It seems like a long time that you've been parenting your young children, but time passes quickly and a good career is essential for battling the empty nest blues and building up income for retirement.

Take Classes

Once your children move into their own social sphere, you will find that you have more time on your hands for focusing on you. If you have ideas of pursuing a career when they leave home, take several college classes in subjects that you enjoy to see if you'd like to pursue a degree plan full or part-time in the future. Not only will you be gaining credit hours, but you can test the waters without investing too much time away from your family.

Creative Resume Building

To find a good career, you need to have a good resume. You can structure your resume in the traditional way, but be certain to add your life experience to your list of skills. Start brainstorming now about the kinds of skills you have like good communication, strong leadership, ethics and responsibility that will be assets to your future employer.

Network With Other Professionals

No doubt having children has provided you with countless outlets and arenas for networking with the people in your community. PTA meetings, sports games, school plays, field trips and church functions are just a few places where you might meet contacts to help you find a good career when your children go off to college. Take time to network with people you know who have careers similar to your own interests. People who have known you for a long time can also be an excellent source for personal or professional references depending on your relationship. Consider joining a professional association, and use the Internet to network as well (join forums, social networking sites, etc.)

Set Goals and Make a Plan

If you're thinking about beginning a good career in the near future, set goals for yourself now. Start by defining what you'd like to do broadly and then research the available career choices within that field. From there, determine what kind of degree or training you will need, how long it will take and how much it will cost. If you decide that returning to school is the best way to achieve your career goals, make an appointment with an academic counselor at the college and get advice about returning to school as well as financial aid and scholarship information if you need it. Colleges have so many good resources for helping you find job placement and internships so be certain to take advantage of all of them.

When your children leave home, you may feel a loss of your sense of purpose or you may discover that you have a new lease on life. If you are approaching this exciting life change, consider what a good career goal would be and how to achieve it. Then, use every available resource to move in the right direction, including networking with other professionals in your community and taking classes to decide if returning to school is a viable option for you.

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