Mums in sales: I’m looking for tips on getting back into sales as a working mum after a 5 year break

[Anothergirl20384747]

I’m about to go on maternity leave for the second time, with a two-year-old already at home. At the moment, I’m in a basic admin role that’s close to minimum wage, and frankly, I’m tired of struggling financially.

My background is in sales — I started in estate agency at 18 and spent around 10 years in the industry, eventually reaching manager level. I then transitioned into tech sales for two years, but when COVID hit, I was furloughed from a new role for nearly a year. After that, I moved into operations, earning a solid salary (£42K), but was unfortunately made redundant while on maternity leave.

Since then, I’ve taken on an admin job just to stay afloat, but it’s not sustainable — especially with us needing to move and secure a larger mortgage. I’m ready to get back into sales, where I know I can thrive and earn well.

I’d love some advice on how to re-enter the sales world as a working mum. Ideally, I’m looking for a hybrid role with strong earning potential. Something property-related would be great, but I’m open to options. Any tips, leads, or encouragement would be massively appreciated

Is going back into sales as a mum any different to going back into sales generally? I don’t know what to advise apart from…just get applying for stuff? You obviously have experience.

True @OurManyEnds but I think I’m really asking how to get into a decent organisation that values work life balance for families who will also consider me with a big CV gap where I’ve been out of the industry for a while.

I don’t want to go in at entry level, so I’m wondering if anyone would recommend some courses or any specific companies and sectors that people recommend.

I did consider a career coach but I think there’s probably lots of sales directors here on mumsnet that could kindly give some advice.

Worth investigating what sales roles there are in the industries in which you’ve most recently had experience. The issue with sales is that there will generally be some pressure to achieve targets and this may mean that the role is less family-friendly, however if you already have experience in a sector targets should be more achievable and you’re more likely to get that role in the first place.