…Whereby Your Chances of Finding a Job Are Greatly Decreased

I. Going after large organizations only (such as the Fortune 500).

II. Hunting all by yourself for places to visit, using ads and resumes.

III. Doing no homework on an organization before going there.

IV. Allowing the Personnel Department (or Human Resources) to interview you—their primary function is to screen you OUT.

If you love your job it is essential to get those first few days, weeks, and months back at the office after maternity leave right. It isn’t easy. Your hormones are still completely off, you may be breastfeeding, conflicting feelings about leaving your infant rise almost on the hour, and you may feel a little paranoid about your job security. In part, you are right to feel paranoid because even if your job isn’t at stake, your reputation as a valuable asset to the company just might be.

Step back and think about what you really do well. What kind of work comes easily to you? In which work situations did time seem to fly by—and when did it drag? “Be honest, not just with other people but also with yourself about what you’re good at and what you enjoy doing,” advises Abby Joseph Cohen, the investment strategist and a managing director at Goldman Sachs. “I know it’s called work, and you can’t love every aspect of how you spend your days. But at the end of the week or the month or the year, there has to be a sense of accomplishment. There has to be a sense of satisfaction.”

What strengths set you apart from others?

There is a new résumé in town, and if you’ve been at all active on the Internet —if you’ve been on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, or if you have your own website or webcasts or photo album or blog or tweets—then there’s hardly any limit to what employers can learn about you. They have only to “Google” your name and see what turns up. And there you are revealed (or will be) in all your hidden glory.