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ARE YOU READY TO RE-ENTER
THE WORKFORCE? BACK TO WORK AFTER BEING HOME
Have you been out of the workforce for a period of time and
now are ready to re-enter? Don’t
worry – it’s not that uncommon these days to go back to work after a period away!
Many moms take a hiatus after having a baby and then go back to work.
Or, life circumstances change, you get a divorce and need to go
back to work after being home.
Here are some tips for preparing:
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Holes in your
resume:
During an interview you may be asked about time lapses in your
resume. Don’t be too
concerned. If you have been out
staying home with children or an elderly parent, a short quick answer will
do. You can simply say,
“taking care of family” or “staying home with children” and leave it
at that. The interviewer should drop the subject right there.
It is not relevant to the job to ask any more.
No big deal!
-
Interviewing Skills:
Brush up on your interviewing skills. Have
a friend ask you questions. Get
ready with the basic questions like, what are your strengths and weaknesses.
Also check out our page on Interview
Tips to learn about Behavioral Interviewing.
Many organizations are using this strategy to determine whether or
not someone is a good fit.
-
Translate activities into Job
Skills: Think about how your activities during your time away
from the workforce can translate into useful skills in the workplace.
Have you been juggling lots of activities?
Well, you have good organizational skills.
How did you keep track of it all?
Did you work with the PTA? Did
you coordinate a car pool or use a computer to keep stats for a softball
league? All of these things can
translate into workplace skills that you can highlight in an interview.
-
Have a Positive Attitude:
Make
sure that you have the right attitude!
Know that you have the skills and abilities that an organization
would be lucky to have. Use eye
contact during the interview to show how confident you are.
-
Start Slowly:
If
you’ve got some time before you really need to jump back in with both
feet, try to do some freelance work first.
That way you can start slowly and a lot of times can work from home.
You can also add the projects to your resume.
Check our site at http://www.womans-work.com/freelance_jobs.htm
to see if there are any projects that would fit your needs.
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Update your Resume:
– and
don’t forget the activities that translate to the workplace – add them
under a “Skills” section. See how to write a great objective
statement in the article from last month DOWN WITH THE OBJECTIVE
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Invest in a new interview suit: You don’t have to spend a lot of money. You’ll want to feel your best and having a nice new suit
that fits well and is up to date will help.
Just find something basic and fairly plain. Interview tip books always tell you to stick with navy.
I think that any basic color that makes you feel good is fine.
If you are interviewing with a more creative organization you can
always add a more colorful top underneath the jacket to add some personal
flair.
-
Send that Resume!:
Send
your resumes to lots of places. If
you get called for an interview for a job that you are not particularly
interested in go anyway. It
will give you some practice for when you get the call for that job that you
REALLY want!
-
RELAX!
The right opportunity will come along.
Kirsten Ross is mother of two sons and is
a Certified Human Resource Professional (SPHR) dedicated to helping women
achieve more life balance and to transforming the design of work.
Visit Womans-Work.com at http://www.womans-work.com
to search our revolutionary flexible work job board featuring more than 35,000
fresh work from home, part time, job share, flex time and telecommuting
opportunities, search for a job share partner or
read valuable career, life balance and family articles. You may also email
her at mailto:KRoss@Womans-Work.com
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