How to Get Career Counseling Online on Your Time

Inside: Career Counseling online can make a huge difference in your job search and in finding more happiness in your current role. Here’s how mid-career parents can take advantage of it on your schedule!

As parents we often hear a some common refrains:

“Sleep when the baby sleeps.“

“Enjoy them while they are little!“

“But, Moooooooommmmm.“

And for each one of these common refrains we share a common response:

“Sleep when the baby sleeps? But when will I do anything else??“

“I AM enjoying them, Sharon, but not at this moment while they are destroying a cereal aisle.“

“No, buts!“

As a career coach for mid-career parents, I’ll add another common phrase to the mix that applies to parenting AND your career:

“It takes a village!“

You know the common response to this one…

“So where is my village?”

Modern parenthood is a whole lot different than back in the day. Families are more spread out across the country and many families have two working parents. So when the time comes to look for our village of support to raise kids, it’s A BIT more complicated.

It’s important though, we know it is. A supportive community that brings other trusted adults into the mix for you and for your kids can make all the difference in managing our stress as busy moms and dads.

You can find that village through your kids’ schools, your neighborhoods, and local youth sports leagues. You can also find it ONLINE through supportive and encouraging groups of parents to bounce questions off of and give the “you’ve got this” that you need in the middle of the night. It’s a game changer!

Now let’s shift gears ever so slightly for a moment…

Did you know you can and SHOULD get that same support when you are managing your career as well?

How to find support in your mid-career job search. Teal and black text on white circle.

Why finding your career village matters as a working mom or dad

A great supportive career village as a working parent is just as important as your parenting village. A career support system can help you make important connections to your dream company, give you a sounding board to test out new ideas, offer advice based on their experience, and cheer you on as you make a big change.

And these big changes you’re making – they are for you AND for your kids. So I know you’re invested in making them happen.

The good news is you can build this career village online and get the career counseling you need from the comfort of your home!

Because believe me, I know where your head is going! Oftentimes when we think about career support, we picture going to that awkward wine and cheese networking event at a local event hall. Shaking hands, wearing name tags… Yikes… I don’t want to be there either. I would rather be comfortably on my couch with my OWN plate of cheese balanced on my knees, thank you very much.

So how do we find these career counseling online villages?

Here are three of my favorites as a fellow mid-career parent and experienced career coach:

Fairygodboss: An online community for women at work that features a newsfeed of great articles along with space to ask questions and get support from other women. I also love that Fairygodboss has company reviews making it both a community and a research hub.

HeyMama: An online community for moms to discuss all things parenting AND work. Here you’ll find subcommunities on topics like Jobs & Hiring, Entrepreneurship, DE&I, Finance, and Books & Publishing (to name just a few). You can also join regular online meet-ups and events.

(Let the fabulous folks over at HeyMama know I send you and use code COMMUNITY75 for $75 off your annual membership!)

Career Clarity Community: A part of the Career Clarity Program, the Career Clarity Community is an online and group career coaching program designed to help mid-career parents land fulfilling jobs they love without giving up the flexibility they need. In addition to the private community board for questions, celebrating wins, and sharing resources, there are weekly group coaching calls to get questions answered live.

Sound exciting? Read on, my friend!

Career counseling online with community support

After over a decade working in Career & Professional Development at Harvard Business School, I launched the Career Clarity Program because I heard your need for career support.

I heard it at playgrounds, at ball fields, and yes, online!

And I was so sad hearing other mid-career parents tell me that they felt like they had to choose between being there for their kids and having a career they loved. Honestly, I didn’t think that was too much to ask for. At all.

That’s when the Career Clarity Program was born – a four-module career counseling online program coupled with a supportive community of other parents and group coaching calls.

Since the program launched in 2021, parents like you have found their people and new fulfilling flexible jobs. It is INCREDIBLE seeing what these folks are doing with the right kind of targeted advice and an easy-to-follow process.