Taking time off worked used to be rare a number of years ago, but it is becoming very popular as more and more people pause their careers every year for various reasons – illness, maternity leave, taking time to travel, volunteer work, caring for a loved one, research work, etc. In other cases, college graduates take some time off after graduating to do something adventurous such as travel around the world before coming back to continue their careers. However, even with the popularity of career breaks, some people are afraid of putting their careers on pause for fear that they will not be able to find a good job after coming back and with good reasons; most employers are reluctant to employ job seekers who have taken a career break, especially if it is a long one. Fortunately, with the help of some good advice from Sphere Digital Recruitment you can be able to land a good job after you career break. Below is a look at some of the tips on how you can restart your career after a break:
- Reconsider your career path
If you are considering restarting your career after taking a break, one of the first things you should do is reconsider your career path, especially when you have been away for a long time. This is because during this period, your priorities and preferences might have changed, thus making it impossible to just pick from where you left off. For example, if you take time off to travel around the world, your interactions with other people, their cultures, beliefs, and norms can change your view of the world significantly.
In addition, you are also likely to develop new interests that would make it hard to assimilate back to your old career. Therefore, before you start sending out applications, you should make sure that you are well suited for your old career. If not, you should consider switching to an ideal career where you will have an easy time adjusting. This way, you can be able to land a better career, for example, a career in the digital marketing industry where you will find many digital jobs in the UK waiting to be filled.
- Update your skills
During your time away, one thing is definitely bound to happen, your skills will become a bit obsolete, as you will not have the continuous work experience and training you previously enjoyed. Therefore, before you go back to work, first update your skills to make you more desirable to prospective clients. You can do this by taking some classes that will give you additional skills or enrolling in a short, professional development course in your line of work. This will help to add value to your resume, thus increasing the chances of you landing a job.
- Reach out to people and reconnect with professional contacts
After you have decided to go back to work after a break, another important thing you should do is put the word out to people you know – friends, family members, and acquaintances. This way, you can be able to get leads about job openings, or even come into contact with someone who is looking to hire a job candidate with your skills.
In addition to friends and family members, you should also reconnect with colleagues you used to work with before taking your break. This might help you get good leads on positions that are available in your line of work. Your former colleagues can also give you valuable advice that can help you prepare better for coming back– for example, you can be able to find out the type of skills employers are currently searching for.
- Start applying for jobs
In addition to reconnecting with former colleagues and asking for job leads from your friends, acquaintances, and family, you should also start actively searching for a job. Go through newspaper ads for jobs and reply to as many adverts as possible. You should also look for job adverts in forums such as online job boards, classified websites, and social media posts. Another way of searching for a job is to contact a reputable UK recruitment company and schedule a meeting with a recruitment adviser, who will connect you to companies looking for candidates with your qualifications as well as advise you on how to land a good job.
- Network with people
Reconnecting with old colleagues is great for your job search when you are returning from a break, but you should also start finding new professional contacts in your career field that you can network with. This will help to connect you to people in the industry who can give you job leads, offer you valuable information, and if you are lucky, come across someone who is hiring.
- Explain your absence positively
After taking a break, one of the things you will have to deal with when searching for a job is your absence. Many employers will like to know where you were during the break and what you were doing, and you will even find that some will be reluctant to hire you – some employers might be wary that you will decide to take a break again. Therefore, when you are preparing your job applications, you should consider listing your absence in your resume, and filling it with something you accomplished while you were away – volunteer work, personal projects, or taking classes.
During your interview, you should also explain your absence with confidence and in a way that makes you look great. For example, you can tell your interviewers of something you learned from the achievements you made during the break that will make you a better employee than you were.
- Be positive in your search and during interviews
While it is possible to land a good job after taking a break, you will find that will not be easy. Therefore, you should stay positive in your search and keep going even when you get disappointing results at first.
Conclusion
Sometimes, either out of your own preference or due to unavoidable situations, you might need to take a break from work for some time. After your break, you might decide that you finally want to come back to work. While searching for a good job after a break, you will find out that picking from where you left might not be that easy, and it can be a bit hard getting a job after a long break. However, with further tips from Forbes you can be able to prepare yourself for returning to work, and even land a good job that will help progress your career despite the break.
