No Brake on a Career break

No Brake on a Career break :

“You need to explain the gap in your career”, “Your skills are outdated”, “You can no longer get back to where you left” are some of the routine comments given by recruiters when a lady applies to resume her career after a break. These responses are not confined to any specific geographic location. The situation is the same across the world. In a fast changing industry like IT, a gap is frowned upon as technology and even work environment changes over a couple of years. A recent survey of women in business conducted by the London Business School reports that 70% of women are afraid to take a break; obviously in the fear of not being able to get back to their rightful place after their break. But in reality, that is not true unless the break is for a very long period of time. Working, especially in an IT/ITES company is like driving. How can one forget driving especially if one has been driving for a few years? The skill never gets forgotten. It requires practice to be able to get back to the current pace. Same is with working in IT companies. The tools might have changed. Clients might have changed. But the underlying principles don’t change. So long as one is keen to learn and get retrained, it should not be difficult to get back to work.

Over the last couple of decades, the percentage of women who opt to study professional courses and pursue a career has been on the increase. A significant number of them drop out after a few years either due to relocation or childbirth or other reasons. These are the women who have been trained, have survived the grind of working in demanding projects. Some of them have excellent academic records. Imagine, sixteen years of education plus five years (on an average) of work experience of so many, going down the drain. Not only the individual and her family stand to lose, but look at what the corporates and in turn the nation stands to lose?  If these women are reemployed it would no doubt boost up our GDP. Most women may want to come back after a few years. But what prevents them is their own fear of getting rejected and the discouragement they receive from recruiters. But all this is set to change.

With more and more companies coming forward to recruit experienced women with career breaks, drawing up a career roadmap with the second career is no more a distant dream for these women. What is now left is for the women to come forward to take up positions of responsibility, retrain and make it happen. Women need to take the initiative, come up with an action plan to make it work. Enough and more has been said about work life balance. If one could manage with the support systems and take advantage of the women-friendly policies companies have in place, making a come back is not difficult. Most of the top IT and ITES companies where anyone would want to work with have opened doors for women with career breaks.  Not-for-profit organisations like eWIT have initiatives that help these women find their rightful place in companies. So why hesitate? Take advantage of the situation and make the best use of it. http://www.ewit.co.in/vaapas_eventreg.asp

Looking for second Career?

You can do it! We are here to help! Come Register! Says the Joint Secy of eWIT, Ms Latha Ramesh

It is common knowledge that many women drop out in the middle of their successful career due to personal or family reasons. But, is it common that these women come back to resume their career? Not really. Reasons for that are many. Often it is to do with the women themselves.
Fear of getting rejected, lack of self confidence, fear of not being able to meet expectations, skill gap: and difficulty to self learn and upgrade skills, difficulty in accepting a lower position than former peers are some of the reasons.

 

Fear of getting rejected, lack of self confidence, fear of not being able to meet expectations, skill gap: and difficulty to self learn and upgrade skills, difficulty in accepting a lower position than former peers are some of the reasons.
Even before I address the issues mentioned above, let me state why one should work. The reasons are the same, irrespective of one’s gender. It is to be independent, to prove one’s worth, to be able to contribute to society/ country and to be able to translate one’s ideas and dreams into action. Plus, in today’s world one doesn’t want to be left out of the community / friends. And above all, if you have spent so many years slogging out, burning the mid night oil and qualified to start your career, why put a break in the middle and lose out all those precious time and resources you spent qualifying.
Now you need to go over all those blocks that come in the way of your resuming your career.
Receiving a ‘No’ from employers: Yes, that is a possibility. Companies have specific requirements and if your profile does not match those requirements, obviously, the answer is going to be a ‘No’. But these days, companies do not reject because you have had a career break. So long as you are willing to catch up and willing to get back on track, the answer will be favourable.
Lack of self confidence: This stems from the fear of not being able to meet the deliverables at work and manage expectations at the home front. The best way to address this would be to look at all those women who have done it. Gone are the days women put a seal on their career after either marriage or child birth. Look at all those women who manage work as well as their personal lives. There are so many to draw inspiration from. Even the most successful women have time for their family. Today, most companies have women friendly policies. Decide how you plan to manage between work and home. Speak with your family members and get their support. Find out more about other support systems that are available, like childcare, afterschool support or eldercare etc. Your self confidence is a reflection of your level of preparedness.
Fear of not being able to meet the expectations: Often times, this is because you do not want to compromise either at work or at home. There is no need to lower your standards. But you will have to step up and take charge of all that you want to accomplish. When your expectations are realistic, there is no heartburn. So long as the compromises you make do not impact your family or work, there is no problem.
Skill gap: This is definitely an issue and it can be addressed only by diligent planning. Once you decide to get back to work, identify what you missed out when you were away from the employment radar. Sometimes you may want to completely switch gear and decide to take up some other track where you have the potential. It is not uncommon for someone in training, moving to quality or coding. Once you decide, look at your resume from your prospective employer’s point of view. Draw up a plan to fill out the gaps. There are hundreds of on-line courses that are available today for you to sign up and upgrade your skills. Sometimes, even the employers are ready to provide the training you may need.
Difficulty in taking up a position lower than that of your peers: This is another reason that constantly bugs many. The truth is that you took a break and your former colleague didn’t. In a competitive world it is inevitable. But you are having your cake and eating it too. Once you are back on track, you too have enough opportunities and sky is the limit.
Now, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and register with eWIT at our website, www.ewit.co.in and upload your resume