How to come back to work after a sabbatical

Long sabbatical is a very common phenomenon in India due to various reasons. Many women drop out of the workplace to take care of young children or aging parent or simply because of marriage followed by relocation of their spouses. In fact taking care of family members is one of the most common reason why women leave the workplace in our country.

Many of such women wish to re-enter the workforce but that’s not always turns to be a successful endeavor as career gap becomes a difficult hurdle to overcome in the job hunting process.

If you have a gap in employment at any point in your career, addressing it upfront is a good practice while applying for jobs. By addressing your career gap in resume, you can save yourself from explaining the gap during the interview.

Here are some practical tips for women who are planning to return to work after a career gap:

1.Be honest about your career gap and carry a positive attitude:

Be prepared to answer question and be open and transparent when asked about your gap. At the same time put everything in a positive light. For instance if you have utilized your time off from work to learn a new skill or to associate with some social or charitable work, talk about that because when you show that your time away from work was positive and you have used it productively then your potential employer is more likely to see it in a positive light too.

Describe your career break in your professional summary or the objective section of your resume. List your career break as sabbatical. Give reason for your career break- to be a caregiver, to study, to travel and so on.

In the experience section of your resume, mention your career break as ‘Personal sabbatical’ or ‘?family leave’.

2.Self-confidence is the key:

Self Confidence is so important that an interview coach says that:

“Self- confidence is the most important thing you can bring to a job interview.”

Just because you didn’t work, doesn’t mean you are not as qualified as the next candidate. In our society, it’s a common mindset that if a woman is not working means she is not contributing in anyway but believe me, get that thought out of your mind and replace it with self-confidence. This will help you immensely. Don’t be apologetic or embarrassed for your career gap.

And at the end if a potential employer judges you harshly for your career gap, then it’s better not to work with that company at all.

3. Rebuild your Resume:

Your confidence should be visible in your resume too so rebuild your resume to make sure it displays your self- confidence.

Resume should be tailored to job description that clearly helps the recruiter to understand the bottom line. Tailor your resume to the employer’s expectations.

Your resume should be able to speak for itself with relevant industry jargons, numbers, adjectives and details. Make sure to use current industry jargons and emphasize on your skillsets which are currently in demand. In order to do so look for the job listings relevant to your industry to understand what employers are looking for and how that lines up with your skillsets and experiences then re-write your resume accordingly.

Forget not to mention what value and strength you are offering as a potential employee.

In addition to that include and highlight the achievements that you gained during your career gap. Here you can include the activities that are worth mentioning like freelancing, part time, volunteered a project, social or charitable work or pro-bono or earned a certification. You can list this information in bullet points under the career sabbatical section. In short you have to convince your employer that you didn’t sit idle during your sabbatical.

If you are finding it difficult to rebuild your resume on your own, you may opt for professional resume expert.

Your resume is your identity that gets circulated across various HR professionals so let your resume talk about you in the most ‘perfect sense’.

4. Up skill to grow:

Among the married women job applicants, there are many who have lost their jobs during pandemic mostly due to skill gaps. This is a wakeup calls for women to up skill to grow in their career. Women must invest in skilling themselves. This is a time when reskilling is extremely relevant.

5. Do your Homework:

Do your homework to make sure you are updated on your industry. Look for sample interview questions. By doing so you will get an insight about the segments of your field that have changed in the given period of time and you need to brush up your knowledge/skills in order to stay ahead of time. This will help you to be more confident during your interview and it will be certainly visible to the interviewer as well.

6. Earn a certificate:

A certification demonstrates to a potential employer that you are proactive about staying ahead of time as well as staying updated with the industry trend. Apart from the knowledge, a certification will give you an edge over a competing candidate who has no career gaps but lacks the credibility of a certification.

Earning a relevant certificate proves to be more beneficial to candidates who belong to a rapidly changing industry like ‘IT’ or ‘Digital Marketing’.

7. Re-Build your network:

For whatever reasons, if you are not in touch with your professional and social network-This is the time to rejuvenate and re-build your network. Now is the right time to connect with people who can prove to be a valuable asset to you, they can be your Ex classmates, colleagues or just friends.

Start following what people are doing on professional platforms like LinkedIn. Join new LinkedIn groups relevant to your industry and engage actively with the active ones.

8. Dress appropriately:

Last but not the least …Make sure to look professional and up-to-date when you show up for an interview, this shows that you are taking the interview seriously.

Apart from the tips, let’s talk about the roles of return program offered by the various companies and the role of women centric Job portals in our country.

#Returnship program:

To help the women who want to do a comeback, many companies offer ‘Returnship programs’ which are similar to internships but are meant specifically for the women who want to rejoin the workforce after a sabbatical.

Organizations in every sector have launched their career comeback program. Some of the prominent ones which are offering returnship programs include:

·????????Amaon ‘Rekindle’

·????????Genpact ‘ career 2.0’

·????????Intel ‘H2O- Home To Office’

·????????Paypal ‘Recharge’

·????????GE India ‘RESTART’

·????????Goldman Sachs ‘Returnship’

·????????Credit Suisse ‘Real Returns’

·????????Axis Bank ‘Reconnect’

·????????Philips ‘B.I.G- Back In The Game’

·????????Microsoft ‘Springboard’

·????????Larsen & Toubro ‘Renew’

Women only Job portals:

Whether you are planning to return to workforce or you are looking for an opportunity for WFH, there are several job portals in India that are making job hunt easy for women.

Here are some of the women only job portals to help you in the right direction towards your professional journey. The list includes:

*Sheroes

*Ghar Se Naukri

*Naukri For Women

*Her Second innings

*Jobs?For Her

To conclude as a resume expert, I can assure you that the?way people perceive gaps in employment has changed over time and many employers understand that everyone has a different career path and timeline.

Written by:

Richa Singh

Resume critique/Expert

Founder, Resume Allianz

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/richa-singh-62831912