Tips for Women Trying to Restart Their Career
Now that the kids are grown and you have the opportunity to jump back into your career, this new world can be a bit intimidating.
You want to build the career that you dreamt about, but you know that you can’t expect things to go smoothly right away. Luckily, there are a few things that you can do to get things going smoother!
Reconnect With Pros From Your Past
If you worked prior to your leave of absence, or if you made solid connections during your college career, make sure you reconnect with those people.
Not only can they give you some solid career advice for the future of your career, but they might have some leads on open jobs in your industry. Find them on LinkedIn or Facebook and get the conversation going!
Spend Some Time Networking
This is also a great time to build a solid presence on LinkedIn. Social media sites like LinkedIn are very useful tools for when you enter or re-enter the job search.
Not only should you spend time on social media, but you should also attend alumni events at your alma mater, and information sessions and conventions for your industry. Do some research online, and make some basic business cards that you can hand out.
If you have a network full of industry professionals, you have a wealth of resources for the rest of your career.
Make a Plan of Attack And Run it by Someone in Your Field
You’ve probably had a bit of time to think about what you want to do now that you are working again. However, if you’ve been out of the workforce for a few years, there might be a few things that have changed while you’ve been gone.
Get ahold of an industry professional that you trust and ask if you can talk to them about your plan to re-enter the workforce. Show them your written plan-of-attack, and write down their feedback.
Take their suggestions seriously, but if you disagree with them, make sure that you speak with someone else as well.
Refresh Your Skillset
Depending on how long you have been out of the workforce, there is a chance that there have been some major changes in how your job is done. Also, since it’s been awhile since you worked, there is a good chance that your skills are rusty.
You might not need to go back to school, but you might want to consider getting re-certified, or taking some courses to whip your skills back into shape. You don’t want to get a job interview only to tell them that you haven’t used your skills since 2012.
Hire a Professional Resume Writer
If you want to stick out amongst the competition, you need a professional resume writer. Many companies use applicant-tracking systems to filter out resumes that don’t meet their standards. This means that the resume you send may never end up in the hands of a human.