by Katie Dunn | Oct 1, 2016 | career break, interview, job search, moms, women in business
For women, professional dress is often a topic that causes a lot of confusion. We suggest that you dress for the Back to Business Women’s Conference as if you were going to an interview – use it as a practice run so that when you do have an interview you aren’t suiting up for the first time in a long time. Even though workplaces have evolved to be much more casual today than they were in the past, there is still an expectation that you wear a suit to an interview.
Here are a few suggestions for business attire. Our motto is: keep it simple and err on the conservative side.
- You can’t go wrong with a black or navy blue suit and a light-colored blouse. Both pantsuits and skirts are fine. A skirt that ends at your knee looks both stylish and professional. You shouldn’t have to spend a lot of money for a basic suit.
- A pair of solid-colored pants or a skirt with a blouse works well also. Avoid loud patterns and low-cut necklines. If you’re not going to be wearing a suit to work once you get that job, don’t invest in a suit now. Instead, go with a nice-looking pair of dark pants or a skirt and blouse that fit well. Look for a pair of tailored pants and make sure they are clean and well-pressed.
- Keep your jewelry simple.
- Much has been written about the impression that shoes make during job interviews. They don’t have to be fancy, but they do need to look polished, and not worn.
- Avoid trendy looks and go for more of a classic style. You don’t have to be boring, but a well-tailored, professional look says a lot of positive things about you before you even open your mouth to wow a potential employer. First impressions count for a lot!
What’s “Business Casual” all about?
And here’s a word about “business casual” because this is a phrase that often leaves people wondering what exactly they should wear: Business casual should be more business and less casual! While a full suit is not required, go for a tailored skirt or suit pants and a blouse. You’ll still want to make a businesslike impression.
by Katie Dunn | Sep 9, 2016 | career break, job search, moms, women in business
Dear 25-year old Self:
You’re just a few years into what will hopefully be a long and fulfilling career. I know you’re not thinking about how you’ll juggle career and family when the time comes, and that’s exactly why I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned over the past 20 years. You may want to take a break from your career to raise a family. Here are some strategies for success you can employ now that will make it easier to re-start your career when the time is right:
- Keep one foot in the working world: If you can find an opportunity to continue to work on a limited or part-time basis, take it! This allows you to have an employment history without a gap and to stay in touch with the professional world. Besides, it’s refreshing to have adult conversations. This is the #1 thing that women returning to work tell me they wish they’d known when they left their jobs to stay home.
- Make family your priority: You’ve heard it before – you’ll never get back those years when your children are young. If you have the luxury to be around for those early milestones and you want to be home, then seize the opportunity and savor it.
- Consider your options, choose confidently and enjoy life. Forget “working mommy guilt”, whatever that is. Whether you choose to continue working or to stay home with your children, do the best job you can and don’t second-guess yourself. You can always reconsider your decision as your circumstances change, but move forward with confidence in whatever direction you’ve chosen.
- Raise independent children: Having your own career, interests and hobbies is so much easier when you’ve raised independent children. I recently dropped my rising 9th grader off for student-only freshman orientation and was bewildered by all the moms going in with their kids. When I asked my daughter if she’d like me to come in she said “Mom, I’ve got this.” Wow – did that make my day! I drove to work feeling a bit sad that she was growing up so fast, but absolutely thrilled that she was so confident and independent.
- Attend a conference once a year: This is a great way to meet people and stay current on new developments in your field. Choose a conference nearby to keep the cost low or pick a conference in a city where you have friends or family and turn this into a business vacation. May we suggest the Back to Business Women’s Conference? It is held in October in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Tons of professional job search advice, support from an amazing community of women, a resume workshop, a networking workshop, and so much more – just what you need if you’re returning to work!
- Keep the network up: Make a conscious effort to keep in touch with your professional contacts. This can be as easy as emailing a few people each week to say hello and let them know what you’re up to.
- Continue to meet as many people as you can during your work hiatus. I know you’ll be busy (I get it, we have four children!), but some of the people I built relationships with during the time that I wasn’t working full-time were instrumental in helping me return to work when the time came.
- Have lunch with former co-workers: I left IBM in 2003, but meet my former office-mate for lunch every fall. We have entirely different networks since our careers have gone in different directions, but over the years we’ve each asked the other to make introductions for us. And since fall is fast approaching, I’d better go check the calendar and invite Jeff to lunch!
- Have coffee with someone new and interesting every month to talk shop: I know this sounds weird if you’re not in the habit of doing this, but a few times this summer I’ve reached out to people that I didn’t know personally to invite them to have coffee and talk about something specific. I was rewarded with fascinating conversations and great new ideas! You’ll get more comfortable with this the more you do it. I promise. I used LinkedIn inmail which was great for this.
- Be a continuous learner: Subscribe to whatever magazine people in your profession read to stay current with developments in your field. I’ve subscribed to Fortune Magazine since I was in graduate school and since they just kept extending my student rate, I kept ordering it. Sure, some months they piled up on my coffee table, but I eventually read most of them and over the course of the 12 years that I considered myself primarily a stay-at-home parent, I digested a lot of business news.
