Mom of three, Kate Junk, left her high school teaching job to be at home with her kids.
"People don't give parents enough credit. I think anyone of us, once we start parenting, we've learned how to bring the skills that we had in the workforce to our homes," Junk said.
Years later, she wanted to head back to work, but in a way that fits into her family life.
Now a content editor for milwaukeemom.com, she even wrote an article about how stay at home moms can stay employable.
"If you have licensure, it's a lot easier in many cases, especially in the state of Wisconsin to stay licensed than it is to go back through the process of getting licensed all over again," Junk continued.
She says to keep your resume and references fresh, you need to stay connected.
"I haven't been just at home playing with play dough for the past five years, I've been keeping up with these publications that are in our industry and I've been volunteering and using my skill set in these ways," she said.
"Any person that's been a parent, especially if you've been a parent to more than one and you've started playing zone defense, is really great at multi-tasking, they're really great at keeping 85 balls in the air."
- Resources You Can Use To Get Through The COVID-19 Pandemic
- We're Open: These Restaurants Are Offering Carryout, Delivery
- Resources For Getting Kids Safely Back to School
"There's a myth out there that it is the employers' market because of such high unemployment but it's actually completely the opposite," said Valerie Grube, Director of Recruiting, Retention and Background Investigations with MRA, an employer association based in Waukesha.
The agency helps thousands of companies build a better workplace.
Grube says businesses are finding it's harder to recruit during COVID-19. First, she says there's more competition among companies and also she says people receiving unemployment aren't in a hurry to head back to work. It may not be just because they have a financial cushion. It could be because they prefer a contact-free job.
"How would someone tastefully tell a potential employer that they need to have a flexible schedule?" Kristin Byrne with TMJ4 News asked Grube.
"In the midst of the pandemic, it's become much more normal to have those conversations. Sometimes the employer even brings it up on the front end just so the candidate knows they don't have a normal set up like they would usually," Grube said.
"I wouldn't limit myself to only remote options because you really don't know what every employer is doing because everyone has a little bit of a different situation. It's definitely a conversation that you should have and sometimes right out at the gate," Grube continued.
