so one just have to get certified and there you go. You can pick a niche for yourself from personal styling to brand styling, makeover consulting and market yourself well.

3. EVENT PLANNER

If you like working with people and have excellent communication and time management along with organizational skill, this could be your career.

Event planners are responsible for planning for events, networking, managing budgets, managing team, negotiating contracts, execution etc.

Start small! Try your hands organizing a small birthday event, or a kitty part and once you get a knack of it, hold on to the nuances of the business, scale it up slowly.

4. TRANSLATOR/INTERPRETER

Think back to school days and recollect how we used to crib for so many language classes in our school. This is the right time to brush those skills and remember what all learnt. To be a translator you need to learn a language/s, translation skill. Many companies nowadays need a translator and you can be one.

5. FREELANCE WRITER

A freelancer is a person who works on their own. They work for their client and charge money for it. And for this career, you don't need a specific age.

Writing is an excellent career choice as it gives complete flexibility and freedom to work from anywhere. And the best part is you don't even need any certificates or training. If you have a good command of the language and have a penchant for vocabulary, this might just be for you. Just polish your skills, get access to your PC and write. As a freelancer, you can write articles, develop contents, blog or you can even connect with some publication house. Yes, for this you will have to have proper networking.

6. ARTISTS

Do you love to express your thoughts through your art?

For artists, it's never late to show skills.

To be one, make your portfolios, show it on social media, networking is again a good way to showcase your skill, try to get projects. Use some innovation. You can work to make professional videos, animation or picture editing.

7. CATERING

All your life you have cooked food and know the nitty-gritty of it. So why not choose it as a profession. But in addition to providing delicious and hygienically prepared food, you also will need to understand that this job involves transporting and serving foods at events. Other than this you must be aware of the financial aspect of the food business as well as marketing and customer service. You will have to apply for a license as it is mandatory as per the FSSAI rules.

Navigating through a career change or starting afresh can be daunting and exhilarating at the same time. It can be a scary experience but also is exciting.

The first job to do successfully is the job of aligning your thinking with what you wish to do and where would you like to end up. So think and rethink it.

The key should be to recognize that you are not just reinventing your career but are also redefining yourself as a human being because the process starts from the inside out. Understand your WHY, look inward, invest outward, take a skill inventory, remove your biggest obstacle and rebrand yourself. Don't delay your future further! Prepare yourself for a great career. Who said there will be no roadblock but never stop pushing yourself. Believe in yourself! And you will shine!

Note- This post is contributed by Monalisa Singh, founder of Hashtag, a Career Guide, Counsellor, Teacher, and Entrepreneur.