Women Returners: Where Do You Start?
by Diana Wolfin
Getting back to work after a career break can seem very daunting and many women returners who find themselves in this position just don’t know where to begin.
First things first, though – let us define who women returners are. Many people picture a woman with two children who has been at home for perhaps five or six years and now wants to return to work. This is certainly one description of women returners, but by no means the only one. Some women are seeking to return to work after their children are much older and therefore their career break is much longer – sometimes even as long as twenty years! Other women have not left work to have children but have taken time out to care for elderly relatives and now feel ready to return. Women who have been made redundant or are looking to return to work in the UK after a period of time abroad also fit into the category of women returners, as well as those who have been studying and now want to develop their careers with their new qualifications.
The situations of these women are all very different and if you are reading this and you are now ready to think about returning to work, the chances are that you will feel somewhat lacking in confidence about your own abilities and what the workplace is like now, as there have certainly been many changes in recent years.
If you are able to take a serious look at what you have done while you have not been working, you will hopefully find that time spent out of the workplace has given you skills which can easily be transferred back into it, and which employers will value. If you have been looking after children, you may have developed good communication and time–management skills; you might be an excellent organiser, perhaps a brilliant negotiator – all of these may be valued by the right employer. If you have taken time out to travel and broaden your mind, then the new you will have something to offer the workplace which you have gained while travelling; skills learned in a voluntary role, especially those interpersonal skills which are so important, can be a real asset to a prospective employer.
Information technology is probably the greatest new element in the workplace and if your IT skills are not good or need updating, then this is probably the first place to start, as almost every job will require some basic skills in this area, and certainly you should be able to use the internet and send emails comfortably.
The most important thing you can do is to produce for yourself a CV which does you justice and which you can use either with a job application or send to a prospective employer with a speculative letter; CVs come in different styles and a skills-based one, where you focus on what you can do, while highlighting your particular strengths, rather than a chronological one, which lists where you have worked, should help you to manage the “hole” which will be on your CV during the time you have been out of work.
A well-worded skills-based CV can sell you to an employer so that he/she will be more interested in you as a person and what you can bring to the organisation, rather than where you have worked before, which is always problematic for women returners.
If you are serious about returning to work you will also need to think about work-life balance so that you are able to manage the demands of your new job as well as all the other things going on in your life at the moment.
At the planning stage is the time to discuss with your partner and children, or other people likely to be affected by your decision, that you are making a change in your life which may well impact on them, and tell them how important it is to you to have their support.
This may be the time to jettison some things which you are doing to make time for your new job – the chances are that you have been leading a full life while you have not been working and you will need to make time for your new life.
The good news is that there is a skills shortage in the workplace and you may just be the person a prospective employer is looking for – it’s just a question of believing that you can do it.
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Diana Wolfin works as a coach and trainer for women returning to work. She has written a book co-authored with her colleague Susan Foreman entitled “Back to Work – A Guide for Women Returners” published in February 2004 by Robson Books.
Diana can be contacted on 020 8868 7818 or by email at: dianawolfin@changingdirection.com.
Look at her website on: www.changingdirection.com
© Diana Wolfin November 2003
