How to Job Search After a Career Pause
A career coach breaks down the job hunting process into a series of small, actionable steps
Whether your career pause has been six months or six years, pulling out your resume and beginning a job search after you’ve spent time as a stay-at-home mom can feel intimidating and overwhelming. Even more so if you are planning a career switch or looking to take on a different role than you had before your pause. However, if you break the job hunting process down into a series of small, actionable steps, it becomes more manageable and even more fulfilling. The entire process is an opportunity to learn and grow, to re-evaluate, and to expand your professional network. Now let’s break it down.
A 3-Step Approach to Job Hunting After a Career Pause
1. Research yourself
Before you even begin sprucing up your resume, take some time to understand your strengths, unique skill set, and what you want (not what you think you should want, or what your parents or old colleagues or friends want). Personality tests (strengths finder, the enneagram, assessment.com, high five test, to name a few) can be fascinating and informative. Additionally, ask your friends and family what they think you are good at. What comes more easily to you than other people? Those closest to you will often have more insightful answers than any test will ever provide and can help steer you towards specific work or industries.
ReBoot Accel, which has worked with thousands of women over the past five years, created a Personal Inventory worksheet, which is another excellent exercise to understand a.) what you are good at and b.) what is most important to you. Is it the type of work you are doing or the people you are working with? Are you willing to commute more than 25 minutes one way? Is some form of flexibility critical to you at this stage in your life? Are you looking for a job with tremendous growth potential? Or is a steady paycheck and health benefits more important?
2. Research roles, companies, and industries
Once you have some of these basics, head over to LinkedIn and start researching companies and job titles that are interesting to you. Do you want to work in the social impact space? Search for social impact roles and the types of people that have them. Or maybe you are super organized and love ticking off tasks on your to-do list so a project manager would be your ideal role. Find your connections on LinkedIn that have positions that sound interesting to you. Find your connections who work at interesting companies. Write them all. Glassdoor is also a wealth of information when it comes to job titles and company information.
3. Network like crazy
Before submitting a single job application, you will need to talk to as many people as you can. 85-90% of people land jobs through their network. Thankfully, because LinkedIn shows you all the people you know who work at the company you are interested in or the people who have your dream job, networking is slightly easier.
85-90% of people land jobs through their network.
We recommend setting a goal and trying to talk to 5 to 10 people each week. For example, let’s say you think you want to be a Customer Success Manager at a technology company. Enter “Customer Success Manager” in the LinkedIn search box, and everyone with that title you are connected with will pop up. Next, shoot them a quick note and ask if they have time for a quick coffee or 10 minutes to chat. Then, prepare your list of questions. Maybe something like this:
What do they like about this role?
What makes them good at this role?
Do they like their company?
Did they take any courses or do any upskilling to give them a leg up?
Are there any open roles at their company (you should also do research about this beforehand by looking at the company page, but they may have inside information about roles not yet posted)?
And here is the most critical question: Is there anyone else they can think of that you should talk to during your job search process?
The reason this last question is so important is that this instantly expands your network. Often the person you are speaking to does not have a job opening at that exact moment. However, people are almost always happy to help introduce you to someone they know who might be hiring or can help give you more information. In this stage of the job search process, you have to put yourself out there—which I know is awkward and uncomfortable—but it is the only way to tell if a Customer Success Manager is what you actually want to do or if this company is a place where you can be happy and thrive. This is also how, if you determine that this is the role and company you want, your resume will be placed directly into the hiring manager’s hands instead of submitted to the black hole that is the online hiring process.
And while putting yourself out there and asking people for their time and even their help is uncomfortable, like anything else, it gets easier each time you do it. And if you reach out to someone via email or LinkedIn, the worst thing that happens is they don’t respond (don’t take it personally). The best-case scenario? This conversation will help you advance to the next stage in your life and career.
So be confident. Be patient with yourself and the process, and give yourself permission to take the time to do your research and enjoy this journey.
Read More:
How Moms Can Negotiate for What They Really Need at Work
Megan Martin Strickland is a coach, speaker, workshop facilitator, and advocate for women at work. She specializes in helping women return to work or transition to a career that supports their current life stage. For more from Megan, dig in with Reboot Accel or Apres Group.
