How to Reenter the Workforce After a Break
There are five main areas to focus on when thinking about reentering the workforce, which we have listed for you below, but before you dive in make sure you give yourself time. Time to breathe and really think about what you are looking for in this new opportunity you are seeking.
After you take a deep breath and once you are ready to begin your search you should think about your ideal start date, and remember that a job search can take several months. We say this not to be discouraging, but to help avoid frustration. If you’re currently home full-time with children, finding time for yourself is not always easy. Think about when you will be working on your job search— will it be when the kids are in school? Or maybe you can wait until after the go to bed and get a few uninterrupted hours a week.
A successful job search should be treated like a job itself — in order for you to succeed, you need to commit to a few hours a day and a few days a week. Make it a commitment and treat it like a meeting you can’t cancel. Not only do you deserve this time, but your chances of finding your next role with an amazing company will grow!
5 Areas to Focus on:
Exploration: Are you planning to return to the same type of work or are you looking for something different? You may not need this step if you already know exactly what roles you are looking for, but if you’re unsure, exploration will help. Talking to a career coach can help clarify your skills and experiences and match them to specific industries or roles. There are also career assessments, like the Strong Interest Inventory, to explore possible careers, and the MBTI, to connect your personality traits with preferred work settings. Online resources like ONet Online and Vault can also help you to explore, types of jobs and companies (respectively).
Rebranding: This goes hand in hand with your application materials, but can’t be done until you know what type(s) of roles you are targeting. What story will you tell? Your brand creates a narrative to connect your past experiences and time away from the workforce to future roles and industries.
Application materials: When was your resume last updated? Now is the time to dust it off, and possibly consult a career coach to make sure you’re properly connecting your skills and experiences to your target industries and roles. Make sure to add new experiences from your time out of formal work. Experiences like volunteer work, freelance or consulting projects, local government or leadership roles, and more, can be included. You should also be sure to update (or create) a LinkedIn profile — LinkedIn is a very important part of any job search today (see more information on that here) — not only is it a professional billboard, but it is extremely helpful for networking and exploring open positions.
Networking: A common statistic is that about 70-85% of jobs (Payscale 2017) are found through word of mouth, as opposed to job boards. This means networking is a vital component of your search.
Applying: Despite the statistic cited above, this doesn’t mean to avoid all job boards. A few sites that post jobs in most industries are:
There are also a few sites that are geared toward offering flexible opportunities, such as FlexJobs (requires a fee) and The Mom Project. Another option is considering Returnships, which are offered by a select few companies but are designed to help people return to the workforce.
As moms we tend to put our needs last. However, we are better moms and partners when we support our own needs and goals. Creating a space for your job search and investing in your own personal and professional growth is worth it and necessary!
