Returning to Work After a Career Break

October 17, 2016

Have you had a break in your career and are ready to return to the workforce, or perhaps you are considering taking time away from your work but worried about how you’ll jump back in when you are ready? Many career breaks are voluntary, with workers choosing to stay home to raise children, take a sabbatical or pursue an entrepreneurial idea. Others are involuntary, due to a serious injury or illness, caring for a family member or an extended period of unemployment.

Plan for your return

Ideally, you should plan for your career reentry before your break begins. In 2005, I left my financial planning practice at a global financial services firm to accompany my husband on an overseas assignment and stay home with my baby daughter.  Before I even left, I planned for my return, intending to add to my financial designations and teach financial education workshops while I was away.

My absence from the corporate world lasted longer than I originally planned due to the arrival of my youngest son! In the meantime, I worked on improving my skills, invested in rental properties and taught part-time before returning full force. Return-to-work organization iRelaunch profiles hundreds of success stories on its website of men and women who returned to the workforce after different types of career breaks.

It’s not just about your professional standing. It’s also about your financial security. According to Financial Finesse’s 2016 Gender Gap in Financial Wellness Research, women who take career breaks face shortfalls of up to $1.3 million dollars more in retirement than women who don’t. Women can plan for a career break by saving more during the years when they are fully in the workforce. For example, a retirement savings rate of 25 percent can fully offset the negative financial effects of an early career break.

Evaluate your relaunch path

If everything worked out exactly the way you wanted it to, would you return to the work you did before or change your career path? Do you want to work full time or part time? Is flexibility important? Is it more valuable to you to return to a corporate job with great benefits or to pursue consulting or entrepreneurship?

For me, I first returned to work with more flexible self-employment and teaching. I then chose Financial Finesse, where I could work from home most of the time, a helpful bonus as a working parent of school age children. Before I decided on Financial Finesse, I worked with a coach to clarify my professional goals and weigh the pros and cons of the different paths I was considering.

Update your professional profile

Consider using a professional resume writer to craft your resume and update your LinkedIn profile. Think of this as the equivalent to painting walls and staging your home before you put it on the market. A blockbuster resume is worth the investment.

A professional resume writer can position your skills and your interim experiences in a way that is most appealing to employers. I followed the guidance in Back on the Career Track, by iRelaunch co-founder and CEO Carol Fishman Cohen and Vivian Steir Rabin, in being upfront about my career break and included a brief statement about it in my resume objective. It’s also a good idea to get a professional photo taken for your LinkedIn profile. Depending on your field, it may be important to have a professional presence via a website or other social media too.

Stay current and improve professional skills – especially technology

Understand that missing years in your employment history make a potential employer wonder if you have the current skills needed for the job. In order to reenter the workforce with hope of making a salary similar to when you went on break, it is imperative that you improve your professional skills during your time away. If you have licenses or professional credentials, maintain them in good standing. While you are on career break, work to improve your skills in your field through continuing education. if feasible. During the years when I was home with my kids, I earned the very challenging Chartered Financial Analyst designation, as well as maintained my financial planning designations and kept up with trends in financial planning.

Don’t forget to stay current on technology. I had migrated to a Mac and had to re-acclimate to a Windows environment. Consider updating your technology skills by taking a course at a local community college or though an online learning portal such as Lynda.com.

Build your personal network

Social media, especially LinkedIn, can help build your connections but don’t forget the value of in-person networking in your job hunt. Connect with former professional colleagues, attend conferences and join professional and business organizations. Sending your resume in response to ads won’t be nearly as effective as reaching out to your network for ideas. If you are considering a career break but haven’t started yet, don’t forget to keep in touch with colleagues and to build your networking (and resume) through volunteer activities. You may also consider a “returnship,” a program similar to an internship for experienced professionals.

Have you returned to work after an extended absence? How was your experience? Let me know by emailing me at [email protected] or tweet me @cynthiameyer_FF.