Career Coach: Jump Start Your Return to Work

One of the toughest challenges women face when returning to the workplace after taking time off to raise a family is a lack of confidence. They may have a résumé chock full of accomplishments and skills, but because they have been out of the workplace for a while, they often feel that these may not be as valuable as those that are more current.

These women aren’t wrong for feeling this way. Some employers may be hesitant to consider a potential employee with a gap in her work history for fear that her skills are not up to date. On the other hand, savvy employers realize that there is a wealth of talent who, with a bit of retraining, would be an asset to their companies.

Enter the “returnship”. Companies such as Goldman Sachs and Sara Lee have been offering returnships to women–and, less commonly, men–who have taken time off to raise their families. These multi-week programs (some paid, some unpaid) offer women the retraining that allows them to learn new technologies, polish their skills and gain confidence before on-ramping. As of 2010, 50 percent of women who participated in the 10-week Goldman Sachs program have successfully joined the company.

If you are interested in returning to work in a field that doesn’t offer an official “returnship” program, then propose one to the human resources office. It is a winning proposition for both sides.

–Pamela Weinberg