by Katie Dunn | Sep 18, 2021 | restarting your career
Going back to work after taking a career break is different than a typical job search because you have a gap in your work history. I know, this shouldn’t be a disqualifier for getting a job. And it isn’t. Let me say that again, it’s important. Taking time off from work does not mean you can’t go back. But it does require you as a job seeker to have a thoughtful way to talk about what you’ve been doing while you were out of the paid workforce.
Did you know that Women Account for 46.9% of the Total Labor Force in the US? according to Catalyst. We need to welcome women back to the workforce after taking career breaks. For starters, what’s more important than raising a family or caring for family members who are ill? I can’t think of anything more important. Also, it makes sense for the economy. Catalyst reports that if women’s participation in the global economy were equal to men, the global annual GDP would be $28 Trillion, yes trillion, dollars higher in 2025.
Women ask me a lot if they should just take any job or wait for the right one. So I hear this a lot and it’s a question that I asked myself often as I looked for a job after being out of the full-time workforce for many years.
Here’s the easy answer: It depends.
Really though, the answer to this question depends entirely on what is motivating you to go back to work, so step 1 in deciding what job to take is to examine your motivation. Motivation is important here. If you need to start earning income for you or your families’ survival now, then you should take the best job you can find quickly. By “best” I mean highest paying. Life is expensive, kids are expensive and it takes money to survive. Pure and simple.
Divorce often forces women back into the workforce, or your spouse might have been laid off. Whatever the situation, if quickly earning income has become your primary motivation, then find a job and bloom where you’ve been planted. You don’t have to stay there forever but my personal rule of thumb is that you do have to do your best while you’re there. If you sense that you’re just passing through, work diligently so that when you leave you’ll have a great recommendation and can feel good about the work you did.
While the need for money motivates many women to return to work quickly, others find that their timing isn’t quite so urgent. To you folks, I say – lucky you! You have the luxury of waiting for a job that will check more of the boxes for you. You can do the 3 steps of Reflect, Research and Activate that I think are so important to a successful job search. The Reflection step is of critical importance in a job search because this is the step where you think deeply about your skills, your past experiences, and your current interests and add them all up to set a course for your future.
I want a career break to become a very normal part of a person’s career (both women and men) and for employers to view these not as breaks from real work, but as opportunities to develop more deeply as people, as parents, or as caregivers of aging parents. Your ability to reflect on what you’ve learned and how you’ve grown during your career break is a key part of finding direction for your job search.
If you are motivated to return to work by a desire to re-engage your professional self, to grow as a person in a professional capacity, to put your valuable skills to work and to earn a good income while doing so, then you have the luxury to look until you (a) find the right job or (b) find a job that offers a trade-off that you are comfortable taking. Every decision we make is a trade-off between things that are important to us.
Step 2 in deciding what job to take is being really clear about the trade-off involved. As much as I’d like to think there is a perfect job out there, well, let’s be real! I really think everything is a trade-off. So consider all the implications of the jobs you are considering.
Compensation, commute, opportunities for advancement, leadership, benefits, how’s the team… If you’re weighing multiple opportunities – lucky you! – then map these things out to see how they compare.
The third step in deciding what job you should take is to consider the possibilities of the job in front of you.
Especially if you’re returning to work after a career break, If your job search is starting to feel like it’s taking a long time, and you’re considering taking the next job that comes along, here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- Will this job keep me moving forward? (In other words, will I learn here? meet people that will grow my professional network? feel good about the work I’m doing?)
- Can I think of this job as a stepping stone to get me closer to where I’d like to be professionally?
If you can answer “yes” to any of those questions, then you may have found the right job for you. Honestly, sometimes after a long absence from the workforce, we just need a “starter job” or a job that gets us back into the working world and gets current experience on your resume. You can build from there. Just get yourself to that starting line.
Here’s a related but important question I get a lot from women returning to work: “Do I have to take a job making less money or with a lower title than I held before I took a career break?” My guidance is that I want you to aim high, but you must understand that the burden of proving your value to an employer rests with you and only you. How can you prove that you’re worthy of your previous salary and title?
- By demonstrating that you’ve spent your career break learning and keeping your skills fresh
- By taking courses to refresh your job skills
- By becoming active in a professional association relevant to your field
- By maintaining a network of influential people in your field
And let me add, that I think you totally deserve to not take a salary cut just because you’ve made the decision to focus on other things in life besides your career for a period of time. But you have to believe that you’re worth it too. You’ll have to brush up on your negotiation skills if you’re going to go for it with respect to salary. If you don’t ask for more at the time of your offer, you’ve given up a great opportunity. You can’t go back and ask after you accept the job. You have the leverage when they make the offer. That’s the time to show your future employer that you’re well worth a bump in compensation because you know how to negotiate. Sometimes people worry that the job offer will be rescinded if they try to negotiate it. That almost never happens. Now, there’s a right way and a wrong way to approach a negotiation, so enter into this conversation looking for a win-win outcome and you will not lose your offer.
