The hourly cry-alarm has calmed to a nightly one, you no longer feel buried by dirty nappies, and your demanding new little person is healthy and happy. Now that you’ve got your parenting jobs handled, it’s time to focus on your other job: the one that supports your family, financially.

Transitioning back into the workforce after children differs somewhat from when you first embarked on employment but there are some steps you can take to ease you into the next phase.

The first steps are the most important… for toddlers and workplace-returns alike. If you plan to, and can, return to the same workplace after parental leave, notify your employer and make arrangements for when and how you’ll return. This will this ease the stress of re-integrating for both of you. Also try to keep up with your professional connections while you’re on leave and returning. Social media is a helpful tool for maintaining these networks.

Then, whether returning to your workplace of moving to a new one, feel free to boast your newfound abilities: multi-tasking, decision-making, organisation and planning are very transferrable skills. Rather than a gap in your employment history, this shows that your time away was developmental and constructive to the work environment.

In addition to your new abilities, make sure your existing skills are noted and refreshed if need be. While you watched your little person grow, you may have missed some growth opportunities of your own and your job skills may need tuning or expanding after time off. You can enhance your resume with training and supplementary courses. Courses like the Diploma of Leadership & Management can give you the refresher you need to catch-up on office-absence and work towards career progress. At-home training options like part-time home study are particularly useful for a work/life balance. Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is also a valuable way to fast track your next qualification. Simply contact your educational institute to make note of any creditable skills.

If your pre-children career is incompatible with your new lifestyle and you decide that working in slippers rather than stilettos is in your future, you can look into different career options. Courses like Bookkeeping can lead to a flexible work-schedule and offer the possibility for a more home-heavy career than other occupations.

Many parents find their new addition also sprouts new ideas. If you find your baby proves a wonderful source of inspiration and a new business venture is conceived, a new small business course could be your bridge to the next step of your career.

Your world has changed in a variety of ways, but if you can bring a human into the world, you can certainly bring yourself back to the workforce, fiercer than before. To enrol in any of the courses listed in this article, contact QTS on 1300 946 309. If your enrolment means juggling books and babies, you can also check out our tips in the “Studying with children” blog.