One of the toughest career challenges for women is
re-entering the job market after a break in employment.
Women experience employment breaks for various reasons:
* To stay home with babies and/or young children
* To care for elderly parents
* To continue their education
* To manage personal health issues
No matter what the reason, the challenge remains universal:
getting back into the workforce without taking a step
backward professionally. To ease the transition, there are
three job search activities that can help optimize your
re-employment results:
1. Prepare a resume based on transferable skills 2.
Reconnect with your network 3. Gain confidence by
increasing your interview skills
1. Prepare a resume based on transferable skills
As a career coach, I'm often asked by returning
professional women how to account for the gaps in
employment on their resumes. That's the first and best
question to ask. The answer is to recognize the
transferable skills you used during the time you were not
employed. Skills gained off the job can still be
translated into corporate assets that any potential
employer would value: event planning, problem solving,
conflict resolution, and negotiation skills, to name a few.
View that period of your career as transitional time
rather than time off, and evaluate your skills with an
objective eye.
Most women spend a certain amount of time and energy
working with others in a volunteer capacity during their
time away from the workplace. For instance, serving on PTA
or other youth group or church boards, neighborhood
associations, or community sports functions. Any work
performed with others toward a common goal allows
opportunities to strengthen and exhibit skills needed on
any job. Assess your accomplishments off the job the same
way you would on the job. You may be surprised how much
you achieved.
2. Reconnect with your network
Long-term unemployment tends to isolate one from the groups
of people who can provide the most information about
employment opportunities. Those who are already employed
have the advantage of learning about jobs through their
professional association peers and company grapevine.
If you have been "out of the loop" with your old
professional network, it's time to reconnect. Start by
calling or emailing old colleagues to let them know that
you are preparing to return to work. This is no time to be
shy. Ask their advice about whom to contact within their
company that might be interested in your skills and
experiences.
If you've never had a professional network, then it's time
to build one. Seek out one of the many associations for
professional women in your area. There is no better place
to meet new contacts who can help you in your job search
than a women's networking event. It's still true that most
people find new jobs through tips from others.
3. Gain confidence by increasing your interview skills
A common problem among returning jobseekers is loss of
confidence in their perceived value to potential employers.
Lack of confidence is impossible to hide in an interview.
Nothing is less impressive than low confidence.
Interview preparation that includes building a list of
accomplishments is one of the best ways to restore
confidence. Accomplishments are developed by identifying
the major problems and challenges you have overcome,
whether on the job or off. Accomplishment statements are
valuable interview material, helping you prove your ability
to meet prospective employers' challenges.
Re-entering the workforce after several years does not need
to cause the desperation that leads to
less-than-satisfactory employment. With thoughtful
strategy, any woman can turn the next phase of her career
into the best professional years of her life.
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Deborah Walker, CCMC is a career coach who works with women
returning to the work force, preparing them to compete in
the toughest job markets. Her clients gain top performing
skills in resume writing, interview preparation and salary
negotiation. Learn more about Deborah Walker, career coach
at:
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