Imposter syndrome is when you lack belief in your skills and abilities. You don’t think you’re as competent as others. You feel like a fraud. It's especially prevalent after a career break. Naturally, you struggle to connect with the person you were before the break, especially if significant life events happened (e.g. having kids).
And it is really common! You feel like this, I feel like this. A million others are feeling like this right now. Even celebs feel like this…
Motherhood and a parental break to raise a family can give you distance and perspective to consider a new career path, but when is it the right time to change careers? Do you change careers after maternity leave? After a second child? When children start nursery? Reach school age? Or beyond? In this short blog, we explore this issue further.
Returning to work after a career break can feel daunting and overwhelming. You may have lost your career confidence, worry about how you will balance the demands of work and family life and fear whether you can do the job again.
Lots of mums forget just how much they have to offer an employer, undervaluing their skills and expertise. This is where revisiting your Personal Brand can help you.
Self-care can be perceived as a variety of things but in order to be achieved and sustained in the long-term, it needs to be a practice and part of our daily lives. It's not just about taking time out once in a while to have a manicure or bath, yes that can help but only in the short-term until you return to the battles of everyday life.
A LinkedIn survey revealed that 85% of jobs are secured through networking. Building and talking to your network can really help accelerate your job search, whether you are returning to work after an extended career break and/or looking to change careers. So where do you start networking and how do you do this?
Professional networking opportunities are not over when you take a career break to raise your family. A whole new world from which to network has opened its doors to you, you just need to look for these opportunities in different places.
Job hunting after a career break can feel daunting. It’s common to feel a loss of confidence and professional identity. Flexible work can seem unattainable and you may be unsure as to what work you could return to. You may feel like your skills have been erased and you have to accept a lower skilled job and drop in salary. So why is it that we lose confidence?
Summer is when most people want to switch off and take a break from dealing with their careers. The kids are home and you become the organiser of entertainment for 6 weeks creating a fun packed schedule to keep the family occupied.
Job search and hiring slows down, people go on holiday and the last thing any of us really want to do on a hot summers day is think about ways to get ahead with our careers. We want to have fun and enjoy time with the kids.
However, who says you cannot do both? Why not carve out some time and be smart about your career activities so that you can enjoy the summer and take small steps to move your career aspirations forward.
Here are five simple steps you could take to move you forward this summer:
How do you write a good CV when you’ve had a long-ish career break? Firstly it’s not about the gap. The gap may feel very significant in your life but it’s actually a very small part of your CV. Unless you are joining a returnship or returner scheme, you are not a career break candidate. You are a strong candidate in your own right. Let’s see how we can demonstrate this.
Previously we looked at what to do when you need to pivot or change your career and you have lots of ideas. (Too many career ideas - which horse to back?). This time we’re thinking about those of you who are stuck. I can’t be a Marketing Manager any more (the stress, the hours, the commute) but I don’t know what else to do. I am just stuck! Forget about the horse race, we haven’t got any horses!
When deciding on where to take your career next you may have an abundance of ideas. You may be someone with lots of passions and interests and could think of a hundred things you could do for work. You might feel like the child in the sweet shop surrounded by candy, but what jar do you choose?
Lots of career ideas can be great but on the flip side it can lead to indecision, paralysis and overwhelm. Where do you begin? Which horse do you back? How can you move forward?
‘Goldman Sachs boss calls working from home an ‘aberration’ - Headline 25th February 2021. Whilst many employers are considering some sort of hybrid working practices (some time in the office and some at home), some point-blank refuse to make it work. This is sad and will have an impact on the morale of existing staff and on the diversity of new hires in the future. Don’t worry though. There are some amazing employers out there, but how do you find them?
Whether you have taken maternity leave or a longer career break to raise a family, the thought of returning to work can be quite daunting. Obstacles may start to pop into your head and these generally fall into two camps - practical and emotional. Here we look at three common obstacles and how to combat them.
Working out what to do next after a career break can be daunting and overwhelming. You might feel stuck and unsure what job you could go back to.
The answer may not always be in your head and it can be helpful to get some new input. This can help you to generate ideas and consider different possibilities. So where can you get this new input from?
