Every day we wake up is a day of renewal. We can make a choice to go into work or stay home to care for someone or take care of ourselves. If you have not worked in “a career” for a period of time and have made the decision to re-enter the workforce, the key to your success is to create a well-supported plan. Not just any plan, but a plan that accounts for your full story and actions that include knowing yourself to getting into the market to securing the right work to excellent performance and joy. While sometimes circumstances of re-entering the workforce can seem daunting, building your career plan of action based on your CareerTruth’s in Mastery, Freedom, and Legacy will increase your success and lower your stress.
Most people don’t take the time to consider their unique CareerTruth’s and therefore are not creating career plans at all, often leaving a company or random events to determine the job they take. You have high potential today. Spending time creating a thorough plan will build confidence, provide clarity, enable powerful open networking while eliminating fear and making sure you don’t settle.
In re-entering, it is imperative that you account for your values, purpose, professional inventory, your personal goals as you move to create action in the market to secure the type of career that will be fulfilling and rewarding.
Re-entering the workforce requires very good self-awareness of who you are professionally and your current personal and professional goals. Start by defining and documenting your values, purpose, and vision of success.
Take account of your full professional inventory of your skills, accomplishments, and what you’ve learned in through your work. These notes will include prior work of all types, but also from your time away from the full time workplace. Nothing is wasted and while some areas may need sharpened, other areas have been made better while away.
Take full account of your personal goals related to your financial rewards, flexibility and use of time for work or other personal activities such as family, friends, health, and or community. In transition back into the workforce, you must understand the opportunity costs and changes that will effect your life.
Build your support network to ensure your success. Prior to doing any job search, seek trusted stakeholders who can advise you on your value in the market today and potential actions you should take to be ready for today’s market. Create a Board of Advisors in CareerTruth, they will help you understand the changes of technology, markets, and leadership that you may need to consider as you re-engage in the marketplace.
Consider hiring a CareerTruth Coach who is well versed in the CareerTruth methodology to build your action plans for your career success. Investing in a professional Coach pays huge dividends for your development to meet the market, preparation for the job search, and transition for success in the new career once you are hired. This is only the beginning step of your re-entering the workforce.
Build action plans to meet your goals that fulfill your purpose and vision. Making purpose driven, actionable plans that you can be held accountable to will allow you to always being moving forward and prove valuable in your discussions with new leaders in your career.
Create development plans related to professional technical skills or leadership development that fill your current gaps since you were last in the market or add to your strengths for advancement. Be a technology native prior to re-entry. You must be able to lead a Zoom call, collaborate in Slack or Microsoft Teams, be productive in Google, Microsoft Office, and or Apple tools. In addition, major workflows have become digital in customer management, demand generation, and digital marketing. Diagnose the areas of growth you need for re-entry by documenting plans of actions to grow and meet the change.
Do the market research and select the lanes of work you would like to pursue. You may consider markets or lanes of work that you have done previously as the first re-entry point of your career to lower risk. However, based on your professional inventory and interests, you may investigate new markets or lanes that leverage your transversal skills. Rely on your Board, your coach, and other people in your network, like recruiters or peers, to inform your research and lane selections. Develop targets for your career in these lanes to pursue.
Craft your career narrative, by starting with your purpose statement. Be able to tell your complete story, including the reason for re-entering the workforce now, succinctly. Finally, be able to compellingly communicate the growth plans for your career to meet your vision of success.
Often underestimated, but very important for re-entering the workforce are references of your successes. You have people in your life who can validate and promote your successes and experiences. You should always be collecting references by simply asking for them as close to when they happen as possible. Have these references prepared going into any job search and offer them early and often. A hiring organization’s biggest concern is whether you can do what you did before so having a reference to confirm your capability and commitment is a game changer. This also displays real confidence in your own abilities.
Finally, get into the market. Yes, you can apply to roles, but the most productive way to re-enter the workforce is by activating your network. Your network is not just those people you already know, but everyone else who might need you, too. Consider targeting specific humans in your chosen markets and lanes. Be a professional, be prepared, and learn more about Open Networking in the CareerTruth Library.
Re-entering the workforce is a major life change. Whether a strategic leader or individual contributor, large company or small, part time or full time, you are activating a portion of your life’s time that is enormously valuable. Create your holistic career plan here in CareerTruth to re-enter and succeed long term.