How to Participate in Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day as a Remote Employee

How to Participate in Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day as a Remote Employee

Thursday is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day!

Each year, close to 40 million employees at 3.5 million workplaces participate in this program (originally called the Take Our Daughters to Work Program), which was founded by Gloria Steinem and the Ms. Foundation for Women in 1993.

According to the organization’s official website, the day is “designed to be more than a career day,” and “it goes beyond the average practice of ‘shadowing’ an adult.”

“Exposing girls and boys to what a parent or mentor in their lives does during the work day is important, but showing them the value of their education, helping them discover the power and possibilities associated with a balanced work and family life, providing them an opportunity to share how they envision the future, and allowing them to begin steps toward their end goals in a hands-on and interactive environment is key to their achieving success.”

But if you work remotely and are thinking that means you can’t participate, don’t fret. You can!

Whether your company officially participates or not, this is a great opportunity to open your child’s (or niece’s, nephew’s, etc.) eyes to what you do all day and why—and to help them understand how their accomplishments now can help them achieve professional success later.

If your employer discourages you from working when your kids are home, or if you don’t want to pull your children out of school for the entire day, you can still take a few hours before or after work to do the following!

Here are a few tips for participating in Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day when you work remotely:

Pull up a chair for them at your desk and walk them through your day.

As it turns out, participating in Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day doesn’t necessarily have to look much different for remote workers. No matter how or where you work, the point is to help children understand how the professional world works, open their eyes to the endless possibilities that lie before them, and encourage them to start thinking about their own futures.

So, a good place to start is by explaining your job and showing them what you do. Walk them through a typical day, show them the programs and tools you use, give them a tour of your company’s website, discuss the aspects you love most, and the biggest challenges of your role.

You can also take this time to explain how and when you decided what you wanted to do for a living; the path you took to get there; how you landed this particular role; and what you value most in your career.

Use this opportunity to prove to them that your job is real and explain the different types of work environments/schedules/etc.

As we discussed in a previous article, one of the biggest challenges and frustrations for remote workers is dealing with people thinking our jobs aren’t “real”–or as important—since we don’t go into an office every day.

People ask us for favors during the work day, assume we can attend daytime events, call us to chat during work hours….and the list goes on. And chances are, for at least some of us, our kids are no exception. They think because we’re home, we’re available.

Use this time to show your children just how demanding your job is, and how difficult it can be to stop what you’re doing while you’re in the middle of a work task. Also, take this opportunity to explain all the different types of jobs, schedules, and levels of flexibility out there. Get them thinking about what type of career or schedule they might be most interested in.

Give them a hands-on experience.

Of course you shouldn’t let your 9-year-old send an email out to clients or answer your work phone when a customer calls. But there are more appropriate ways to give your kid a hands-on experience. For instance, if you’re a writer, let them type a few sentences in a Word doc as you dictate what you want to say, or have them help you select images for the PowerPoint presentation you’re working on.

Get them involved however you can!

Discuss their interests.

Make this day about them!

If it isn’t something you’ve discussed recently (or ever), check in on where you kids’ interests lie. Has he or she thought about the career they may want to pursue as an adult? What interests them most about that job? What do they think it’ll take to get there? Are they aware of the skills, education, and training involved?

You don’t want to kill your kid’s dreams completely, but depending on their age, this may be the perfect time to set some realistic expectations and come up with a plan.

They say they’re interested in becoming a chef? Maybe now is the time to sign them up for kid’s culinary classes. They want to become a doctor, but they’re doing poorly in school? Explain what it will take to get into college and medical school.

Do your best to be supportive—but also use this time to educate them with the facts.

Introduce them to your colleagues virtually.

Whether you use video conferencing platforms or you typically communicate with coworkers via instant messages, figure out a way to introduce your kids to your coworkers (when it’s appropriate!).

Don’t have them jump on the phone in the middle of an important meeting. Instead, send your coworkers an email explaining that you’re participating in Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, and that you’d like for them to meet. From there, set up a time with those who are interested. Don’t take more than 10 to 15 minutes of their time. And offer to meet their kids, if any of them are participating.

Encourage the kids to ask questions.

Again, remember to make this about them. Don’t do all the talking! Throughout the day, stop every so often to invite them to ask questions. Also, encourage them to engage when they’re meeting your colleagues.

Most of all, enjoy the time spent with your child. Who knows—they may decide to follow in your footsteps someday!


By Jacquelyn Smith | Categories: Work Remotely


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