One final thought: When I was job searching, I realized early on that my next job was going to come from someone who knew me personally and not from a resume that I blindly sent out over the Internet. And this belief changed my job search activities from sitting behind my computer sending out resumes to instead viewing every opportunity to talk someone as a chance to get one step closer to finding the right job. And, guess what? It worked. Every job I’ve ever had has come as a result of tapping my network or reaching out personally to people. Every. Single.one.
Time for me to throw another statistic about working women at you. The average time spent per day in unpaid work in the US: women 4 hrs 3 minutes; men 2 hours, 30 minutes. That’s a difference of 1 hour and 33 minutes. Any of you ladies out there want an extra hour and a half in your day? I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining – if unpaid work includes hanging with my kids to make sure they feel loved and valued and grow up to be happy and productive humans, I love that stuff. But if you’re talking about folding the laundry or emptying the dishwasher, you can have that stuff. I. Can’t. Even. I hate that stuff.
If you took time off from your career and now you’re looking for a job to return to your career, you may be wondering how to decide what job to take or if you should just take any old job that comes your way versus waiting for the right one.
Let’s review how you can answer that question:
First, examine your motivation for returning to work. If you need money to support your family, take the highest paying job you can get. If your motivation is more about finding fulfilling work, keep looking until you find work that will feed your soul.
Step 2 in deciding what job to take is being really clear about the trade-off involved. Know what’s really important to you and what you consider non-negotiable and hold out for it if it’s reasonable. Check-in with people you respect in your network to make sure that your non-negotiables are realistic.
And the third step in deciding what job you should take is to consider the possibilities of the job in front of you. This means that you may be considering a job that isn’t really all that, but it may be a job that will lead you to something more fulfilling. So when I say consider the possibilities, I want you to think 2 or 3 steps ahead of the job your considering and think about whether or not this job will take you down a path that you want to go.
Finally, don’t settle – negotiate! You’re totally worth it! You know you are. I know you are. Don’t let anything stop you. If you don’t ask, you don’t get it.
There are lots of things to consider if you’re returning to work after a career break and deciding if you should take any old job or if you should wait for the right one. This is a really personal decision, but now you have 3 steps to walk through as you decide.
by Katie Dunn | Sep 18, 2021 | job search
This post is going to be a short one, because my theme is:
Keep It Simple
So here it is, everything I want to say about keeping it simple in 2 sentences:
Your goal is to return to work after taking a career break. In order to do that, you need to know what the skill set is for the job you want and be able to clearly articulate why you’re a good fit for that role.
But Wait…There’s More!
You knew I couldn’t stop after just 2 sentences, didn’t you? Here are 5 steps to take right now to help you match your skills to the right job:
- Read 5 job descriptions for similar jobs you want
- Make a list of the key skills employers are looking for
- Note which of them you have with a line about your experience in that area and make sure this information comes across clearly in your resume and your cover letter
- For the skills you don’t have, find a LinkedIn Learning, Coursera or Udemy course that will fill that skill gap for you
- Schedule time to do the course and set an end date to make sure it gets done
Back to Basics
I know job-searching isn’t quite that simple, but sometimes it helps to go back to basics. If you have too many skill gaps, think about applying for a stepping-stone job that you’re more qualified for right now and that will help you build the skills for the job you really want.
If you’ve got all the required skills already but you’re not making progress in your search, re-evaluate your job search process and ask yourself what else you could be doing that would help you get that job.
Don’t overcomplicate it.
Decide on that next step that will get you closer to getting the job and commit to doing it today. Don’t worry about anything else.
by Katie Dunn | Sep 18, 2021 | job search
I recently met with a group of job seekers and asked everyone to share their biggest challenge about their job search. Do you know what the majority of them named as their biggest challenge?
Time Management!
Let’s break that down. The challenges that everyone mentioned were:
- Finding the time to job search
- Doing the right things with that time
- Struggling with days that seemed to have no structure
Let’s Talk Solutions
First, get clear on your goal. If your goal is to find a job, then you must accept that the only way that happens is with a whole lot of effort. In order to reach that goal, you’ll need to carve out blocks of time each day/week to do the work that needs to be done. If you’re a parent with kids at home, you might feel like a great deal of your time is spent in service of other people. Carving out even a few hours a week to devote to your job search will pay off. You’ll probably need to get protective about that time, so go ahead and let everyone know exactly when your Do Not Disturb sign is going up. Then stick to the plan and get to work! (Be sure to turn your phone off!)
