Back To Work: How To Transition From Mommy Track To Career Track

WATCH: How To Transition From Mommy Track To Career Track

According to Census reports, there are more than 5 million stay-at-home moms in the United States. As our economy continues to take a beating, many of these women are being forced to go back to work.

So how do you make the transition from full-time mommy to full-time employee? Barbara Hannah Grufferman, a Huffington Post blogger and author of "The Best of Everything After 50," has some ideas.

Grufferman appeared on CBS' "Early Show" May 10 to talk to Erica Hall about the issue. One of the biggest challenges facing women who want to rejoin the workforce, she said, is the bias embedded in the corporate world. Consider, for example, this statistic: In the last 12 months, 90 percent of the jobs that became available went to men.

"Corporations tend to be more sympathetic to men who are unemployed than women," Grufferman said.

Her suggestions for transitioning women include the creation of a personal board of directors. To illustrate this idea, she described the "Brand Barbara" meeting that she called when she decided to go back to work at 50: "I pulled together three women who are, I think, brilliant, and I said ... let's talk about me," she told Hall. "Here are my skills, here's what I'm thinking about doing, what is my next step?" She suggested a weekly meeting during which each "member" of the board spends 15 minutes talking about her goals.

Grufferman also emphasized the importance of carrying around your own business card -- even if you haven't been working. The networking benefits of this, she said, are enormous. Her parting words: "Don't be afraid. The power of asking for help is essential."

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