Enabling Career Returnships for Caregivers
For the first time in a long time, there are more jobs available than people in the United States. Despite this, employers continue to overlook a valuable applicant group: those returning to the workforce after taking time off to be a caregiver. Often, this particular group of people have years of experience in their field, but businesses misconceive the gaps on their résumé as a lack of commitment.
Recently, I was speaking with a woman who felt under-employed because she has been out of the workforce raising her children. Despite her valuable education, years of experience and extensive charity and community work, she’s only being offered entry level positions. While speaking with her, I recommended she pursue her career a bit differently given the work companies like Path Forward are doing. She instantly looked at her situation in a more empowering way.
In this exclusive Q&A with Tami Forman, Executive Director of Path Forward, a nonprofit organization on a mission to empower people to restart their careers after time spent focused on caregiving, we examine the value this group of workers brings to the workplace. Path Forward’s program has experienced an 82 percent retention rate that has held steady for three years, all because of the talented caregivers that are re-entering the workforce and demonstrating their unique value.
Brigette McInnis-Day: What does “returnship” mean to Path Forward?
Tami Forman: A returnship is a program that is specifically designed for people restarting a career as opposed to starting a career from the ground up. It’s very different from the typical internship role, where interns generally do not have much experience, if any, in the field. Most of the time returnships require years of professional experience. At the same time, returnships do include a learning element in the sense of mentorship and management. These dedicated supervisors are aware of the returnee’s situation and help get them back on their feet as their caregiver status changes and they re-enter the workforce.
What’s creating the need for returnship programs that help caregivers re-enter the workforce?
The need is driven by the disconnect that exists between the caregiver talent pool that’s experienced, motivated and ready to work and employers that are in need of this level of talent. The barrier here is the perception that someone who has been out of the workforce either does not have the skills needed to be relevant in the modern business landscape or that they are not ambitious or committed enough to join the team.
These biases display themselves when hiring managers automatically assume the potential employee’s skills are not up to date. Managers simply aren’t comfortable hiring them. There are real and tangible business benefits to hiring someone who has taken time off to provide care and companies that don’t are missing out on great talent. Companies that are ahead of the curve on creating these kinds of programs are at a competitive advantage.
What are the primary obstacles people who have taken time off face when returning to the workforce?
There are a few unique challenges people face when getting back into their careers. One is the bias mentioned earlier. Hiring managers might not necessarily be privy to all the skills someone could have picked up while they took off time to provide care.
Take the example of a mother who takes off a few years to stay home with her children. It is very, very rare that this mother is actually at home very often at all! She’s out in the community, she’s working a side hustle, she’s managing a million details that are part of modern life. She may even be specifically working on learning new skills through classes or less formally through networking. All of these skills will be applicable to a new role.
But it’s even what she learns outside of these tangible skills that hiring managers should be paying attention to. The organizational skills required of a children’s soccer coach, or a room parent, easily translate to the workplace and should be valued by employers, not overlooked. I think any parent who has managed the egos of other parents who all think their kid is going to be the next MLB All-Star can handle the competing agendas of a typical office.
Outside of this external bias, people often face internal challenges. It’s difficult to put yourself out there after having been out of the workforce for a few years. For the people we’ve worked with it’s not uncommon to face self-doubt. Once they actually become integrated into a new role, their confidence quickly grows as they realize picking their career back up is just like riding a bike.
For someone transitioning from the caregiver role back into the workforce, my best advice is simple: talk to as many people as you possibly can. The goal is not to ask everyone you meet if they can give you a job. Instead, ask them what you need to know, how the industry has changed since you left, what skills are important now and what are companies hiring for. Understanding how you fit into a new role and the value you bring is paramount. The conversations will give you the language you need to present yourself with confidence.
SAP SuccessFactors is pleased to have a partnership with Path Forward and is currently offering returnships to people returning to the workforce.
