Working-Mom Series Week 3: Christine

{You can read the Intro to the Working-Mom Series here}

Christine is a great friend and a former coworker of Derek. 

She lives in the bay area with her husband and their cute little boy.

She currently works full time in marketing for Google.

Christine was kind enough to let us interview her over skype, so we summarized her responses below. 

Why was it important for you to work after having a baby?

There are several factors that influenced Christine's decision to work after having her baby. She talked about how influential her mom was in the decision. Growing up, her mom worked full time and strongly encouraged Christine to go back to work after the baby. She said this motivated her, especially the few months after having the baby when it was difficult to think about work when the focus was the baby. Christine also said she thought a lot about her own personality while trying to decide what to do. She explained that she really enjoys social interaction in the work place. Knowing this about herself helped her rule out the option of working part-time or from home. Our big takeaway from her answer is that you really need to do some soul-searching when making these decisions and think hard about what work-family arrangements best fit your family, personality and career goals.

Tell us about how you approached the decision to work after having a baby?

Christine took 4 months of maternity leave before going back to work full-time. After a few months at that company, she transitioned to a new company and role at Google. We were intrigued by her decision to make a career change so close to having her first child. We asked her a lot of questions about how this transition has impacted her work-life demands. She mentioned first off that it was really re-energizing to start a new job. She had been at her previous company for so long that it was hard to get excited about work. While she felt pretty good about her work-life at her previous job, there were some advantages in making the switch. She was excited at the thought of a new opportunity at a new company and new role. She made it clear upfront with Google that she needed flexibility to make it work. Also, she was very comfortable about accepting the role after meeting with the head of the department and finding out she had a child about the same age. Through her interviews she also was convinced her direct manager, who was single, would also be supportive. She felt confident that balancing her work and family life would be supported at Google, especially since it seemed to be something her department head was concerned about. She talked a lot about how her research on the company culture at Google influenced her decision to accept the job.

What has been the hardest part of keeping up with the demands of work and family?

Christine said that one of her biggest challenges of going back to work after having her son was her ability to focus at work. Her whole mindset shifted after having the baby. Her work projects felt less important and she often wanted to go home and be with her son. After she started her new job at Google, she found that the challenge of a new job helped her focus when she was at work.

What are your current childcare arrangements and how do you feel about them?

Both Christine and her husband work full time, so a nanny comes to their home every week day to watch their son. They have a chalkboard in the kitchen outlining their schedule so the nanny knows what to expect each week. Either Christine or her husband are back home by 5:30pm and they spend the rest of the evening together. The nanny is flexible which is very helpful in case anything comes up or there is any kind of change in their schedule.

If you had to pick one trick or tip that helps you make it all work, what would it be?

Christine always blocks off 5:30-7:30pm on her work calendar so that people see that she is unavailable at that time. This prevents her coworkers from scheduling meetings that might cause her to get home late. This helps her get home consistently at a time that lets her spend time with her son. She also works from home on Fridays, which she found helps her get a good start to the weekend with her family.  



Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us, Christine!