Returning to the Workforce: Where Do I Start?

As long as we can remember, women have left their careers to care for others and faced incredible
struggles when wanting to return to work. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the number of
women leaving their jobs, with recent estimates indicating that there were 2.2 million fewer women in the labor force in October 2020 than there were in October 2019. (1)

Most of us know intelligent, hardworking women who have taken some time out of their career and are now ready to get back into the workforce. There are lots of names to describe women returning to a career after an absence. For this article, I will call us returners. 

A friend of mine recently shared that, after over 15 years out of the workforce, she was beginning the
process of jumping back into a career. She was well-educated, with a law degree and several years of corporate experience. While qualified and with valuable credentials, she found this process daunting
and discouraging. For my friend, and anyone thinking about relaunching their career, I would suggest starting this process by focusing on three areas in your life. 

Confidence

For every female returner whom I know, confidence seems to be the biggest hurdle to re-entering the
workforce. A lack of up-to-date hard skills and a gap in work experience can create self-confidence
issues. When I began my own return-to-work journey after being at home with my children for several years, there were few resources available and little direction on where to begin. I felt underqualified and overwhelmed. 

I was fortunate to participate in the Eccles School of Business reLaunch program. This program helps returners regain their confidence by identifying their individual talents, exploring career options and receiving coaching and mentoring to best navigate the job search process. The first step our cohort took was reminding ourselves of the value we bring to our families, community and future employers through taking the CliftonStrengths assessment. Through coaching, I was able to connect my talents and experiences and identify how they would be valuable in today’s workforce.

To build confidence, start by focusing on your soft skills. If you cannot easily name five, ask a friend,
mentor, or previous co-worker. Reflect on your professional and volunteer experiences to recognize
strengths you exhibited in those spheres. Finally, taking a skills assessment like the Clifton
StrengthFinder will also identify strengths that will form the basis for your resume and conversations
about you.

Once you’ve determined what companies and positions you’d like to pursue, hard skill refresher courses and additional education or certifications might be needed. Early in my search, I was able to speak with an encouraging female mentor in my chosen field. She was able to give a realistic viewpoint about expectations for the field, timeframes, and intelligently weigh in on the need for additional education.

With this information, I chose to begin a rigorous training program and am working toward a
professional designation.

Communication

Practice talking about yourself! It is difficult to start opening up about your skills and how well you’ve handled situations in your life but communicating is an important part of finding a new career. Create a list of skills and an outline of your professional and volunteer experience. This information will prepare you to articulate intelligently the value you can add to an organization. Begin speaking out loud, even just to yourself, about what you are capable of and how you’ve demonstrated that in the past.

Don’t apologize for gaps in your experience or a lack of hard skills. Be bold and recognize that your
emotional intelligence and soft skills plus experiences during your break as a caregiver, volunteer, or
community member are worth talking about. Once I realized that my soft skills were valued and
important to future employers, I stopped feeling uncomfortable talking about the gap in my experience on my resume. I spoke about volunteer work I was involved in and simply explained what I had been doing. No need to feel bad or apologize.

Begin building your resume. Using a desired job posting, match your skills and experience to the
requirements for the new job. Create a version of your resume for the job you are targeting. Begin
thinking about experiences you have had that demonstrate these skills.

As you gain more confidence and understanding of your strengths and experience, start speaking with friends, family, mentors, and coaches. Begin to share with friends, neighbors, and everyone you know what type of work you are looking for and even specific companies with which you would like to interview.

Connection

Establishing connections through networking is essential to finding your career. Connect with mentors, employers, or organizations in your chosen field. Find out what opportunities might be available to you, what you can do to prepare for those opportunities, and what is valued in the targeted positions. I met with my mentor several times. Her encouragement and insights were invaluable. I am fortunate to now work for my mentor and continue to learn from her experience and knowledge. 

If you are looking for a mentor, I would start in your chosen field and look for women, at any level, to help you identify where to start, skills you might need, and even other mentors who could help you. If your field does not have a lot of female leaders, begin by looking at women in leadership roles in similar or other industries. You need an advisor who can help you work your network as well as boost your confidence and skills. Just begin somewhere. Women are generous with their time and connections, and most of the time people will genuinely want to help you.

Expand your network with LinkedIn and other social media platforms. If you are not familiar with how to create a searchable profile, connect with people working in your chosen field and research targeted companies, or find a working professional or coach who can help you. My coaches at the Eccles School of Business reLaunch program were instrumental in helping me create a robust profile and connecting me with the right people in my chosen field. Find an experienced friend who can give you help in this area if it is new to you. This network is valuable so take the time to get established on these platforms.

If you are beginning your career search and are feeling a lack of confidence or are overwhelmed, begin with these basics. Opportunities will open up as you build your confidence, begin to communicate, and create connections.

Here are a few available resources for returners:

(1) Edwards, Kathryn A. “Women Are Leaving the Labor Force in Record Numbers”, The Rand Blog, The Rand Corporation, November 24, 2020, www.rand.org/blog/2020/11/women-are-leaving-the-labor-force-in-record-numbers.html

By Kari Moon Brown | Associate Wealth Advisor