Job interviews are tough for most people, and it can feel especially daunting to go on an interview after you’ve taken a break from the workforce. Depending on the length of your career break, and how long you were working before you stepped away, it has been a long time since you’ve been the subject of a job interview. The good news is there are specific steps you can take…
When it comes to job interviews, there are a lot of reasons why you might be out of practice. Some people are fortunate enough to have held a job for years, and haven’t had a need to interview. But for many returners, taking a career break to care for loved ones might mean it’s been a long while. Regardless of the circumstances for why you’ve been out of the interview…
You’ve embarked on a job hunt armed with a personal arsenal of job application resources, like an updated resume, tailored cover letter, and stellar interview tactics. But there’s one crucial component of the job search process that returners often overlook: professional references. Companies rely on professional references to verify your skill set and to get an outsider’s opinion of how you perform in a workplace environment. These recommendations can also…
We get it. The resume advice you’ll often hear is to hide your career gap. That’s because of the unfortunate stigma still around about hiring people with breaks, especially those who put their careers on pause in order to provide care. For returnship positions, though, the opposite is true! A gap is required and needs to be apparent on your resume. For these opportunities, there’s no need to justify your…
Path Forward is frequently asked about interview follow up — usually something along the lines of “How often is too often to check in?” or “How long can I / should I wait before following up on a job application?” Mostly, candidates seem concerned about being too aggressive in contacting recruiters or hiring managers. But my conversations with recruiters and hiring managers, including my own experiences, show that a lack…
I recently presented a webinar for the American Geological Union on restarting a career in the sciences. We included a poll asking the attendees which part of the job search process they most dreaded — networking, resumes, interviews or “all of it.” The winner, by a pretty wide margin, was networking. I’m not surprised. To most people networking feels smarmy and, well, icky. I think it’s because we fundamentally misunderstand…
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…
It’s commonly mentioned that the work that people do outside the paid workforce when they’ve taken a pause for caregiving gains them skills and experiences that are valuable in the professional environment as well. But it’s less common to find good advice on how to translate those experiences in a way that recruiters and hiring managers will understand. The better you are able to articulate how your experiences have gained…
One question that I’m frequently asked is “Does anyone read cover letters? And, if not, do I need to bother with one?” The short answers are it depends and yes. Talk to a bunch of recruiters and pretty soon you will hear the same thing: they don’t read cover letters. But you still need one, and it needs to be customized for each job. The reason is simple: A great…
One question we are often asked is how do I write a resume when I haven’t worked, professionally, for years. And it’s tough because most “how to deal with a resume gap” advice is aimed at people who have been out of work for several months, not years. So here’s a high level guide to writing a resume when you’ve been out of the workforce for a long time and…
