6 ways to make returning to work after a career break easier

Whether you’re on maternity leave, have taken a sabbatical to travel the world or been off work for an extensive length of time due to illness, one common factor in all of these circumstances is that returning to the office after a career break can be seriously daunting.

After having a totally different routine, it can be difficult to get back into the “work” mentality - all the formalities, the deadlines, the travelling. On top of this, establishing yourself (once again) and proving your skills can seem impossible if an office and the employees have changed.

In an alarming new study, conducted by Women Returners, over a third of women (36 per cent) actually said that they expect to be demoted after returning to work. Either because they lack the confidence to convey their value to a company or their circumstances have changed and they aren’t able to negotiate a fair deal within the role.

Depressingly, in its latest study of women returners, PWC backs this up. It found that three in five professional women (or around 249,000) returning to the workforce are likely to move into lower-skilled or lower-paid roles, experiencing an immediate earnings reduction of up to a third.

So, what do you do about it? How do you dispel the fear of going back and make sure that you return to a job that matches your worth?

We spoke to Dominie Moss, founder of The Return Hub, a search firm helping women return to work in the financial services, to find out her tips. Here, she advise on exactly what to do:

1. Take the time to identify the skills and experience that you have acquired over the years as well as the business transferable skills you have gained during your career break. Listing these will help to build your professional confidence.

2. Consider making contact with companies that run Return to Work programmes or specialist recruitment firms representing returners. These companies are there to make sure that you return to a job where you’ll be supported.

3. Only work for employers who fully recognise the value of returners - avoid those who see helping a returner back into the workplace as a favour. Return to Work programmes will help you to avoid the latter companies.

4. Make sure that your objectives, role and reporting lines are clearly defined with key people at the company before you start. While the CEO and board might be supportive of returners, clarity is vital at middle-management level and sometimes with long-serving colleagues. These are the people you’ll be working with everyday after all.

5. In the lead up and when you start, identify the forms of support available to you. Make use of your own network as well as any support available to you in the workplace. Having someone in an office that you can chat to can be invaluable.

6. Don’t ever apologise for taking a break. It’s not necessary and it will undermine you. Remember that women returning to the workplace add value and bring fresh thinking and a mature perspective.

Visit The Return Hub and Women Returners for more information and advice on going back to work.