Help — Your Thoughts for Women Trying to Return to Work After a Career Break

We are fortunate to coach many women who have taken career breaks and are returning to the workforce. I’m amazed at how talented and accomplished these women are, and excited at the impact they’ll have in their new jobs. But I’m also dismayed at how hard it often is for them to find that first job back. We’re doing a survey to get thoughts on how to speed up that first job. Please provide us with your thoughts —the more honest, the better. Email me at todd@careerwav.me to keep your thoughts private, or comment below.

1. We work with clients on “perspective taking”, or understanding the needs and goals of the hiring manager. Such as, what do you need to show to make the hiring manager think you can do the job AND aren’t too risky (the things that make you a risky hire we call “red flags”). This approach is all about what the manager needs, not us telling what we think is great about ourselves. As you think about people returning to work, what are the main worries you have? Please be honest, the more we understand the true blockers, the more we can help prepare.
2. For the “red flags”, what are things the candidate could do to make you comfortable?
3. How should the candidate talk about her career break? What should or shouldn’t she say?
4. What are other things the candidate could say or do to make you more likely to hire her? These might include “marketing” things, like how to explain the skills they built while out of the formal workforce, or “growth” things, like volunteer work, online classes, etc.
5. Do you have a success story or personal experience we can share?

As we work with candidates, we remember that convincing people like you to hire them is the goal. And understanding what you need to do that is helpful. Thank you for your feedback.

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