There are many different reasons for taking a career break, it might have been to care for elderly parents, to raise your family, to pursue a personal interest, to deal with a health issue, or perhaps you are coming out of retirement. Whatever your reasons and be sure to never apologise for them, we have some tips to help you jump back into the Kerry jobs market when you are ready to.
1. Identify your Skills and Experience
Sit down and take the time to identify the skills and experience that you have along with any new business transferable skills you might have gained during your career break. Go a step further and book a FREE Career Advice session with Pitman Training Kerry who can help you identify your skills gaps and career opportunities. If the path you are aiming for involves a refresh of a skill-set or brand new training they are on-hand for any advice you may need such as relevant courses, CV or interview skills. You will give yourself an immediate confidence boost doing this so it’s a great start.
2. Be confident of what Type of Role you would like
It is important to narrow down the type of company you would like to work for and the role you would like to pursue so that you have a clear view of the value that you can bring to the table. It is not the employers’ responsibility to help you decide what would suit you best. Being sure about what you want to do and your ability to do it, will help you sell yourself without even trying.
3. Get public and Network
Make contact with old colleagues and managers to start spreading the word that you are planning on a return to employment. Open the conversation at every opportunity in your local community, you never know where the door might open for a job interview. This step is also a confidence booster especially with former colleagues as you will often find that their view of you is frozen in time, they remember your professional identity as it was in the past which is exactly what you need to help banish those inevitable but hopefully few moments of doubt!
4. Get up to speed with your working knowledge of basic Office Software
Employers can sometimes feel that returners to work have fallen well behind technology wise. So it is important to bridge that gap and this can be easily done with doing a short course for example in Microsoft Office such as Word, Excel or PowerPoint. Your local centre Pitman Training in Kerry offer training programmes that are flexible and at times to work around each student so training can easily fit in around current life or family commitments.
5. Keep up with Business and Industry news
Research the companies you have your eye on, keep on top of business and employment news, check out the latest business reads or download the ebook version and make sure you know what the latest trends, buzzwords and top news stories are for your industry of interest.
The new era of “Returnships”
Returning to work after a break can be hard because of a perceived disconnect between employers and employees. Employers can often view the gap on the CV as a risk, and prospective employees can have doubts about their abilities and confidence to re-launch their career.
But times are changing and employers have started to recognise that there is a chunk of motivated, high calibre people out there ready to start the next chapter of their career. This group bring with them plenty of advantages such as mature perspectives and an energy about returning to the workforce. In fact more and more companies are open to offering internships and returnships and if not in an official format, they are open to temporary or short term contracts which are low risk for them and offer an opportunity for the returner to dip their toe in the water with a strong possibility of secure job offers in the future.
For further career, employment advice in Kerry and course information on our wide range of Kerry training courses from IT, Software Development, Graphic and Web Design to Accounting Technician, Management and Secretarial courses in Kerry contact us today or call us 066 718 5775 /FREEPHONE 1800 532 632, email kerry@pitman-training.ie or WhatsApp 087 0710444.
