Stepping Back Into the Workforce
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The idea of returning to work after a significant amount of time away causes many professionals to feel pretty intimidated. After all, whether you spent your time off raising kids, caring for a loved one, or traveling the world, the reality is that your industry – and the workforce in general – has likely changed substantially in your absence. In fact, you have no doubt changed quite a bit in the years since you’ve left. As such, to achieve a successful transition back to work, you’ll first need to identify what all of these changes mean to you and how they’ll influence your new career path. Here’s how to get started:
- Identify the value you’ve gained from your time off. Capture the meaning of your experience away from the workforce. Tie that information into who you are now and what you plan to accomplish in your new role. Highlight the unique experience you gained during your time off in your language. It took courage to leave, and now it takes courage to return!
- Try and identify what you want out of your career from this point forward- e.g., to work alongside smart people, to generate a certain income, to have an impact. Close your eyes and picture what your transition back to the workforce would look like in your ideal world. Can you see yourself returning to the position you held before you left? Or have your motivations changed and you are now interested in exploring new roles and opportunities?
- Make a list of your talents. What are your current strengths? What unique perspective do you bring to the table? Do your current talents match your previous role? If not, think about some new options you’d like to explore that may be a better fit.
- Make a list of your most important values in life. Chances are good that your core values have shifted since you left the workforce. Identify where your values now lie, and evaluate how these changes will impact the career path you choose to follow. For example, maybe you used to work 80 hours a week in the financial services industry. Now that you have children and want to spend more time with family, your values may no longer align with such a demanding schedule.
- Make a list of your priorities. List out your priorities in order from most important to least important. For example, rank your kids, marriage, career, family, travel, etc. Where does your career fall in the grand scheme of things? How important is your transition back to work? Is it something you are willing to prioritize?
- Evaluate your wardrobe. If it’s been a while since you left the workforce, your wardrobe may need a refresh before you start meeting with contacts. Make sure the professional clothes you own are current, and make you feel comfortable and powerful.
- Arrange information meetings with people you admire. After figuring out your values, priorities, and strengths, you should have a pretty clear idea of the industries and roles you’d like to explore. Your next step will be to arrange meetings with people who are already successful in those areas, to gain a better understanding of which career path is most appropriate for you.
