CAREER PLANNING
7 Best Careers After Having a Baby: Reinvent Yourself Today
Congratulations on your baby!
Motherhood is a life-changing experience. You’re now stronger, have developed immense patience, time management, and other skills, and your priorities have shifted tremendously.
Perhaps you feel it’s time to begin working towards a career or you want to seek a change in your current career path. Whatever your situation, you know that you want a more intentional and purpose-driven life.
To help, we’ve compiled a list of the best careers for working moms in 2023 and ordered them by flexibility and earning potential for your convenience.
Although some of these career options don’t require higher education, you should consider pursuing an MBA to increase your opportunities. With improved technology, you can easily get this accredited degree from the comfort of your home.
Assess Your Current Situation First
Before you begin your career journey as a mom, it is important to:
- Understand the difference between a career and a job
- Assess your individual situation and opportunities
The difficulty in differentiating between a job and a career has resulted in widespread job dissatisfaction and feelings of purposelessness.
Therefore, you must remember that a job is mainly for financial stability, while a career is driven by your passions and made up of a combination of roles, experiences, education, and pathways. The table below further outlines some of the key differences between a job and a career.
| Characteristics | Job | Career |
| Requirements | Basic education | Training in a specific field |
| Focus | Regular income | Innovations and learning |
| Duration | Short-term | Long-term |
| Pay | Steady paycheck | Long-term financial security |
| Stability | Affected by external conditions like technology advancements | Secure due to skills and qualifications |
Starting a Career After Having a Baby
Aside from shifted sleep patterns and changes to your social life, you now need to provide for your new bundle of joy and yourself . If you were working a regular job for stability, you may now feel the urge to seek a purpose-filled career that provides job satisfaction and financial security.
However, before making any decision on your career path, there are a few things to consider:
- Earning potential
- Flexibility
- Skills and experience
Although you may have limited professional experience, the good news is that this creates numerous avenues and career options for you to choose from. To that end, consider further education to gain relevant skills and knowledge to increase your opportunities and earning potential.
Thanks to digital advancement, you can now pursue a higher degree from the comfort of your home, at your own time, and in easily digestible formats.
Career Change After Baby
Maternity leave is important as it allows you to bond with your newborn child. However, for professional women, it’s also a necessary break from the stress and pressure that comes with any career. During this time, you may get a fresh perspective that makes you desire something different.
However, unlike before, where you had more time to yourself and could take risks without major consequences, you must now consider the effects of your decisions on your newborn child.
Luckily, a career change after having a baby is very possible. Because you already have professional experience, you can easily use your transferable skills, qualifications, and network to cushion you as you start down your new path.
You can also consider applying for an MBA to further increase your earning potential.
“ My journey with Quantic has been incredible. The material equipped me with knowledge that led to a 66% salary increase.”
Robin Lu
7 Best Careers For Moms 2023
Mothers looking to launch new careers face many competing priorities, from finding a fulfilling job with good pay and benefits, to creating a good work-life balance, it can all be extremely draining but we’re here to help.
Our list is organized according to the level of flexibility, earning potential, and includes educational requirements. Regardless of your situation—single, married, stay-at-home—you will find the perfect career.
Job #1 – Web Developer
It’s a fact that technology is hot these days, yet there are not that many people with careers in this field. This means that there are plenty of job opportunities with extremely high earning potential.
You’ll be involved in the design, creation, and maintenance of websites ensuring that they are functioning appropriately and allow the company to achieve its online goals.
This is a highly remote job—though you will be required to meet with the clients occasionally—that favors stay-at-home and single moms.
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree/diploma in IT is highly preferred.
- Higher education will be useful for self-employed moms.
Salary Expectations:
Job #2 – Market Research Analyst
In this career, you will be conducting regular trend analyses and using the collected information to advise businesses on what direction they should take.
The role requires an interest in behavior as well as keen observation and analytical skills, which makes this an exciting career choice for working mothers.
There is great demand for this role and it has a high projected growth rate of 22% within the next 10 years. Another great benefit is the flexibility to choose a schedule that suits your needs.
