Many of us have heard the adage, “Raising children is the hardest job.” And, as mothers, we know this to be true because we are doing it. Every day we are in the trenches with colicky babies, temperamental toddlers and angst-ridden teens.

Some days we know what to do and other days we don’t. We forge forward, however, because we accepted (with pleasure) this job the day our little bundles were handed to us along with our name badge (mom) and very few instructions.

And although the job of raising children isn’t easy, well paid, or even appreciated sometimes, we do it because it’s important and meaningful. There comes a time though when some of us will feel drawn to another workforce.

It may be because our children are in school full time or have left for college. And we are left thinking about those jobs we held before we held our little ones. So, we put our last account of who we were into a job search engine only to learn that many professions no longer view as…well…professionals.

Job-hunting, after years as a SAHM, is an overwhelming and, at times, deflating process. I contend, however that a mother’s tenure in child rearing makes her an excellent candidate for most jobs.

The following are ten reasons why moms make great hires:

1. We are Experts in Negotiation: Moms can talk their wailing preschooler down from the dizzying heights of a jungle gym and negotiate with their teenager to wear a longer skirt. Daily, we make deals to have our little humans ingest less sugar, break fewer things, and agree to bath and bed times.

2. We are skilled in Time Management: Moms can dress three kids, pack two lunches, make the beds, wipe the counters, find hubby’s socks, and still have three minutes to slurp down some coffee before making it to the bus stop on time.

3. We can Multitask: Moms can feed a baby while cooking dinner, folding laundry and talking on the phone. We also can calm an upset toddler while solving the social problems of our tween daughter and still have the mental capacity to make plans for the weekend.

4. We are Excellent Problem Solvers: Moms can figure out how to discreetly breast feed an infant, change a dirty diaper in a disgusting bathroom without the baby ever touching anything, and keep two kids quietly entertained during a two-hour flight—and that’s just Monday.

5. We are Detail-Oriented: Moms notice a pin size red spot on an infant, the tiredness around a kid’s eyes, and a subtle mood change in a teenager.

6. We have determination and persistence: Moms make the beds, the meals, and the plans. We do the laundry, the disciplining and the cuddling. But what we never do is quit because we are persistent in our determination to raise these mercurial little humans the right way.

7. We are Flexible: Moms are extremely adaptable. We plan a grocery trip and a twenty-minute nap for Saturday. Instead, the contingency is washing wet sheets of the not so potty trained and spending those twenty minutes cleaning muddy footprints off of the kitchen floor.

8. We can Work in Challenging Environments: Sleep-deprived, hungry and unwashed, moms can bathe, dress, feed, and entertain little ones in chaotic, loud, and usually messy surroundings.

9. We are compassionate, patient, and understanding: Daily, moms deal with temperamental tiny ones who are prone to meltdowns and crying jabs. We manage whining, upsets, and squabbling. We deal with heartbreaks, boo-boos, and language barriers. And we couldn’t do any of it if we weren’t compassionate, patient, and understanding.

10. We are Goal-Oriented: We get up each morning, start over, try again, make mistakes, learn from those mistakes, correct our errors, improve, fall short, go to bed, wake up and begin again. Moms do this every day because we are goal-oriented. We see the finish line and at it waits kind, compassionate, understanding, loving, moral human beings that we raised to be so.

So as you do your job search, take heart. Mothers will always be needed both at home and in the workforce because as another adage goes, “the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”