This is part 2 of 2 in a series about remote work and maternity leave. For part 1, go here.
You’ve made the decision to take on some form of work while on maternity leave. It might be to supplement your household income; to avoid the typical “resume gap” women experience to raise a family; or to keep your skills sharp for however you decide to return to the workforce.
So what kind of remote work can new mothers take on? Danielle Greason, a mother of three who has built remote work around raising her young family, worked with me to list out viable jobs and roles that mothers can obtain during maternity leave.
Here are four specific roles:
Note: Check out these 5 powerful resources for finding remote work online.
1. Virtual assistant services
Virtual task and admin management is a popular entry-level or advanced remote work role. A quick Google search will reveal a litany of virtual assistant companies that offer services that can include:
- Traditional administrative services like inbox management, calendar management, document formatting, proofreading and editing.
- Online marketing implementation services, like blog post editing and formatting, email newsletter preparation, social media content curation and scheduling, revisions to existing website pages or the creation of new website pages using landing page creation tools.
“I often refer to this set of online marketing virtual assistant services as ‘advanced administration,’” says Greason. “You don’t need to have prior experience in coding, design or marketing. You can adapt your existing skills in being able to navigate new systems and proactively figure things out.”
Specific services that companies might be looking for can include:
- Blog Management
- Social Media Management
- Product Launch Support
- Digital Marketing Analyst
- Email Marketing Consultant
- Social Media Consultant
- Cloud based bookkeeping and accounting
Greason even offers her own course for developing or enhancing your skills to obtain virtual assistant and online marketing implementation work.
2. Online customer support
Startups and established businesses are hungry for talent that can connect with customers. Especially if that means making paying customers happy for the service provided.
“I’ve sometimes found there to be a misconception that customer support is likely to be the low rate work, competing with offshore service providers,” adds Greason. “In stepping into this world of remote work, I’ve found that there is just as much high rate work in this field, often for smaller independent businesses, along with forward thinking startups and software companies that place a very high value on the development of their frontline customer support team.”
Jobs in this industry can include tasks like:
- Responding to incoming emails in a regular inbox or through a dedicated online system like Zendesk or Help Scout.
- Responding to support requests, inquires and general business feedback coming in through social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
- Providing live chat support to website visitors or users of a software application for example.
3. Coding, web design and graphic design
“Even with just some foundation coding skills under your belt, you’re able to start supporting small business owners with the minor website customizations and ongoing maintenance that’s required on an ongoing monthly basis,” says Greason.
The idea of picking up coding or digital design skills might sound daunting, but there are a variety of “bootcamp” like programs geared toward women who want to pick up new skills. The tech sector faces a large skills gap, especially in new or entry-level jobs, so the ability to do foundational coding or design can be an asset that many companies are willing to pay for.
A few resources to get you started in this field include:
- Skillcrush: An affordable, highly popular option for learning code and design in a way that sets you up for seeking out introductory work right away.
- Perpetual Traffic podcast: Just one example of how you can be gaining a really high quality online marketing education, for free, while multi-tasking as new mum.
- Udemy: Another affordable database of courses for a variety of roles from coding to marketing to communications and professional development.
- Skillshare: Over 12,000 courses for professional and personal development.
You may not have immediate experience in some of the work listed above, but there are plenty of places online to develop the skills that will come in handy. Besides, this is a time to experiment and redesign how you want to build your career and work. Any skills development during this time will be a win-win for you and your family.
Are you transforming the Future of Work? Add yourself to my Future of Work list here.
Continue the conversation with me here: @kaviguppta.
