Any woman who has left the workforce and later decided to return knows that these decisions come with unique challenges. Even women who take parental leave with plans to return to an existing job can face obstacles, like departments or projects that have been restructured or dissolved entirely. You're ostensibly guaranteed a job, but a lot can happen in a year, and that job may no longer be something you recognize, want, or are equipped to do.
Many women left the workforce during the pandemic. Studies have found that mothers took on disproportionate shares of child care during the last couple of years, and it has had a negative impact on their careers (and relationships and well-being). Women might also have had to leave to care for other family members or simply been laid off – as more women than men lost their jobs during the pandemic, according to reports.
With child care centres and schools reopening, women now want to get back into the workforce. But they face challenges that include finding quality or affordable childcare, managing work and family time, technological or industry advancements that they haven't kept up with, feeling disconnected, skills gaps, and psychological issues like anxiety and low confidence. They might also face discrimination or a form of "benevolent bias."
In 2013, Jennifer Berdahl, then professor of organizational behaviour at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, and now a sociology professor at UBC, told the Globe and Mail, "Women [who return to work after a leave] tend to get marginalized or sidelined, and a lot of this is an implicit or benevolent form of bias where people are trying to be nice by not giving women more challenging assignments or passing them over for promotion because they don't want to stress them out."
This also might mean that a mother or caregiver looking for a higher-up or more executive position might get passed over in favour of someone with fewer responsibilities.
How can women get past the barriers to re-entering the workforce? Increase your chances of success by setting up systems, networking, upskilling, updating your resume and social media, and rebuilding your self-confidence.
Top tips for women re-entering the workforce
Set up systems and start moving
Set up systems that intersect to improve your life personally, professionally, and in every area. Once you know you want to get back into the workforce, start taking steps to make that a reality, even small ones. You will need as much forward momentum as possible to keep you going during this time. Start putting one metaphorical foot in front of the other and get going. Set routines, start looking at jobs, and prepare your life to incorporate working. More steps include the following:
Get childcare sorted
Don't wait until you find a job. If you have small children and don't have a childcare plan, that is something you and your partner (if there is one) need to take care of immediately. Childcare is expensive and can be hard to find. Daycares often have long waitlists that are many months long. Be proactive and get on them as soon as you know you're planning on going back to work. (In some areas in Canada, it's said one should get on the lists as early during pregnancy.) Figure out what your arrangement will be – daycare, a nanny, a family member, or something else.
Reconnect with your network
It's always wise to maintain regular contact with your professional network rather than just connecting with people when you want something from them. But, if you've been busy juggling tasks and caring for kids or other family members – particularly a baby – there's a good chance you've dropped contact with a lot of your professional network, and you need to re-establish those connections.
Do it without asking for anything. Nobody wants to hear from someone they haven't heard from in a year or more, suddenly asking for a favour. Say hello and find reasons to stay in touch. Later, your connections can tell you about jobs you might be suited for, put in a good word, and may even be in a position to hire you.
Ask for help
You can often be more forthright with anyone you've stayed connected to while off work. Try reaching out and asking this closer network for help. Call them up individually and/or send emails or messages. Say you're looking for work in your field – whatever that may be – and ask them to keep an ear to the ground for job openings. Your friends should want to help you out. Don't be afraid to ask.
Update your resume and fill the gap
Take a critical look at your resume and start making changes. Do you still have an "objective" at the top? Get rid of it and replace it with a summary statement instead. Your desire to secure a challenging position where you can expand your learning, knowledge, and skills may no longer be relevant to recruiters. They want to know about your experience and achievements, and what you can do for their company. You have less than 10 seconds to make an impression on the person reading your resume. Use that time well.
Remove irrelevant or outdated skills and highlight your accomplishments. Watch for typos and grammatical errors. And address the time gap you've just taken off work. Employers will want to know what you were doing during that time. State that you were caring for children or family members in the same professional language you use for the rest of your resume. If you took any courses or managed to upskill in any way, include that also. This will improve your prospects and could impress hiring managers.
Update your social media
Even when we're working, it's a good idea to keep our professional social media accounts, mainly LinkedIn, current. You never know when you're going to need to look like a savvy and competent professional at a moment's notice. But, if you haven't been keeping LinkedIn relevant and active, start doing so now. Similarly, if your other social media accounts are all baby or dog pictures and videos, and you haven't used Twitter in a while, add some professionally relevant posts and/or posts that show you have an array of interests and hobbies. Hiring managers will be looking at whether you're a cultural fit for their organization, so it's good to look active, engaged, and interested in a range of things. Engage with other people and accounts.
If you haven't used your accounts in a long time and don't plan to start using them, deactivate them. No account is better than one that hasn't been updated in two years.
Upskill
As mentioned, upskilling is an excellent way to impress employers. You might need to do it to stay relevant in your field, and it's always helpful to learn and acquire new skills to add to your resume. Take the time now while you're moving back into the workforce to do this.
If you know what you want or need to learn, there are probably books, free online courses, and apps to help you. It's truly amazing what you can self-teach these days. You can also find paid courses, of course. If you're not sure what you want to learn, take a look at the skills and qualifications listed in the descriptions for jobs you might want and at the LinkedIn profiles of the people who do those jobs. That should give you a good idea of where to start.
Build your self-confidence
Employers want to hire confident people. If you're feeling insecure or anxious, work on your self-confidence and the way you communicate that confidence. Upskilling, networking, and moving forwards towards your goals will help with this. Setting a routine and getting some exercise, if you aren't already, will also help. Exercise helps boost hormones that regulate mood.
Knowing what you want and what your goals are and effectively communicating your amazing capability will go a long way towards overcoming that aforementioned "benevolent bias."
We might feel like we can't ask for too much and have to take less than what we think we're worth in order to get back in the door. And there's some truth to this. It's easier to negotiate from a place of security than a place of need. So, you might wind up taking a position you don't love to look for one you do. That being said, you can still be vocal about your needs. The freedom to work remotely and set your own hours, for example, is something one can reasonably expect in many situations these days. If you're the right candidate in other ways, a company should be able to accommodate this.
Getting back into the workforce is rewarding in many ways. Hopefully, these tips will help ease the transition.
