Two years ago my friend and a member of Path Forward’s Board of Directors, Gayatri Agnew, started a new holiday called Mother’s Monday. The idea was simple: While we “honor” mothers on Mother’s Day we don’t support mothers, and especially mothers with careers. The expectation is that Mom celebrates with her children on a Sunday but then pretends she has no caregiving responsibilities when she gets to the office on…
Yesterday, Amazon announced a commitment to hiring 1,000 returners through their returnship program. This is by far the biggest goal that a company has set for a returnship program. We’ve proudly worked with Amazon on their returnship program since 2019, and we’re thrilled to be a part of this major expansion. We know returnships help everyone – not just professionals eager to return to their careers and show off their…
Company: Meta Role: Data Scientist Like many Returners, Alex Karjeker’s career story-line has many twists and turns and includes employment in a wide array of careers. He worked for over a year as an investment banker, two years as a data scientist, and a year as a lobbyist. In 2017, Alex stepped away from the corporate world to run for public office, and when that was unsuccessful, he traveled to…
When we began Path Forward more than 5 years ago, it was because we recognized that decades after women had entered the workforce in large numbers, many still faced work/life conflicts after they became mothers. For some this led to leaving the workforce, often in a way that felt more like pushed out. And then, when these smart, educated, experienced women were ready to return to the paid workforce —…
I’m thrilled to announce the appointment of Cindy Guerra Robbins to the Board of Path Forward! Cindy comes to us with an impressive resume and an even-more impressive history of championing the cause of gender equity in the workforce, most notably at Salesforce where she led a study that motivated CEO Marc Benioff to rebalance gender pay across the company—generating acclaim for Salesforce and positioning the company as a role…
Path Forward and Twilio are excited to announce a new returnship program aimed at helping finance and accounting professionals restart their careers after time away for caregiving. Twilio is looking for Accountants and Payroll Analysts to participate in 16-week returnships that will start in April. These roles are open to professionals with five or more years of experience, who have taken two or more years off from their careers for…
If you have a career break of a decade or more, you might be wondering how to present your skills and experience as relevant to hiring managers. Will employers accept that your professional experience is 10+ years old? Do your volunteer and caregiving experiences count for anything? First, you should take some inspiration from the many Path Forward alumni who’ve successfully restarted their careers after a break of more than…
At Path Forward, we get a lot of questions about which specific technical skills are now in demand — but very rarely does anyone ask about soft skills. And guess what — a lot of times what stands in the way of success at work can be put into the category of soft skills! Now only that, but soft skills are generally the elements that differentiate us from robots (!). …
One of the biggest challenges of returning to the workforce is making sense of what skills are currently sought-after in your chosen field. This is especially true for tech careers, because technology can change so quickly. So what’s the best way to figure out which technical skills are relevant to your industry? There are a few steps you can take: 1. Study job descriptions. Read through the “skills required” section…
Asking for recommendations on LinkedIn, especially when you’re reaching out to someone for the first time in a while, can feel awkward. The best way to open the conversation is to re-establish a connection by asking them for a call to reconnect and get advice. People you’ve worked with – even if it was a while ago – are usually very willing to give a few minutes to offer advice.…
