Career Ideas For Women Getting Back Into The World Of Work

Taking time away from your career and preparing for your return can be an exciting and sometimes nerve-wracking process.

In addition to returning to your previous job part-time, or full-time, there are other options out there, like becoming a consultant, freelancing and completely switching things up with something new. In this article we’ll run over some of these options, and hope that one might spark your interest!

If you are able to choose how you’ll return, maybe you can also consider what you want to get out of the experience, and if you have a new set of expectations or needs to fulfill, for example: do I want to have more interaction with adults (e.g. customer facing roles), or do I want to shut away for some peace and quiet to work alone? Do I prefer face-to-face time in an office to get out of the house, or does that feel like too much of a time and energy commitment right now?

And if you’re about to take maternity leave, why not suggest a monthly catch up call while you’re away? You can dip in to say hi, and keep up-to-date with what’s going on at work, as well as tell your team how you’re doing. This could make the transition back to your existing job smoother, and help with feeling disconnected.

Part-time or Full-time Return

The most obvious answer to this question is to return to your previous job part-time, or full-time, depending on the kind of agreement you have with your existing employer. There are also job-sharing agreements, for example if you would like to come back part-time little by little, with the help of your maternity cover, who could stay on as you transition back.

It's worth knowing that in the UK at least, every employee is entitled to submit a request for flexible working, and the employer must consider it seriously - so it’s definitely possible!

Consultancy Projects

If you have significant experience in one field, and left the workforce at a managerial level, you’ve probably been involved in higher level strategy and planning, or maybe even managed a team. Consulting usually involves working on projects, which can be short, medium or long-term.

This kind of work could suit, for example, professionals in Management, Corporate Social Responsibility, Human Resources, Operations, Finance, Strategy, Change Management, as well as Analysts and  Creative Directors.

Freelance Hours

If you want to ease back into tasks that are less responsibility and can be billed by hour, then creating a CV for freelance work could be for you. This could fit certain roles like: Accountant, Programmer, Editor, Graphic Designer, Copywriter, and more.

The benefit for this type of work is that it's often possible to work at any hour, as long as your complete the tasks, as opposed to being part of a faster moving team environment. This could help you ease back in, and work according to your schedule.

Tutoring

If you have significant experience or education in a particular subject, you might be able to translate that into a high-paying tutoring gig. As well as doing this in person, there are online tutoring websites that sometimes don’t require you to have specific teaching experience, as long as you have a degree or X number of years working in a sector.

For example, this could work well for languages (if you’re fluent in another language and could help someone pass their school exams or prepare for a year studying abroad); for traditional topics like Mathematics or English (for primary or secondary school students), or for more unique subjects for university or mature students. 

Short Courses

If you’d like to continue with the same role type (e.g. marketing, human resources), but start to work for more planet-friendly or socially responsible companies, it can help to have some short courses or training in the specific sector you’d like to enter. For example, if forest protection is your thing, doing a short course with a flexible schedule and online, from a reputable organisation, could boost your CV. 

Out of the Box

None of these feel right? Why not do something completely different while you figure it out? Maybe you’ve discovered a new passion or made a new connection with a wellbeing topic since becoming a parent, and would want to become a doula, or a yoga teacher for example, with a purposeful organisation. You could also try some other ideas like dog walking, temp work, virtual assistant, library monitor (for some peace and quiet!), or even cat sitting!

We hope that this article gave you some more ideas when thinking about getting back into work - and even if you didn’t find your answer here, it helped move the process forward for you somehow. Take a look at our Job Board for more inspiration!