Family and Consulting?
Reconciling child and career
– An insight from Anke Paul
Challenges and trade-offs:
From the desire to have children to professional life
Driven by the pandemic, many things have changed and flexible working models make our everyday working life seem more flexible, yet the reconciliation of family and career still remains a hot topic. The question of how to reconcile family life with a child, children’s wishes and a partnership with a career is a topic of conversation at the dinner table in many households.
Often, this involves requirements that one wants to meet in one’s own roles and the conflicts that arise as a result. Now these years of challenge with a small, or better, growing child, partner, and whatever else needs to be considered, have been with me for a while. But I would like to take this as an opportunity to reflect on my experiences and report on the compatibility of family and career.
Anke Paul – Mother of a growing child and Managing Consultant at ADWEKO in the area of Finance
Re-entry: Back to work after parental leave
Not returning to work after parental leave to find, was never an option. For child, husband, house usw. da to be is a great challenge, because you also want to do justice to yourself.
Ich have me always felt very comfortable in my job and wanted always be financially independentn. My family has been very supportive, even though I have occasionally faced strong headwinds. Nevertheless was a Kindergarten in the countryside with all day care Early 2000s heavy to obtain, so that was the solution, half-day again back to work at go
Unfortunately, my employer at the time did not prove to be flexible enough and I went in search of my niche. I found it in further education, as well as the foundation of a “Ich-AG” (at that time there was still such a thing).. Personally, the energetic support of my support of my family and my goods Network helped a lot.
“Simplities of everyday life, like getting ready briskly in the morning and going to work, were unthinkable!”
From daycare to school
The following years were organizationally demanding for our small family, but also for me personally. Simplities of everyday life, like getting ready quickly in the morning and going to work, unthinkable. Mostly I arrived at work, already the first time done, but also satisfied.
My husband and I split a lot, friends and family were always there for us for support. Our son liked to be with his friends, or sometimes go to work with me, he also always found that very exciting. Fortunately, he has always been very laid back, which has helped immensely.
Kindergarten was the easier part for all of us. With the start of school new difficulties arose, which we were fortunately able to master very well overall. Meanwhile, I was a management consultant with even more time and effort, but also more personal satisfaction and financial security.
I hardly ever met my son’s teachers, my husband took the active role. I received some criticism for that as well, but I could live with that very well. In my generation or the generation before, people had unfortunately held on to the typical gender roles for too long. In addition to school, there were my son’s private appointments, as well as his sports.
Everything had to be considered in advance. How long is a school day, when does he come home, who is there when, or where does he go, eat (cooking is still not my biggest hobby unfortunately), who picks him up from practice, or who takes him.
Several times I managed to forget it during training – here, too, I owe a big thank you to those around me at the time, who often picked up on it.
Unfortunately, I keep getting lost in work, so I lose sight of everyday things around me. My colleagues were then ready to support me, just to remind me what I should not forget. You have to remember, those were not the days of the home office, Corona was still a long way off.
Generation Conflicts – Generation X Goals
In general, professional success and career development is considered the highest goal for Generation X. People of Generation X are described as ambitious, ambitious and individualistic. In addition, this generation is well educated and works to be able to afford a materially secure life. Maybe that explains part of my motivation.
Despite all the challenges that had to be overcome, we managed everything well, we were always there for our son, always accompanied him. But I still had to throw perfectionism overboard again and again, whether in my private life or at work, and that has also been a learning process. I can only encourage all parents who want to continue their profession, outside of raising children (and that’s already immense), to go their own way, to be willing to compromise, but also to clearly formulate their own wishes. The effort is sometimes high, but worthwhile and the flexibility of our current way of working at ADWEKO helps us every day.
My good network as well as my employer have always supported me to meet my requirements. At ADWEKO, I am able to pass on the values that are important to me to our colleagues as a team leader and part of the division management of the Finance Consulting division. Here I find the conditions that help families create a balance.
Talk to
Anke!