Last updated : Thursday, June 16, 2011

Print | |

 

How to Get a Job After Time Off with Kids

Millions of women decide to take breaks from their careers to take care of family. But that doesn’t mean they don’t return to the workforce. According to Carol Fishman Cohen, founder of irelaunch.com and author of “Back on the Career Track,” an estimated 80 percent of women who leave their jobs to stay at home desire to return to work at some point. But getting back in the game can be difficult. We spoke to Cohen about her seven steps to ensure a successful career relaunch:

1. Readiness question: Are the stars aligned for your return to work right now? All of these questions may be swirling around in your head and you might be feeling overwhelmed. This is what I call “the floundering period.” Mine lasted two years. So you need to break up the “should I return to work?” question into three categories.
a. What is my desire to be working? (How much do I want it?)
b. What are my childcare/eldercare responsibilities?
c. What is my spousal/familial support?

2. Learn Confidence. No matter how senior they were before their break, women are universally hit with a confidence issue after being out of the professional world for a period of time. But the concept of people’s image of you is frozen in time. So getting back in touch with an old contact will help. He or she will have this image of you, of who you were before you had kids and took time off. It will be a great confidence boost.

3. Assess career options. This is the most important step. Evaluate whether your interests have changed. We make career decisions at a very young age. Some of us are lucky, and right out of college we choose a path that is exactly right for us. But then there are those of us who didn’t realize we were on the wrong track until we took a step back and took the chance to evaluate. It's these people relaunch their careers in an entirely different direction, and they discover their new passions through volunteer work or classes. 

4. Update your LinkedIn profile and your job search skills. If you don’t already have one, set up a profile on LinkedIn. Make every effort to make your profile 100 percent complete because a complete profile will always rise to the top in searches. Use Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook to research company pages. See what they’re tweeting about. How are they using Twitter? See what they're tweeting about. Knowing how companies use social media will indicated that you are technologically up-to-speed, and it will also indicate that you do thorough research. As far as your resume goes, leave no unexplained time on your resume. List any volunteering under your “experience” section. And list any consulting you’ve done, even if it was occasional. If you didn’t do anything relevant during your time away from your career, put “career break to care for children” in the personal section. Use a chronological resume, not a functional one. I’ve found employers don’t like functional resumes as much.

5. Network. Don’t conduct a career relaunch from behind a computer. Go to conferences and show up 25 minutes early. Get business cards made up and have them handy so you can introduce yourself to speakers and guests before the presentations begin (afterward there are always crowds). You can take classes and go to social events, even if they have nothing to do with your profession. This will give you practice talking about your background; the more practice you get with friends, family and people you know less well, the better you’ll do in the interview.

6. Channel family support. If you are in childcare mode, have a conversation with your spouse and children. Maybe you hire a caregiver in the afternoon. If your kids are older, maybe you ask they put in a half an hour of help every day, or they make dinner once a week. Be clear that routines will change. Also make it clear that this isn’t a rejection of your life at home, but rather an opportunity to tap into a part of life you put on the back-burner. Approach backlash by weighing expenses against a combined projected income. The cost of children will decrease while your income potential will increase. If you have an immediate financial need you might need to tweak steps and be deliberate about what the move will be. You might have to take the not-so-perfect job in order to pay the bills.

7. Relaunch. Once you have relaunched, be selective about volunteer work. Your priorities will have to shift a bit and your time will likely decrease. Learn to say “no” and take on what you’re comfortable with.

For more career advice, click here.

 

Print | |