Get Back to Work After a Career Break
Template:Acc“Oh! Did you take a career break? How will you get back to work now? It’s so difficult to find suitable jobs for women these days. I wish you all the luck in the world.”How many times has a conversation like this one given you sleepless nights? Too many times to count? Well, it’s time to change track then. Start looking for proactive methods of looking for jobs, of getting back to work. Here are a few pointers that you women can use to get started on your back-to-work journey:
Steps
- Change your attitude: Don't feel sorry about your career break - be positive about it - you took it for a reason, be proud of that reason. You know, this simple attitude change will move mountains for you - you’ll look for jobs with renewed enthusiasm, you’ll win the interviewers over and get back to work in no time.
- Prepare for getting back to work: More often than not, family commitments hold most women back - cooking, cleaning, pressing clothes, the list just goes on and on. And then they say that the market hardly ever has any jobs for women; employers rarely understand the needs of women. These excuses hardly work. You’ve got to find a way to kick-start your back-to-work journey! Hire a full-time helper, start giving your clothes to the launders, get a nanny for your kids - the walls won’t topple down if you women are not at home, you know? Once you’ve taken care of things at home, you’ll be able to focus on finding jobs and getting back to work.
- Believe in yourself: Most career-break women I’ve met lack in the confidence department. They’ve been away from those regular jobs for so long that they think that won’t be able to survive in them once they get back to work. But remember, your gap won’t matter if you really believe that you can get back to work. If you don’t believe in yourself, how will interviewers believe in you? Work on this; make a set of affirmations and say them to yourself everyday until you actually reach your goal of getting back to work, of finding one of those jobs that define you.
- Familiarise yourself with industry trends: After lack of confidence, lack of knowledge about the industry is perhaps the next big reason why women find it so hard to get back to work after their gap, or why they don’t find suitable jobs. After their break, women realize that the whole world has changed - language, technology, etiquette, social norms, and so on.How should women like you tackle this during your back to work journeys then? Always do your research before you start looking for jobs. Ensure that you are up to date with regards to technology and terminology connected to the jobs you’re applying for.
- Women Networking Programs: Remember in school, how you’d study more just because your friends were studying more? It might work here too, you know? Build a support group of women like you: women who are looking for jobs, women who are looking to get back to work, or even better, women who already have stable jobs. A group like this one will push you to charge towards your goal.
- Join a pro-women internship/returnee program/volunteer program: Dear women, getting back to work is like starting your career all over again. Now that’s definitely not a piece of cake, but it’s not a tight rope walk either. Finding jobs afresh might not be easy but it’s easier to get back to work with returnee programs and internships. Joining a returnee program will not only help you get the required exposure for your future jobs, but it will also help you stay in line with industry trends. Meanwhile, you can keep looking for jobs; your internship experience will only make it easier for you to search for jobs that will help you re-establish your identity.
- Take up Professional Courses Before Getting Back to Work: Once you know the kind of jobs you’ll be applying to, figure out if you’re ready for them. If you think there’s a gap between the jobs' requirement and your skill set, take up courses and workshops to up your game, before you get back to work. For example, if you want Business Development jobs or Client Servicing jobs, you could take up courses in Public Speaking. Whereas, if you want UI Designer jobs, you could take up courses in PHP etc. These will help women like you get back to work easily.
- Apply on job sites that cater to women on a career break: Applying for jobs on the usual, run-of-the-mill job sites after a career break will not help you on your back-to-work journey. Did you know? Now there are job sites which help women find jobs so they can get back to work after a break. Apply to them and double your chances.
- How to build a powerful resume before you get back to work: You women could do all you want to prepare yourself for jobs, for getting back to work. But if you don’t have a powerful resume, you cannot possibly showcase yourself and your career break in the best light. Make your resume creative. What did you learn during your career break? Managing a small child while taking care of the entire household - multitasking; keeping your cool when your child made unreasonable demands - patience. Put it all on that resume.
- Be open to experimenting with different jobs: There are several jobs for women in the market, but not all of them suit all women. But after a break, women should think about getting back to work first, and the type of jobs later. It’s important to get a breakthrough so you can win your lost confidence back. All else is secondary. More often than not, your mindset is the biggest roadblock on your journey of getting back to work. There are several jobs for women with a career break - you only have to hunt such jobs in the right place and then have that determination to get back to work.
Tips
- Read literature connected to women on a career break. Listen to TED talks on motivational subjects. These will give insights into how other women are finding suitable jobs and getting back to work.
- Have a calendar plan, set monthly goals for your back to work journey, and follow them.
- Professional courses on latest technologies, public speaking, leadership will help you get back to work easily.
