Product Review: “The Back to Work Toolkit: A Guide for Comeback Moms”

If the economic downturn has you looking for your post-kids, career “on-ramp” a little sooner than you’d planned, here is an affordable resource you simply can’t afford to pass up: “The Back to Work Toolkit: A Guide for Comeback Moms,” by career coach Nancy Collamer, M.S., founder of www.jobsandmoms.com.

For only $39.95, the Toolkit packs an impressive amount of information into a 90-page online guide that also includes five audio classes with experts in related fields (like job search strategies, starting your own business, part-time work options, etc.). In an online era of free e-books that promise you the world (then under-deliver just a tad) – this relatively inexpensive guide is worth the investment.

Some of the questions the Toolkit seeks to answer include:

1. Where do I begin?
2. How do I keep myself focused on the job search while juggling home and family?
3. What do I do about the gap on my resume?
4. How do I answer those annoying “Mommy” interview questions I’m sure to be asked?
5. How can I find a family-friendly employer?
Nancy identifies eight tools we On-Rampers can’t do without, then tells us exactly how and where to get them, and how to use them to our best advantage. She emphasizes organization and time management as she delivers great personal coaching, encouraging mommy job seekers to write down their intentions.

“While it may seem a bit school marmish to ask you to put this down on paper, experience has taught me that when clients write down their intentions, their level of commitment and focus almost always improves,” she writes.

The section on “mommy-proofing” your resume is invaluable, and the Toolkit breaks it down for us, step-by-step. Once your resume is spiffed up and ready, you’ll learn strategies for finding the right job, and for determining how/if to pursue a flexible work arrangement (the lists of pros & cons related to each different type of flex work is eye-opening). Throughout, the Toolkit is full of hyperlinks to other helpful sites, books and resources.

A one-time “comeback mom”/On-Ramper herself, Nancy saw there was a dearth of information on the subject of how, exactly, women should go about re-entering the workforce after staying home with their children for a period of time. The Back-to-Work Toolkit was born as a result. Now, with her two girls grown and her own on-ramp miles behind her, Nancy has become one of very few career coaches whose company specializes in attending to the unique needs of women.

Nancy’s award-winning website, JobsandMoms.com, caters to professional-level women looking for flexible jobs, work-at-home opportunities and innovative work/life resources. The site features a free e-newsletter, numerous articles, ideas, resources and job postings, and provides information on her 1:1 coaching services (which can be provided by phone).