- Get a good web crawler to send you articles on your field every day: The key here is to send them directly to an email folder so that when you have the time you can read to your hearts content (or until the baby cries). If they aren’t piling up in your inbox, you won’t feel guilty that you don’t get to them all. Directing them to an email folder ensures that when you’re ready to read, you’ve got a well-stocked shelf of relevant articles.
- Develop a new skill: Taking a break from your career or downshifting for a time can provide a great opportunity to make a directional change. With so many great courses online, you can develop new skills without even leaving your house that will keep you sharp when you’re ready to return to work.
- Update your resume every year on the same day: Call it your “resume-aversary” (OK,don’t call it that), but understand that designating the same day to do this each year increases the likelihood that it will happen. If you’ve taken a significant career break and haven’t even looked at your resume in 10 years, this can be a real roadblock to getting back in the job market.
- Set aside money for professional development while you have an income. This way you won’t hesitate to invest in yourself when you’re not working. While there are lots of free courses and advice out there, you’ll find that occasionally spending money to keep your skills fine-tuned will really pay off in the long run.
I hope that by the time you’re ready to restart your career, the working world has evolved to seeing a career break as an opportunity for growth and personal development. I can say with confidence that the 12 years I spent out of the full-time workforce were years of incredible growth for me. I returned to work with a renewed sense of purpose, the ability to keep things in perspective and time management skills that I could only have dreamed of earlier in my career. In fact, I owe my current success to my career break.
by Katie Dunn | Jul 23, 2016 | career break, job search, moms
Let’s face it: It’s hard to get much of anything done in the summer! With kids home and a long stretch of time in front of us, there just isn’t much urgency to be productive. For some reason, it’s easier for me to accomplish 10 things when I only have 2 hours, than when I have 2 months! So if you’re looking for a job this summer, and especially if you’re looking to get back to work after a career break, here’s my suggestion: Be realistic about what you can accomplish this summer as you continue on your journey back to work. If you set unrealistic goals, you’ll only be disappointed when you fall short.
Since I want you to feel confident about what you’re accomplishing, I’ve come up with 2 summer job search options for you. All you have to do is decide…are you “Takin’ It Easy” this summer or are you “In High Gear?” The “Takin’ It Easy” plan is for you if you’re hoping to continue your positive momentum as you look for that right job post-career break. It focuses on getting yourself ready and taking small steps toward putting yourself out there. The “In High Gear” plan is for those of you who are actively job-seeking and it contains reminders of all the things you’ll want to be consistently doing throughout the summer.
Whether you’re “Takin’ It Easy” or “In High Gear” keep in mind that devoting even a small amount of time each day to a focused and productive activity in your job search will pay dividends for you. Click here to activate the job search plan that’s just right for you. I wish you a fun and productive summer!
by Katie Dunn | Jul 1, 2016 | brand, confidence, job search, leadership, moms, women in business
Personal Branding is Important!
As a woman re-entering the workforce, you have a unique opportunity to start over in a career that may be different from the one you left behind when you were last working. This makes your “brand” all the more important because you want to be sure that you project an image consistent with the profession you’d like to enter.
There’s a lot of talk about defining your professional brand, and it can be hard to know just what that means on a practical level. Recently I attended a Forte Foundation Conference for women in MBA programs, and I heard a great talk by a speaker named Lindsey Pollak. She did a nice job of defining 4 key elements of your brand. I share them below along with my own suggested action items for women re-entering the workforce:
The Four Key Elements of Your Brand
1. Visibility – What is your level of exposure as a leader?
Action Item: Be visible to your network by sending a check-in email to see how your contacts are doing and update them on what you’re doing. Be really visible by writing and posting an article on LinkedIn. If you need to work up to that, start sharing high quality articles on LinkedIn with a comment that adds value.
2. Differentiation – What are you known for? What do you offer that others can’t?
Action Item: Determine which of your strengths are most relevant to your intended career field and get comfortable talking about them as you discuss your career search with friends, contacts, recruiters and hiring managers.
3. Consistency – Is your image consistent across various professional situations?
Action Item: Make sure the image you are putting out on your social media sites and in person is that of a good colleague.
4. Authenticity – Are you comfortable in your leadership style?
Action Item: Spend some time thinking about how you describe your leadership style. Then be sure you are not only comfortable leading (this takes practice!) but that you are looking for opportunities to lead. These can be in volunteer opportunities as well as professional settings.
Here’s the challenge
Pick just one of these brand elements to work on this week and commit to doing the action items. Then put a note in your calendar for each of the next 3 weeks to remind you to work on the next brand element. I’m a fan of breaking things into small steps, and I’m betting this will work for you too.
If you’re just getting started relaunching your career, our Return to Work Checklist will come in handy. Information on our Back to Business Women’s Conference is available here.
