LinkedIn is a crucial resource to your return to work journey. It’s a forum for showcasing your resume and skills, as well as announcing that you’re back on the job market. But its primary function is as a connection builder — a place to both grow and make use of your network. Many people think that the best way to accomplish this is to send blind connection requests to people…
As you prepare to return to work, old professional colleagues can be a great source for support, networking, and advice. But if you’ve been on a career break for a while, you might have lost touch with many of your old professional network. And the more time that has passed since you’ve talked, the more apprehension you might be feeling about reaching back out. First, think about how you felt…
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…
Returning to work after a career break can be daunting in many ways. One common uncertainty amongst career returners is what level of jobs to apply for. Many returners who’ve achieved seniority in their professions assume that, because of their breaks, they’ll only be offered positions that are lower than the previous career level they’ve managed to achieve. However, when job searching — with or without a break — the…
As you start attending job interviews after your break, you’re probably wondering how to bring up your career gap. How do you explain your reasoning for taking a career break? How much detail should you go into about the circumstances of your break? It can be nerve-wracking to put yourself out there and hope employers will understand and respect your decisions – both to step out of the paid workforce,…
If you’ve had a long professional career, followed by a sizable break from the workforce, you might be worried about facing ageism in interviews – hidden behind terms like “overqualified.” We wish we could tell you that it doesn’t happen, but it does. A lot. It’s frustrating to face. Ageism, like other -isms, is a structural issue that we need to collectively work to dismantle. In the meantime, there is…
Fall is typically a time of back-to-school and new beginnings, but as with every facet of daily life, the pandemic has turned that upside down. While this has been a challenging year for everyone, we know that it has been especially difficult for working moms trying to maintain their careers while caring for their children, and for caregivers looking to return to work in an unstable economy. While there is…
One thing we hear, pretty frequently, is the idea that someone out of the workforce for many years must be “outdated” in terms of their skills. We hear this from returnees themselves. And we hear it, usually formed as a question, from some recruiters. This is especially true because of how many tech companies we work with, many of whom are focused on hiring engineers. If you haven’t worked in…
Last week, Tami Forman was a guest on Career Pivot’s Repurpose Your Career podcast, where she talked to host Marc Miller about returning to the workforce after a long break. Career Pivot is a career service for adults who are on the second half of their professional lives and are looking to make a change – whether it’s switching to a different career or returning to one after a break.…