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree in marketing, market research, statistics, computer science
- MBA for leadership positions
Salary expectations:
Job #3 – Human Resource Specialist
By nature this career has straightforward hours and requires a balance between empathy and efficiency—skills that you already have—making it the perfect family-friendly career for mothers.
You’ll be recruiting, interviewing, and placing workers with employers as well as handling tasks related to employee relations, compensation, benefits, and training.
If you enjoy working with people and want a position that allows you to leverage your natural skills, then this is perfect for you.
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree in human resources, business, communications
Salary Expectations:
Job #4 – Nutritionist
Employment of nutritionists has been projected to grow by 11% within the next 10 years. For working mothers who are fascinated by food and enjoy helping others, this is an excellent career choice.
After taking the necessary courses and licensing examinations, you’ll be an expert in food and nutrition. Career options are wide as you can choose to focus on a specific demographic, for example, teenagers or children, or a specific diet, for example keto, as your specialty.
Your work will involve educating your audience about healthy food choices, and helping them on their journey to achieving their health and fitness goals. Advancement in technology makes this an exciting career as you can leverage social platforms to easily grow your business from the comfort of your home at your time.
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree (preferably food and nutrition)
- Supervised training
- Licensing from local authority
Salary Expectations:
Job #5 – Graphic Designer
Are you creative and drawn to art beyond coloring books and glue? If you answered yes, a career in graphic design may be the perfect choice.
In this career you’ll be creating visuals to communicate ideas that attract customers. Success will be dependent on using your existing time-management skills, accommodation of different perspectives in your work, and ability to understand complex briefs and produce quality work.
This career is perfect for stay-at-home moms as it can suit your schedule, and has diverse opportunities in almost every field so you can be sure of a high level of satisfaction while on the job.
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree or diploma in graphic design
- A portfolio of work
Salary Expectations:
- $50,710 per year
Job #6 – Realtor
If you enjoy meeting new people, have strong sales skills, and are interested in real estate, then this is the career choice for you. Your high organization and smooth negotiation skills will come in handy in this role, where you’ll assist clients in buying, selling, and renting properties.
Although the hours can be long, you have the option to choose how you work—either employed, consultant, or part-time—which is exactly the kind of flexibility you want in your new career.
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree, high school diploma, or equivalent
- Local licenses
- At least 60 hours of real estate classes (region-specific)
Salary Expectations:
Job #7 – Medical Assistant
A medical assistant is a professional who helps physicians, hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities complete administrative tasks. In this role, you will be tasked with:
- Measuring signs of blood pressure
- Preparing samples for testing
- Scheduling appointments
- Recording patient information
As a mother, you’ll likely have medical skills and information picked up either during hospital visits or through self-learning. With further training and education, you’ll be on the path to a purposeful career. This role has a standard 9–5 workday which leaves your evenings free to spend with your family.
Education:
- Postsecondary non-degree award
- Medical assistant training (not compulsory)
Salary Expectations:
Having a Baby Without a Job
Babies are precious and it’s perfectly fine if you find yourself having a baby while unemployed. Though at first, this period may be difficult, you can transform it completely to your advantage.
The time you spend nursing your child can be used as a self-reflection period where you assess your passions, interests and search for career paths that align with them. Additionally, you can pick up short courses to further deepen your interests or small projects that can help you build relevant skills.
Once you’ve decided on a career path, you can open up further opportunities by getting an accredited MBA from the comfort of your home and at your time. This is a great way to turn what you may have seen as an obstacle into a massive opportunity for yourself and your child’s future.
Get Ahead With an MBA
So, there you have it; 7 amazing careers for working mothers to help you feel purposeful while caring for your child. Choose to stand apart from your competition and increase your career opportunities by improving your skills, deepening your knowledge, and connecting with peers on a global stage through an online MBA.
Barbara Meyer, pursued an Executive MBA program with Quantic while balancing her responsibilities as a single parent and working professional. Her student spotlight article highlights the challenges that mothers face in pursuing higher education and career advancement, and how Quantic’s online MBA program provided a flexible and accessible option that allowed her to achieve her goals without sacrificing time with her child.
Barbara’s experience may serve as inspiration and encouragement for other mothers who are considering pursuing an MBA or other career advancement opportunities.
You can take your first step towards your dream job today. Apply for the online MBA program here.
