My Journey – Returning to Work after Career Break

?“Offer of Employment” email is always exciting for many! 10 years prior when I received the email with the title it was special. It meant I was breaking the career gap of 4 years and heading back to Corporate life. It meant surviving through all the rejection mails from recruiters who did not even want to proceed with a resume who had a break.

It meant a whole new world opening up for me when I was in a new phase of my life - Being a Mother of two and pursuing a job.

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I didn’t want to call it career back then because I was never sure if I would continue or ?could survive in a job for 1 year.

I am proud of completing 10 years after the break and now I can happily say it was a career ??.?

Having to go through a break in career is mostly due to difficult choices one has to make in life to try something new or to survive through a situation. 14 years back life gave me 2 choices – Sacrifice even my freedom of movement to have a family or Continue as is but no assurance if life in my womb could see the world. ?

I chose the first. ?

On bed rest for 9 months and a feel of living through a thriller movie where each day passing without any untoward health concern was sought as blessing by me and my dear ones !! We survived the nine months and there came our little boy ??. ?

I felt it was worth the sacrifices I made. ?

I did not feel even have an iota of doubt for resigning my job or saying a STOP to my career! Then life went on. We were blessed with our younger son within 18 months. And life was full of adventures , happiness & what not with my two little boys!?

When younger one turned two, I thought could be the time to get back to job.?After many hardships and continuous tries I had an offer with me.

A moment to rejoice.?

Now when I look back after a decade of working after the break, I am reminded of emotions?I had to let go, emotions I had to fight, emotions and strength I nurtured to survive the 10 years of this journey. Below are ?the 7 lessons I learnt during this journey.

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1)???Once you are in the job, leave the baggage of career break. I carried it along for many months by talking about the break in every client interview or discussions. Interviewers and Leaders are only interested if you know the subject well enough and if you can do the assignment. ?

Learn and do your very best in whatever is assigned to you. That’s all that matters!?

2)???Building a good Support System – This could be very specific to someone who took a break to take care of kids, parents. In my case it was a break for my kids. I invested in one of the best day cares (with the best of facilities), a full-time house help. Always ask for help with your near and dear ones when there is a need.

TIP: Amount of support needed might go down with time but support system in every phase is a need.?

3)???Don’t get into Calculations – I had close to ZERO savings during the initial days of restarting because when you invest in a good support system like daycare, that costs money right?

?There is always a tendency to do the calculations on savings (not all though). ?

Some interesting conversations I have been part of “Isn’t it more profitable that if you stayed home and you could save better”. ?

Do not look at short term. In long term trust me, your pay would increase, expenses would come down and look at the many benefits like health insurance your Organization offers.?

4)???Revisit your “WHY” quite often- The toughest part to deal with after a break is to see your batchmates as your Managers or in Leadership roles or senior roles with a great package. This is all about handling your emotions & your mind. ?

100s question used to ?pop in my head when I dealt with it. ?“ I should have been in the role if only”, “I lost my 4 years”!!?

?Relax – Go back to the question WHY.?

For me the WHY has always been “WHY did I take the break “ and best way to remind myself was to revisit some of the photographs with my kids during those 4 years, journals written, videos we recorded !

That always gave me the answer – Best time spent, the blessings of the Almighty and time spent exclusively with my kids. Shouldn’t I be thankful ???

5)???Calculated Risks & Moves in career- First one year is your transitioning phase.

When I joined the firm after the break, I thought this is where my career will restart and end. I never even once thought I would quit for a better opportunity. But I did. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to which helped me return back to work.

But sometimes to move forward you need to take calculated risks and moves. Subconsciously reason behind doing this could be to catch up on the role, salary.?

?But it proved to be good. The experience you get with each movement, the network you build, different processes we learn, different technologies we are exposed to - this is surely worth a try. It could also be within departments in your Organization.?

6)???Don’t let Monotony set in – Experiment with the roles, assignments you take. When the whole world shouts no stress, I feel a little bit of stress sometimes brings out the best in you. Learn new courses, pursue higher education along with career or try something new!?

Find your ways to break the Monotony and you would enjoy going to work everyday. ?

7)???Be the mentor – There are many talents out who is still not confident to get back to work. With the multiple program Corporates offer like Back to work, returning back is much easier than 10 years prior.?

?Holding on could be tough. ?

Be the mentor for the ones who needs that confidence to pursue their career.

You could also be the mentor for the ones who badly needs a break. These colleagues or friends do not have the confidence to go for it because they think of the difficulties restarting.?

I have put in points which helped me personally. I am hopeful if there is even one person who is still doubting their abilities whether to ?RESTART their career due to an unknown fear, I would say start, experiment , fail but never be afraid to even give it a try!

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