It is not always easy, when you’re in the thick of parenting, to take a step back and appreciate how much you’ve grown since taking on your new role. As with any job, parents hone and develop a myriad of important skills that are transferable from the playroom all the way to the boardroom.
If you have put ‘Parent’ on your CV, but you’re unsure of how to elaborate on why this work experience is relevant to whatever employment might come next, here is a handy list to help you.
- Patience
It really cannot be over-emphasised how important patience is in this job. Whether it is offering gentle encouragement while your child takes 40 minutes to put their shoes on by themselves, or answering the 15th ‘why?’ in a row, patience is a skill most parents will hone to perfection.
- Multi-tasking
Employers invariably look for candidates who are capable of handling multiple tasks at once so parents should capitalise on this. If you have ever cooked dinner whilst supervising your toddler whilst mentally preparing your to-do list once they go to bed without bursting into tears, then congratulations – you are an excellent multi-tasker.
- Learning on the Job
Parenting is a unique job in that it requires absolutely zero experience, provides no formal training, and the stakes are literally life or death. And yet, the overwhelming majority of parents pick it up quickly and become proficient in a matter of weeks. Equally unique is the fact that as soon as you think you’ve finally nailed this whole parenting thing, your child changes and you have to learn your job all over again – ad infinitum.
- Working Under Pressure
The best example of this is parallel parking on a busy road while your child is losing the plot in the back seat. Or going grocery shopping knowing you only have 30 minutes before nap-time.
- Finding Creative Solutions to Problems
There is no end to the obstacles you will run into whilst parenting. Something your child loved yesterday might be intolerable to them today, which means you need to get back to the drawing board to find a solution and defuse the situation pronto. Being a parent often means resolving problems before they have even come to your child’s (AKA boss’s) attention – a skill that will hold you in good stead wherever you work.
- Negotiating
Negotiating means both parties walk away feeling like they have achieved something, even if that achievement is simply having avoided a meltdown (by you or your toddler). Toddlers often drive a hard bargain but if you can keep your cool and coax your child into co-operating then you are a master negotiator.
- Empathy
To err is human, to forgive is divine as the old maxim goes. Empathy is arguably one of the most important skills in any environment and it is one parents use every day. We use it when we cuddle our child after their tantrum or when we sweep away the broken pieces whilst reassuring them that “it’s ok”.
- Time Management
Looking after children often feels like one big scheduling nightmare, which gets ramped up with the addition of every new child. Nap times, snack times, bath times, play dates – all of this has to be scheduled whilst also maintaining some flexibility in the routine to accommodate the unexpected.
- Organisation
Being disorganised is not an option as a parent. Even just leaving the house can feel like a military drill as we ensure every child has their swim kit, snacks, consent forms, completed homework, spare clothes (replace as appropriate).
What Gap? 