It’s surprising how quickly the holidays come and go. The beginning of July there’s a panic about what to do with the children once they are off school and then there’s the end of August when the new school term approaches.
Many parents have rising five-year olds starting school for the first time. Can you imagine what they are feeling? And when I say they, I mean the five year old. There’s a mixture of trepidation, fear and excitement. If there are old siblings then perhaps it’s not quite so daunting. If not, maybe there are some friends from pre-school or nursery that can make the ease into school a little easier.
For parents, this might be the beginning of ‘their’ time. Time to think about what to do next. Can you return to work, pick up the pieces from your career or perhaps just increase your hours? Maybe it means there is less childcare required and you can focus on your work now you have longer days to yourself.
Returning to work after a career break requires planning.
First of all you need to rewrite your CV and include all as up-to-date work experience together with key transferable or employability skills. Writing up examples of when you have used these skills successfully and had a measurable outcomes will give you good practice for interviews and for completing application forms. Think of the STAR acronym – situation, task, action and result. You’ll be more focused with this in mind.
Once complete, make sure your CV is in a contemporary and readable format, without any glaring spelling mistakes, you can begin to consider which job sites you want to upload it to. Be discerning, you might not want to upload it to the larger job sites but to more specific and industry targeted websites. You will also have to put a cover letter/e-mail together with a basic structure. Of course when you use your cover letter/e-mail it will include information from the job you are applying for.
If you have not already got a professional profile on LinkedIn then now is the time to start. LinkedIn is currently the most used professional networking site and is useful for job searching, research on people and companies as well as networking and catching up with colleagues and friends from past jobs and colleges.
Deciding what you want to do and where you want to work might mean working with a professional career consultant. Exploring your options and thinking about what to do next is easier when you have someone to bounce ideas with and to guide you in a positive direction.
September is also one of the best times to look for new jobs. Don’t miss out just because the holidays are over, you still have time to apply for the job you’ve always wanted.
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