Job Search Strategy for Professionals On A Career Break

How to Get Back-To-Work After Career Break

Most professionals experience a break in their careers at least once in their working life – whether by choice or due to circumstances. However, the data shows that women are disproportionately impacted by such career breaks. One in every 3 mid-level managerial woman professional goes into an extended career break, every year. 75% of these breaks are driven by care giving needs for their families and each of these breaks can last for over 2 years.

While 2 out of 3 women on a career break want to return to work, only 1 in 4 is able to successfully do that in less than 6 months of their job search – paled in comparison to a 75% success rate for men. And even when these women find their way back to work, it is highly likely that a majority (almost 2 out of 3) will be working below their potential (in terms of position, earnings, opportunity).

Hiring managers are also biased with a propensity to higher a lesser experienced individual over a more experienced candidate having 6 or more months of career break.

Gloomy as all these statistics may look, it really only means that we have to be more strategic when it comes to job search for professionals (especially women) on a career break.

It means to pivot as we look forward, dream afresh, articulate what we want and leverage our network without feeling judged.

Boomerang: Return To Previous Employers

Job Search Strategies are very intentional by nature. Having a strategy is just the opposite of what we usually do in a job search - blindly applying to open positions on all the portals we can find and sending our CV to every person we can muster the “courage” to ask for help.

We will be discuss 4 of the most prominent, and most effective, job search strategies in the below article.

Strategy #1: Boomerang

The top most strategy for experienced individuals wanting to get back to work is widely known as “Boomeranging” in the professional world. It essentially signifies return of an employee back to their former employer.

Execution Plan: Chose someone you know reasonably well in the company (who knows your “brand”) to make an internal referral for you. Look for positions similar to the level and role you held earlier for quicker hiring decision.

Benefits: As an employee, you don’t have to worry about positioning your brand. You are also likely to know the culture, processes, tools within the company well enough. For the employer, this would mean less training requirements, increased loyalty, faster time to being a productive resource.

Drawbacks: This strategy is typically not suited if you are looking to change your line of profession. Experienced gained after leaving the employer may also get discounted due to pre-existing professional brand image.?

Freemium: Free Work For A Paid Future

Strategy #2: Freemium

Making a product available for free to entice users into buying – this has been an age-old marketing strategy and is a great option for you if you are trying to get hired for a completely new skill you have acquired.

Execution Plan: While you may find some “Experienced Internship” job postings online, it is better to be intentional with this strategy using following steps:

1. Identify the primary skill you plan to use as your brand – either technical or functional. Example: Data Science or Retail Management. It can be your prior experience or a new skill you have gained during your break.

2. Based on the skill, make a list of top 3 industries where your skill is at the core. Then make a list of top 10 companies & startups in each of these industries within your work radius (local or regional or global).

3. Prioritize this list of companies based on their physical proximity to you, people in your network within those companies among other priorities that you may have.

4. Offer your services with a clear intention of helping the company for a specific time (say, 3 months). Put your best foot forward while at work to ensure the employer gets to see the best of you.

Benefits: You benefit by understanding the company, role and culture better while the company benefits by seeing your personality holistically, your range of skills and have more time to figure out a headcount before making an offer.

Drawbacks: Many a times such gigs may not turn into offers – especially at startups – given the long-term financial commitment required for hiring an employee.?

Stepping Stone: Indirect Route To Your Target Job

Strategy #3: Stepping Stone

Sometimes it becomes difficult to achieve a position directly due to factors that are outside your area of influence. For example, some companies do not bring external hires to key senior management positions and prefer internal promotions. In other cases, a position might not be available for the job you want, but another position may be open that “leads” to that role. All such “interim” positions that lead to your target role are referred to as “Stepping Stones”.

Execution Plan:

“Stepping Stone” is unique as a strategy since it is as relevant for internal job movements as it is for external job hunt.

It requires to step back and take a holistic view of a role you desire to have. Look at a 3-5 years horizon where you want to be and then look at positions that lead up to your target role. Reach out to people who are already on these target positions and ask them for mentorship. This alone opens door to offers for these “Stepping Stone” positions.

Benefits: You enter the role with a clear timeline and learning goal as you don’t plan to sit on it forever. You also get time to study your target role and develop skills and relationships required for the same. The employer gets to evaluate you over a period of time before trusting you with more responsibility.

Drawbacks: You may feel demoralized taking up a job if it doesn’t match your expectation. It is critical to keep emphasizing to yourself why you are doing what you are doing.

Profile Building: Attracting A Job Based On Your Brand

Strategy #4: Profile Building

All the strategies we have discussed so far are focused on targeted job hunting. However, if you have a bit more time on hand, building a professional profile over a period of time is the best way of getting attention of hiring managers and recruiters. Building a strong profile over professional networks like LinkedIn goes a long way in attracting the right kind of jobs.

Execution Plan: Profile Building is a long journey, its not a “task” that can be finished in a finite period of time. That means you have to start early – in fact, this should be part of every professional’s planned activities – whether on a career break or not.

First and foremost, it requires you to discover your own passion and identify your core career persona – this is your inner truth.

Then start building an external profile (a brand) that reflects the true you by being fully aligned to your passion. Means of contribution vary based on platform – it may be articles, videos, workshops, volunteer work among a lot of other things.

Benefits: When done consistently over a period of time, building a publicly recognizable brand isn’t just handy when you need to find a job, but is also useful as you grow professionally in your current track. It also helps you to remain connected with your passion while not losing sight of your profession.

Drawbacks: You may start building a profile that may reflect more of your professional than your passion. Also, you may build a brand that you really don’t want. Changing your brand later after sometime may prove to be counter-productive.

To conclude, job search is a very personal journey and each one of us experiences it differently. What works for one may not work for another, so its important to reflect and plan for your job search just like you would do with any other major life decision.

Hope this article helps provide some support in your job search.

#meghnakhan?#mkcs?#dreamfinder?#CareerBreak?#Success?#Entrepreneur?#PersonalGrowth #Opportunities?#RiskTaker?#Inspiration?#CareerGoals #CareerAdvice?#ComebackSuccess #DubaiCareer #jobsearch?

About The Author:?Meet Meghna, the career coach on a mission to help you make conscious career choices. With over 20 years of experience in the education industry, Meghna has worked with startups, big corporations, NGOs, and esteemed educational institutes globally. She has counseled numerous individuals on their career paths and believes in keeping the individual at the heart of the counseling process. Meghna founded MKCS to provide conscious career choices and career guidance for students, working professionals, institutes, and corporates. MKCS offers various programs, including workforce readiness programs for students, career planning for professionals, professional profile building and deeper insight into candidates/employees for HR departments and recruitment companies.

She can be reached at [email protected] or +971-55-33-93-115