Four tips to help you make a successful career comeback

Ready to start looking for work after a career break? To help you get started, we share four tips for a successful career comeback.

Are you thinking about returning to work, but unsure about how to kickstart your career after a long break? If you’ve taken time off to raise your family, getting back into the routine of smart dress codes and 9-5 working hours can seem like a daunting task.

Four tips to help you make a successful career comeback

But like anything, once you break the process down into do-able steps, it seems much more achievable. And that’s just what Andrew Johnson from CVpal has done for us with his four tips for a successful career comeback.

1) Rediscover your career confidence

Many mums are worried they’ll have to take several steps back in their career if they’ve been out of the job market for a long time, especially if they’ve lost some of their confidence in their professional abilities.

But this isn’t the case at all. You are still the same competent, professional person that you were when you left work, plus you are likely to have gained maturity and outstanding organisational and multi-tasking skills (all of which are essential for managing a busy family life)!

To help tap into the old, confident you again, try reading through positive reports from your last job, catch up with old colleagues and find your professional energy to give you the confidence boost that you need to get started.

2) Get around your ‘career break’

When writing your CV, a long career break can feel a bit like the elephant in the room. To help detract attention from it, try writing your CV with a focus more on competencies and listing skills and achievements than on the chronological order of your employment history.

Also, write your CV in the third person with clear deliverables and highlight accomplishments backed up with evidence. If your previous work involved business or income growth, outline this in percentage terms rather than numbers.

Many mums returning to work use a CV writing service which can offer expert help on how to make the most of your valuable skills and experience.

3) Work out your working hours and childcare

When you’re ready to start job hunting, decide on your main priorities. Many mums only look for jobs which are close to home and offer part time hours. However more and more employers allow home working, so if your dream job is slightly further away than you’d ideally like, enquire about working from home.

Jobs that are advertised as full time sometimes state that there is flexibility to discuss part time hours. If you have the right skill set for your employer’s needs, working hours and location can be negotiated so approach these discussions with confidence.

Once you’ve been offered a job, try to find childcare that’s easy to access from home or from your place of work. Factoring in drop offs and pick-ups is a major change to your working day, so it needs to be made as easy as possible.

4) Go easy on yourself

Starting a new job after a long career break can feel challenging. As well as the usual stresses of getting to know people and learning the ropes, you’ve got to consider childcare and the realities of balancing a busy work and home life.

But remember that you will have a lot to offer in today’s professional working world, and you’ll be a great role model for your children too. Don’t be afraid to ask for help with the housework or managing childcare, and don’t beat yourself up if you haven’t managed to cook nutritious, organic meals on your days off.

You don’t have to be superwoman. Juggling work and home life is a huge undertaking, so go easy on yourself if you don’t get everything ‘perfect’. But it also comes with huge rewards, so keep your head high, be proud of your achievements and start your career comeback with a satisfying job that you deserve.

Need more career comeback advice?

You’ll find more tips on how to find a flexible job you love in these articles:

You can find out more about how CVpal can help you on their website.