Career Breaks...

There's a whole cottage industry out there to help people who have taken a break in their career. And LinkedIn has joined in to help as well to allow people to explain a break in their career. But what I'm seeing is that there are people who took this break and whose career got broken as a result. These are individuals where the break has long been over for them, where they have been searching to re-enter the workforce for 3 months, 6 months, 18 months, even 48 months. And despite their hardest efforts to land a role, after this break, they have real challenges getting interviews and getting offers.

What I see is that the problem isn't that there aren't employers out there willing to help people relaunch their careers; there are. And there are plenty of coaches out there willing to help people re-write resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and cover letters as well. There's also a ton of blogs telling the stories of people who have successfully done this. Videos, webinars and podcasts too are in abundance with tips and tricks to try to turn that break into a story that's compelling enough to get you that interview and land you that job offer. But what's missing, at least for the people I have met, is someone to help you, step-by-step, until you land. And that's why I started JobMorph . I just saw there was a need beyond what was currently available to those trying to relaunch their careers after a break.

We help our clients craft that resume, that cover letter, and that LinkedIn profile but then we help clients practice answering those really tough questions that are coming their way when the recruiter calls, and then when the hiring manager interviews and probes even deeper into that break. That's what our client, Sue needed. And that's where it started with her. We took a hard look at the documents she was using to secure interviews understanding that these will play a role, too, in the interviews themselves. And the role the documents would play with the final decision makers (who may or may not interview her). We focused on changes to make sure that decision makers could see that while Sue took a break from her career, her career was not broken.

Next came unpacking those questions where she felt she lost the job offer. What had she faced? How had she answered? Why did she think her answer took her out from the running? What did she think she could have answered to keep herself under consideration and even garner an offer?

She definitely had some ideas on all of these things. And it was relatively easy to show her that her instincts were right in some cases but also wrong in some cases.

Then we brainstormed better answers to those questions she would face about the career pause. And we practiced them, over and over again. We practiced where the interviewer understood and where the interviewer wasn't empathetic but actually antagonistic, maybe even challenging. We practiced until Sue was totally comfortable and could execute no matter the style of the interviewer and no matter how the questions came: in writing, in person, via Zoom, in a video interview, or on the phone.

Next it was time for her to execute on all that training; to deliver those answers she had rehearsed. And to give "after action reports" so we could help our client, Sue, get even better and even stronger in her answers. Because here is the truth that you are often not told: every round of interview can be harder and harder, with people more aggressively drilling into your explanations on that break, and your skills in interviewing have to be matched to those tougher and tougher interviewers. You have to be able to articulate that despite the out time which in this case was 10 years, you not only can do the job but do it better than any other candidate they were considering, including any internal candidates.

Next, it was about holding our client together while waiting for an offer, and being there, too, in case it doesn't happen with new job leads to pursue; new opportunities that are out there for her to try. And finally when the offer did arrive, JobMorph helped her to negotiate it because here's another truth that you may or not know: people who have taken a break in their career, especially when they have been trying to get it relaunched, for many months (if not years), will undervalue themselves and will often not even negotiate the offer. You get it; they feel broken. And broken people often accept less than what they are worth.

If you are someone whose career break has long been over...where you may have been searching to re-enter the workforce for 3 months, 6 months, 18 months, even 48 months... and where despite your hardest efforts to land a role, after this break, you are having real challenges getting interviews and getting offers, please take a look at what we can offer you. It may be that you just really need the customized, specialized, personalized services JobMorph provides. Some searches are just harder than others and that's exactly what we're here to do; those harder, more challenging searches for a dream job.

?? If you want some more help with your job search, please reach out. We offer subscribers to this newsletter a free consultation and a $100 discount. Just use NEWSLETTER as the code when you book your appointment. Click?here ?to book.