Is your parental leave time almost up? Finding your footing again in the professional world may prove to be a difficult task.

“Navigating a system that was not designed for career paths that balance work with family can easily feel like a mission-practically-impossible even in the best of times,” says Lisa Quest in Harvard Business Review.

Continuing your career successfully will take several steps, Quest suggests, and the first is setting clear goals. Think about what your immediate and long-term career objectives are now that you’ve returned from parental leave.

“If you’re not sure what your dreams are, no one can help you realize them. So step back and ask yourself: What is it that I really want?” Quest says.

And don’t just communicate, but over-communicate, your aspirations with your employer, colleagues, and family.

“Share a detailed maternity plan with your boss that lays out what you want to achieve and the clients and areas that you want to cover,” Quest says. “Schedule meetings with your boss before you leave, about a month before you come back, and monthly afterward to discuss how things are going.”

When you’re back at work, take stock of the plan you created and be prepared to course-correct.

“It’s impossible to know what it’s like to juggle your family and your career until you’re in the thick of it,” Quest says. “You may find that you can do more than you expected.”

Conversely, you might have to take a step back if you’re taking on too much.

Using LinkedIn’s Featured Section

Learn how to use the Featured section for LinkedIn profiles to showcase your most notable and up-to-date work samples and media mentions 👩🏻‍💻📰 https://t.co/6I3mS1cHAA by @valerielmorris #linkedinmarketing #digitalmarketing

— Social Media Examiner (@SMExaminer) April 15, 2020

Trying to distinguish yourself on LinkedIn? Good use of the Featured section can leave others with a strong impression of you and your personal brand, suggests Valerie Morris on Social Media Examiner.

The recently launched feature lets you highlight select posts and add links to external websites, images, and documents.

“Small business owners can use this space on their profile to feature their top offerings. Thought leaders can share their best articles or videos. Employees can highlight notable projects,” Morris says.

Other Links of Note

If you struggle with delivering content on time, your team probably hasn’t defined its workflow, says a post from the Content Marketing Institute.

Knowing how to use hashtags will boost brand engagement, suggests Karin Olafson on the Hootsuite blog.

Need to spread the word about your virtual event? A recent post from MemberSuite offers ways to communicate with prospective attendees.

(yacobchuk/iStock/Getty Images Plus)