FLEXIBLE WORKPLACES MAKE IT EASIER TO RETURN TO CAREER.

Byline: BARBARA CORREA

Staff Writer

Many mothers who leave their jobs to stay home with their kids eventually face the prospect of returning to work.

But getting back on the career track can be tricky. Blogosphere debate rages about books such as Leslie Bennetts' "The Feminine Mistake," which warns about how hard it can be to return to the work force.

The good news for moms is that the workplace is beginning to look a lot more female-friendly. Just in the past year or two, resources available for "on-rampers" -- educated women who left careers to be moms but want to break back in -- have exploded, said Vivian Steir Rabin, a recruiting executive, mother of five and co-author of a new book titled "Back on the Career Track: A Guide for Stay-at-Home Moms Who Want To Return To Work."

Part-time staffing companies such as Burlingame, Calif.-based Flexperience are cropping up to place parents seeking flexible work schedules.

Universities are organizing conferences such as "How Harvard Business School Alumnae on Extended Leave Can Relaunch Careers," and companies from Best Buy to UBS are not only resurrecting the flextime concept but also actively recruiting stay-at-home moms.

Unemployed mothers with college degrees and experience have become a hot commodity.

"They're a relatively recent discovery," Rabin said, because the growing demand for skilled employees and the retirement of baby boomers in recent years has created a shortage of talent, especially in certain industries.

"There are actually re-entry scholarships for nursing in California," she said.

Health care in general is a great place for on-rampers to look.

Whichever field job-seeking mothers target, they need to make sure they're confident enough to return. They also need to take a good, hard look at what it is they really want to do, Rabin said.

What seemed like a great position before kids might not be as attractive afterward.

Rabin's co-author on the book, Carol Fishman Cohen, returned to investment banking after six years as a stay-at-home mom, only to quit after just one year.

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Help for the hunt

These Web sites can be useful for moms trying to go back to work.

-www.momsbacktowork.com

-www.cwahm.com/wah/telecommuting-jobs.htm

-www.momslife.com

-selfmademom.net

-www.backonthecareertrack.com

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Help for the hunt (see text)