Second, write down a plan. Once you’ve carved out some time for yourself, you’ll want to know exactly what you’re going to do with that time. Start with getting your resume in order, establish your presence on LinkedIn, put together a target company list and then get busy networking with anyone and everyone who works at one of your target companies.
My third suggestion is to use your calendar like the productivity tool that it was meant to be. Plan out your weeks and add some structure to your days. Block off the time in your calendar and be realistic about how much time you can commit to looking for a job. Add the tasks from your plan to the calendar. If you know what you need to get done and when it’s going to happen, this will take some of the stress out of this process for you.
And finally, try to spend most of your job-searching time on outward-facing activities like talking to people who can help you with a referral or with an informational interview. If you’re spending most of your time doing things that only you know about, that won’t help you land a job. You have to put yourself out there.
Let’s be the boss of our time and make this happen!
by Katie Dunn | Jun 30, 2021 | career break, returnship
I promised you we’d dig deep into Credit Suisse’s Real Returns program and I’m about to deliver on that promise big-time! Back to Business conducted interviews with 4 Real Returns participants and they have given us some great insight into what it’s like to participate in the program. I can’t wait to share it all with you: You’ll hear about every part of their return-to-work experience, including how they knew they were ready to return to work and what their first day was really like.
Real Returns…It’s For Real
Here’s the summary: This program is a fantastic path back to work if you’ve got a career break. Your opinion is valued, your experience is respected, and you are set up for success within a supportive community of relaunchers and mentors. Read on for the details from Sally, Sreedevi, Tatyana and Krithika.
The Relaunchers
The women interviewed for this article had career breaks ranging from 5 to 29 years. Sally, Tatyana, and Krithika had experience in financial services prior to taking their career break, while Sreedevi had experience in software development.
Real Returns values all kinds of work experience and Credit Suisse strives to put program participants into a role that will draw on the skills they already possess as well as challenge them to expand their skill set.
Even if you don’t have experience in financial services, consider applying. According to Credit Suisse’s Katherine Tallent: “an interest in the financial industry and a willingness to learn are the biggest qualities we look for.”
Tell Me More!
Let’s walk through the Real Returns experience with these ladies from start to finish.
These women made great use of their career breaks! Sally spent almost all of her time out of the paid workforce leading philanthropic organizations in her community. Sreedevi was the software developer in the group, and knew that it was important for her to keep her skill set fresh so she attended training and completed professional certifications during her free time in order to be ready to relaunch her career. “I am always in touch with the latest technology,” she said.
Skill Up
Each of these relaunchers knew the importance of refreshing their skills and highlighting their community-based activities to prepare them to return to work. Krithika reskilled with LinkedIn Learning and by completing a certification in Finance. She also did some skill-based volunteering to get experience working in an office environment. In addition, she attended a return-to-work conference where she learned ways to prepare herself and met a lot of people who were transitioning back into the workforce after a break.
“It was very inspiring to hear from people who have been down the road I just started to walk on! All of this plus my added enthusiasm to work helped me feel recharged and ready to go back to work.”
Lesson Learned: You’ll need current skills to return to work and there are lots of ways to get them!
How They Knew They Were Ready
After extended career breaks, there came a time when they each knew that returning to work should be their next step. In one case, a change in life circumstances was the catalyst, for another it was that her kids were grown. Two of our relaunchers wanted to return to work because it filled important needs for them:
“I missed being around business people and getting tasks and accomplishing them” said Tatyana.
“My time away from work made me realize how much I missed working in a corporate environment and the feeling of being an independent woman,” said Krithika.
Applying for Real Returns
Applying for Real Returns was a straightforward process for these women and they invested time and energy into their applications and interview preparation.
Sally says: “I worked very hard on the application; updated my resume using a professional service. The interviews were panel style and behavioral; I did extensive research about Credit Suisse and various roles within the firm. There was a lunch hosted by CS and I used that opportunity to network.”
Krithika had a similar experience with her application:
“The Credit Suisse Real Returns program application and interview process was seamless and I felt instantly connected with everyone I spoke to during the process right from my recruiting business partner to my hiring manager. Applicants are given the opportunity to choose their areas based on their interests to explore. I had a great discussion with my hiring manager during the interview process and gained more insight about the team and the project that I might work on.”
Apply for Raleigh Real Returns here and New York Real Returns here.
First Day Jitters?
Then the big day comes – The first day back at work after an extended career break! This is an important life moment and these women were certainly up to the challenge.
