I’M WORRIED ABOUT GOING BACK TO WORK

Dear Coleen

I had a career I loved as an events planner before having children.

But the hours were long and unpredictable and there was a bit of travel, so after I had my two children I resigned myself to being a stay-at-home mum.

Now I’m 48 and my kids are teenagers and I want to get back into the workplace, but I just don’t know where to start. It feels like everything has moved on in the time I’ve been away.

I’ve also gained a lot of weight in this time, which makes me selfconscious about meeting new people. And I don’t even know what job I want to do. I keep going round in circles. I don’t know where to start and I’m just getting more miserable. What can I do?

Coleen says

First, stop putting obstacles in your way. You’re seeing all the negatives. There wasn’t a single positive in your letter.

Maybe the extra weight is making you feel down on yourself, so why not tackle that first? You don’t have to go on a crazy diet or join a gym, but just make small changes that start to make a big difference like cutting back on wine, or chocolate, or making portions a little smaller.

You’ll soon notice a difference – and losing a few pounds may give you the boost you need.

Then figure out what you want to do. Being an events planner has given you lots of skills – being organised, making contacts and so on – that you can take to a new role. Look at courses in your area and see if you fancy any. That may spark ideas and put you in touch with people with good advice.

You’ve done a great job being an events planner, a great job being a mum and now you’re about to do a great job being something else.

Don’t be scared of failure and never regret the things you don’t do. Just go for it and good luck.