Via Doghouse Diaries.

Today we welcome back guest blogger Susan. I have always admired her professionalism and diplomatic approach to feminism, and this post certainly does not disappoint.

What do you think? Do you believe the financial crisis may not have happened if women had been in charge? Do you think that women need to take a more proactive and entrepreneurial role in this economy?

After the financial crisis that put this country in it’s current mess, I saw lots of speculation floating around that if women had been in charge of our financial institutions, this would never have happened. Interesting. Now women are being looked at as a possible fix for our unemployment woes.

Women in tech is a recurring feature on my blog, mostly because I am one. So I’m really excited to see some research from the Kauffman foundation recommending a focus on science and technology startups created by women to help our economy. More jobs are better any way you slice it, of course. Is encouraging women to found their own companies the way to get things moving? It’s certainly worth a try given that some other things meant to stimulate our economy haven’t really done the trick.

You don’t have to look hard to find the stats on how many men start their own companies when compared with women. This research article even mentions that the rate of women patenting research is lower than men in similar fields. Women in scientific fields also seem to gravitate more toward non profits and universities than the for profit world. There are many reasons people suspect more women in all industries don’t start their own companies; lack of networking opportunities, lack of funding opportunities, even lack of confidence are all considered culprits.

Starting a company, tech or otherwise is a big commitment. There are the barriers to entry that people love to site in articles about the lack of women in tech. But there is another camp entirely who believe that opportunities or not, most women just aren’t interested. The argument here is that women may prefer a more collaborative role to a strictly managerial one. Some prefer more “social” job positions like sales and marketing. And the most obvious one; if you are the COO of your home and family, you probably already have enough on your plate without trying to launch your own business.

I’m not sure which (if any) of those are the reason for where we are now. There is certainly enough speculation floating around about it. What I’m really interested in is if any of these strategies to empower women actually produce results. Most people can agree that there should be more women in tech, but nothing has actually changed just yet. I think all the unemployed people out there would agree that we can’t really wait around to find out if it will. Regardless of who helms the next wave of innovative companies, no one would argue that start ups are an important source of new jobs. Somebody needs to get cracking.

Image by mant.

About the Author:

Susan Cruickshank is a feminist, blogger and owner of too many pairs of trousers. She puts her own spin on women’s career and other work-related issues on her blog Wearing the Trousers. When not blogging, Susan enjoys the Boston music scene as fan and sometimes performer and spending time with her husband Rob. Her other favorite activity is posting ridiculous pictures of her cats on Facebook.

How can you help your resumé stand out from the hundreds — and perhaps thousands — of other applicants?

Why not go with the popular trend of infographics, graphs, and charts?

While not applicable in all instances, you can’t deny that having a visually-appeasing resumé design will help you be more memorable, especially if you are looking for a job in a creative field.

This is where Vizualize.Me comes in. The new startup allows its users to create an infographic of their experiences, skills, and achievements with just a few clicks of a button. Once your infographic resumé is complete, you will receive a link so that you can easily share it on your social networking accounts. Take a look at a sample resumé created below for Ashton Kutcher:

The site hasn’t technically launched yet, but you can enter your email to be notified as soon as it does. Additionally, they are giving away free premium accounts to the first 10,000 people that sign up.

Via Bit Rebels.

P.S. — For more creative resumé inspiration, be sure to check out “100 More Creative Example Resumes of All Time”

Lately I have been plagued with a nagging uncertainty that makes me wonder if I had peaked too early in life.

Allow me to explain.

Before the age of 20, I was a Little Miss Overachiever: straight ‘A’s in school, tons of extracurricular activities, numerous awards, distinctions, and merits. My accomplishments included the following:

Not only did I qualify for the regional orchestra made up of 50 high schools in the lower NY area, I wrangled solo performances.

