Handling a Career Break: A career break is a mutually agreed period off from employment, often taken for family reasons or personal or professional development. Taking a career break may seem daunting at first, but it can be one of the best decisions you ever make. Career-wise, a break can help you upskill, find motivation, or even embark on a new path. And that’s not to mention the personal gains to your overall well-being and sense of self-worth. People take career breaks for a variety of reasons, some examples are seeing the world, mastering an emotion, learning new skills, gaining perspective, following dreams, taking care of their mental health, learning a language, exploring paths for a new career, improving their health and so on.
Handling a Career Break: Ready for Next Step in Your Career
What happens to those taking a career break? If you have been out of the traditional workforce for quite some time – maybe if you have spent a few years at home with your children, served in the Territorial Army, or taken leave while searching for your way then you may feel a little moving on your legs. You may adopt a way to sharpen your skills, get some recent experience in your resume, and rejuvenate your network. Like a kind of internship – but without ending again under the workplace ladder. Turns out, that’s one thing. This is called returnship, and it is essentially an internship that helps those interested in re-entering the workforce by taking time off from their careers. It usually lasts from a few weeks to a few months, providing payments proportional to the person’s level of experience, and providing additional training and mentorship, which help people become familiar with the culture and pace of today’s work environment and may have become rusty.
You’ll Learn the New Skills
Through returnships, you’ll learn new skills. Especially in today’s technology-driven world, things in the workplace can change rapidly. therefore people who have been away for a while may be a bit surprised about what is expected of them, their technical skills and using certain technologies in the workforce. For example, if you haven’t worked in several years, you may not know how to use the social media platforms or new coding languages you need to do your job. You may not even be sure how to use the newest chat system in your office to collaborate with your colleagues. When returning to work, you’ll see a clear path similar to the role you left – but for many the next step is a murky one. Maybe the job you’re doing doesn’t exist anymore, or maybe you didn’t like it much at first and may want to explore other options.
In a scheduled returnship program, an individual is provided with a counselor for guidance and support. Hiring a consultant is also common with companies that follow a set process for turnover. You are paired with an employee, usually someone older and more experienced who has worked for the company for a while and can teach you all the INS and outs. At Deloitte, all employees have access to counselors, but those who do a returnship program are provided with even more involved counseling. Like an internship, there’s often no guarantee that returns will result in a job at that specific company, but it adds to the adversity.
Increasing Your Chances of Getting Hired
When Deloitte launched its first refined returnship program in the United States in 2015, it aimed to hire at least 50% of the nine participants. The company exceeded this target by hiring eight of them! In India, an organization called “Thought-Works” hosts a multi-metropolitan version of ‘Vapasi’, a technical training program for women technologists who plan to return to the industry after a career break. Upon completion of the program, enlisted candidates are offered a three to six-month internship at Thought Works. They can apply for permanent positions later.