Shreedevi spent some time preparing her kids for the transition and was pleased that they seemed ready and supportive as she returned to work.
Krithika’s Raleigh Real Returns 2020 program was 100% virtual due to covid and while she was both excited and a little bit nervous on her first day back to work, she was pleased with how well the program was run: “The way the virtual program was organized and conducted is extremely commendable.”
Here’s Sally’s take on her first day, which really illustrates the importance of finding the right job and company: “I was excited and not nervous. Credit Suisse was very supportive; I remember at the end of my first day almost bursting into tears because I knew CS was the right “home” for me to re-launch and build my career.”
Lesson Learned: Don’t believe the hype that getting back to work has to be a crazy time for you or your family. With the proper preparation and the right mindset, this transition can be an exciting time of growth for everyone involved!
Mentorship Makes A Difference
One of the Real Returns perks that makes the experience special is being assigned a mentor to rely on for help. Each of these women had a productive relationship with their mentor and credited them with being an invaluable source of support and guidance. Here, in their own words, are some reflections on their mentor relationship:
Sally: “The best part about Credit Suisse Real Returns has been the connection with a “buddy” and a “mentor”. I still maintain both relationships and have benefitted greatly from the stewardship and guidance I have received. My Mentor supported a very wide spectrum: culture at CS, career advice; personality management; sounding board for presentations, supplier of additional resources for presentations, networking, advice on negotiating strategy and strategy regarding finding a conversion role. We met initially once a month and then on an as-needed basis.”
Krithikta: “My Credit Suisse mentor is very encouraging, helpful and available to talk whenever I asked for advice. We discussed effectively networking virtually and building relationships.”
Tatyana: “My mentor Christina is an amazing person. She was always available for me in case I needed her. We discussed my progress in adjusting to the working environment…I could reach out to her any time. She was always open to help and support me and I received lots of wise advice from her. She helped me a lot.”
Training Included
Training is another important component of Real Returns and each of the women we interviewed mentioned that the training helped them assimilate into their new roles.
Training topics included software systems, hard skills, leadership, and career development training. Importantly, the training exposed participants to leaders from different departments at Credit Suisse, which helped participants understand where their team and role fit into the big picture and gave them exposure to people that helped them build their professional networks.
In addition to the formal training sessions, Krithika benefitted from informal learning opportunities on her team: “I received excellent on the job training that helped me be successful with my project work.”
The Insider Perspective – Beyond Real Returns
After the formal program ended, each of these women was able to transition successfully into a position at the bank. Sally is currently an Assistant Vice President (AVP) Securitized Products Operations Control Team Management. Tatyana is a Business Analyst, CS Regulatory Services. Krithika is an AVP Regulatory Reporting. Sreedevi’s title is AVP GCP DA Production Support.
Sally and Sreedevi leveraged the connections they made on other teams at the bank to secure their roles, while Tatyana assumed a position with the team she worked on during Real Returns. Krithika moved into a position on the IHC Regulatory reporting team where she works on the bank’s quarterly reports.
A Few Of My Favorite Things
I wanted to know what each person’s favorite part of Real Returns was and they did not hold back! Here’s what they told me:
Sally: “The access to absolutely anything I was interested in. We are encouraged constantly to reach out to anyone, regardless of position, to satisfy our curiosity. I also loved the autonomy I was given with the project I was assigned; I was allowed to stretch my knowledge and skillset in its completion and presentation.”
Sreedevi: “My favorite things in the Real Returns program are meeting with the cohort every week, networking sessions, and training sessions.”
Tatyana: “It helped me to get back to work smoothly and easily, without stress. With participation in the Real Returns Program, I got back confidence that I lost due to the break in my career. I received support and was provided with all the needed information and knowledge that helped me to demonstrate that I can become a valuable team member for my group. It was also a great opportunity to meet people who are professionals and to learn a lot from them. I am very thankful to Credit Suisse for the opportunity.”
Krithika: “I enjoyed everything about the program from the networking sessions, to being a part of a wonderful cohort and working on a project with an amazing and talented team where I got to learn a lot and experience the professional environment once again.”
This Could Be Your Next Chapter!
So there you have it: the complete stories of 4 Real Returns participants! I found their insights valuable and was cheering these women on as I wrote this up.
If your career break was at least 2 years, consider applying to Real Returns and joining Sally, Tatyana, Sreedevi and Krithika. Returning to work at a company that values all of your experience, including the time you spent out of the paid workforce, can be an exciting next chapter in a successful career.
Thanks to Sally, Tatyana, Sreedevi and Krithika for sharing their stories with the Back to Business community!
Learn more about Real Returns here.