I was accepted to the über-prestigious Cooper Union School of Art’s Saturday Program (which has since divided into the Saturday Program and the Outreach Program) which allowed me to take art classes — for free — every Saturday for an entire summer from some of the nation’s most respected instructors in visual arts. I was one of the 40 students chosen out of more than 350 who applied…and I was one of the two high school sophomores (of the mostly juniors and seniors) who made the cut.

I held an internship — a paid internship — at one of the most famous and most respected art museums in the country: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I did not think too highly of these honors at the time, because all I had done is to do the work, apply, and get in. Only do I realize now that these were BIG FRIGGIN’ DEALS. Even my own sister, who is currently a PhD candidate in Art History, has recently asked me, “How in the world did you manage to land that Met internship?”

Post-college, I’ve only held two long-term jobs. While they were fairly respectable and paid well, they were nothing to brag about.

I am now a SAHM with an 8-month-old daughter and another kid on the way. I have not contributed to the household income for the past couple of years, and my life is, frankly, not very exciting.

Did I “peak” too early?

I’m writing this on my phone while in the car so I don’t have any
relevent pictures for this post. You’ll have to make do with this
old picture of Claire’s first bath.

When I brought up these concerns with J, he assured me that while the accomplishments of my youth are great to be sure, they are worldy accomplishments, or ones that may seem to matter most to society. Meanwhile, having children and raising them, being a good mother and a wife and a daughter — that is what is more important to him and to our family, and that they far outweigh whatever I may have done in the past.

I know that many mothers consider their children to be their greatest accomplishments, but I do not feel this way. I consider nabbing my husband to be my #1 achievement.

Do you ever have fears that you may have peaked too early? How do you deal with the doubts?

I am no longer on bedrest. I still need to take it easy (ie, no heavy lifting, getting as much rest as possible, etc) until my next OB appt in two weeks — when hopefully we will find out BebeDeux’s gender! — but I am no longer confined to the bed. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

I actually quite enjoyed bedrest. Although I felt a bit bad for J, my SIL, and my mother who were all chipping in to help with Claire, it was a nice break for this pregnant and tired blogger. For all that, I am certain that I probably would have hated it if it lasted longer. I seriously don’t know how other pregnant women who are ordered to bedrest for months do it.

Lying in bed for a few days got me thinking about a lot of things. And one of those things has been my role as a SAHM.

I always thought that my being a SAHM would be the most beneficial to our family. But for the past couple of months I have seriously been reconsidering my position. I am thinking about going back to work, and leaving Claire and BebeDeux with a nanny (the daycares around our area are not that great). I know that I will most likely make less money than I had before, and that I will miss my children tremendously when I’m at work. But I feel that my health — both mental and physical — is really suffering as a result of my being a SAHM.

Because it’s not that I don’t love my children; rather, perhaps I care for them a little too much and/or is too sensitive to their emotions. After almost 8 months of being a SAHM, my heartrate still shoots through the roof whenever Claire cries. It physically pains me (I get uncomfortably tight feelings in my chest) whenever she is not happy — not just crying but not happy — and it’s just impossible to keep a child happy at all times, KWIM?

I wish I could make Claire this happy ALL the time, but it’s just not possible.

Additionally, my personality has me questioning if I’m really cut out to be a SAHM. When I was employed, I had complete control over my work. I got feedback on whether I was doing a good job or not. As a SAHM, I don’t.

Be that as it may, I am afraid that if I do return to work, I will not be able to give it my all. Both the supervisors at my two previous jobs have told me that I have been the best employee at those positions — and commended me various times for the efficiency and quality of my work. I fear that if I were to return to work with two babies at home, I will not be able to put in the caliber of work for which I can take pride. And I know that my half-assing it would not be fair to my employer or myself.

And all the problems I had described above about being a SAHM? They won’t disappear if I return to work. I may have less exposure to them, but they will not be solved by any means.

Luckily this pregnancy gives me at least a few more months to think about this decision.

I have read many stories of mothers who chose to quit their jobs in order to become SAHMs, and couldn’t be happier with the result. I wonder if there are as many SAHMs who chose to return to work and are just as happy with their decisions?