Want to get back to work after a career break? Read this now.
Eight years ago, we built Know Your Value as a movement designed to uplift and inspire all women to advocate for themselves in the workplace.
But after our 2016 national conference, my sister-in-law Ginny Brzezinski gave me a wake-up call. I was leaving out a wide swath of women: those making a career comeback.
Perhaps they planned to take a career break, focusing on parenting for a few or several years. Others may have paused their careers not by choice: Maybe they found themselves unable to afford childcare, or they were laid off.
You've left us out, Ginny told me. And we have value too.
She was right. And she should know: Ginny’s career plans shifted unexpectedly when her boss, Sen. Bill Roth of Delaware, lost his re-election bid in 2001. Ginny stepped back from a 12-year Capitol Hill press career, raised her children…and then when she was ready to find her way back in 2010 after seven years of childrearing and two years in real estate, she felt she had lost her professional mojo.
Ginny explained that Know Your Value needed to reach out to women like her – to shine a spotlight on the challenges they are facing and help this untapped talent pool see their value, regain any lost confidence and write their next chapter.
We signed Ginny on as a Know Your Value contributor, and added discussions to our national conferences specifically about relaunching careers. Ginny and I are also co-authoring a book on the topic --- which includes delving into our different career and parenting arcs – coming out in 2019.
Jumping back into the workforce can be scary, but you don’t have to go it alone. We hope Know Your Value and our upcoming book will be a valuable resource for those ready to unpause their careers. In the meantime, check out Ginny’s top 5 book recommendations for women considering a career comeback:
- "Back on the career track: A guide for stay-at-home moms who want to return to work," by Carol Fishman Cohen and Vivian Steir Rabin
- "The new rules of work: The modern playbook for navigating your career," by Alexandra Cavoulacos and Kathryn Minshew
- “The ambition decisions: What women know about work, family and the path to building a life," by Elizabeth Wallace and Hana Schank
- "Work Pause Thrive: How to pause for parenthood without killing your career," by Lisen Stromberg
- "How hard can it be?: A novel," by Allison Pearson
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6 年I had the exact same thought as Ginny. I have admired the Know Your Value movement for some time. However, it it did ignore not only moms trying to get back to their careers after a break, but also women who have been held back for other reasons, like social and cultural barriers. I recently started a blog to discuss these topics, because I have met so many women that can relate. Check it out at www.confusedexecutivemom.com.?
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6 年I am curious about the resources for Dads? The Dad who is a restaurant manager whose wife’s career advanced in marketing. Their daughter was born and he works 3 days a week and stays at home 2 days. Daughter is in school and he wants to get back into the advancement lane. What about the Dad who had a high travel job who now with 2 kids wants to travel less and stay closer to home? His wife is an attorney. He could not migrate to another role at the same company so he is now raising the kids but looking for productive work with less travel. There are more and more resources popping up for the Moms who paused their careers. But as more Moms stay in the career force and Dads take a side step, what types of books, orgs, and resources are there for them?
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6 年Yes i do
Empowering Revenue Teams to Drive Superior Results
6 年Relaunching your career after a pause, especially a long one, can seem like climbing Mt. Everest. With the tools like Ginny's top 5 book recommendations, organizations that promote women returning to work like #knowyourvalue, iRelaunch, ReBoot Accel, Path Forward.ORG and a cohort of highly talented and motivated re-launchers to support you along the way, it is definitely achievable.
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6 年I saw Ginny speak at the iRelaunch Return to Work conference this past October and I've been anxiously awaiting the release of her book in 2019. Thank you for highlighting such an important initiative!