Anne Smith has 28 years of software engineering experience. After taking a three-year career break to spend time with her teenage children, she re-entered the workforce through a returnship at Cloudera. Despite the fact that Anne had not worked in a hands-on engineering environment for a few years, her understanding of software engineering concepts made her an excellent fit as a project manager within the Quality Engineering team as an…
If you’re among those who are skeptical about the value of using a “returnship” to re-enter the workforce after a break, you’re not alone. Back in 2012, Working Mother ran an article that opened with the line, “Thinking about doing a returnship? Please don’t.” The article went on to argue that returnships took advantage of women’s feelings of insecurity after a career break, and that placement rates at the end…
Chandra with Path Forward’s Executive Director Tami Forman at the Path Forward Career Restart Seminar she attended. Chandra admires Tami for her dedication and all her sincere support and encouragement during the Path Forward workshops. Chandra Krishnamoorthy restarted her career in 2017 at Intacct Corporation in San Jose. She is currently their Sales Operations Analyst. Chandra worked for 15 years as a commissions analyst before she left the workforce when…
Stephanie Sullivan started her career as an attorney. She spent the following ten years as a professional development leader helping lawyers, law students, and recent graduates succeed in their career. Like many returnees, she only expected to take a few years away from her career to raise her daughters. Eleven years later, she re-entered the workforce through the Path Forward program at Verisk Analytics in their HR department. At the…
In November 2017, Wall Street Journal magazine had a cover story about Reese Witherspoon. She has become a force in Hollywood creating movies and TV shows that are made by, star, and appeal to women. That this is a novel concept—despite the fact that 52% of moviegoers are women—is a testament to how far we’ve got to go. But her success is a testament to how far we’ve come and we…
Steffie MacDonald was a seasoned operations strategist and professional analyst before she left the workforce 17 years ago to care for her family. As her children grew older, she made steps to re-start her career. Despite staying active in her community and growing her network of professional contacts, she felt employers wouldn’t take a chance on her because of her career gap. Path Forward’s program gave her the professional experience…
Ivel Leatheam spent 10 years working in the fashion industry before taking a break to raise her children. When she decided to return to work nine years later, she used Path Forward as a jumping off point for career re-entry. Ivel’s creative skills made her an excellent candidate for a graphic design returnship at Verisk Analytics, even though graphic design wasn’t a focus of her former career. Now she’s working…
Those who’ve been out of the workforce for a few years often find taking a course or two aimed at refreshing your skills can be helpful, especially if you’ve worked in the tech sector. Technology surrounding computer programming and web development can change rapidly. Taking a course can give you a boost of confidence and demonstrates to prospective employers your eagerness to learn new skills. The good news is that…
I was recently interviewed for a podcast and at the end I was asked a series of rapid-fire questions. One of them was “What is the key to work/life balance?” Hmmm. A lot of things flashed through my head. An understanding boss. A company that respects employee’s personal lives. A supportive spouse or partner at home. Some other kind of good personal support network. All of those things are helpful,…
Name: Laura Stupi Company and Position Title: Customer Success Associate, Demandbase What did you do before taking a break: Before taking a break I worked in the scientific instrumentation industry. Most of it was focused on the application of X-rays to the chemical characterization of materials. I worked with the extraction (oil, gas, and mining) and environmental clean-up industries, and the academic sector. I held two different roles: first working with…
