April 2007

An article in the “Career Couch” column of yesterday’s New York Times gave some interesting advice to women looking to get back to their careers after taking time off to raise their children. The article, which read like the author, Eilene Zimmerman, took pitches from just about every career counselor out there to prove her point, offers some tips to moms wanting to return to work. Some quotes from the article:

The experts on steps moms can take to reenter the workforce and stay on top of skills:

Figure out what, exactly, you want to do. Start by writing down your goals, priorities, strenghts and weaknesses.
-  Steve McMahan, president of the Atlantic region for Kforce

Analyze every previous significant work and volunteer experience and break it down into the basic components of what each job entailed- the ones you liked and the ones you didn’t. Then you’ll see the opportunities.
- Carol Fishman Cohen, co-author of, “Back on the Career Track: A Guide for Stay-At-Home Moms who want to Return to Work“

Do ‘anything that will show your employer you’ve kept up with developments in your field.
- Jo Bennett, a partner at Battalia Winston International

On building a resume:

You [still] have to address the gap in your work history, but do it in your cover letter and in the “personal” section… For example, if you can say, ‘increased ad sales in the elementary school address book from 25 percent over lasat year’ it shows you have the ability to sell ads.
- Allison O’Kelly, chief executive and founder of Mom Corps

These tips are all from smart people who have good advice.  In theory, if you do what these folks say, you should position yourself nicely to reenter the workforce.  That is, if we all lived on a planet called “Employers Get It,” which unfortunately, we don’t. 

Most of my friends who left their high-paying jobs to raise their kids would like to reenter the workforce at some point.  We discuss it at our play dates a lot.  But either the industry they worked in or the employer they worked for makes it almost prohibitive to do so. I haven’t seen a whole lot of “wow, this company is willing to take me back after being out of sales for 4 years.”  Even if they are running huge events and throwing massive luncheons for charity.  I mean, I see the value in doing these things, but I’m not sure today’s employer is ready to see the “ad sales in the elementary school address book” on a resume yet. I wouldn’t put it on my resume.

One employer, Lehman Bros. does get it, though.  A recent article in Workforce Management discussed a program Lehman Bros. created to reengage mothers they’ve either employed in the past or moms who have worked for other companies in the same industry.  I think it has to be a lot easier and more cost-effective for an employer to “on ramp” someone who’s worked at the organization previously than to “on ramp” a new hire totally new to the company.  Employers who take the time to develop such programs should see financial and cultural benefits from their efforts. Helping to “on ramp” moms should, in theory, be good for business.

But in my reading, I haven’t many other case studies like Lehman Bros. I’m left to think that they don’t really exist.  Or at least, they don’t exist in my circle of friends. Therefore, until I see more employers acting like Lehman Bros., I’m not getting off this ramp.  I don’t want to find a dead-end trying to get back on.

Postscript: Experts out there - you all have some great advice, so if you read this, can you give us some real-life examples of successful placements you’ve had for moms who are looking to reenter the workforce?  Or, readers, do you have some examples?  If I saw more successes, then maybe I’d be able to change my position just a bit. But I’m not ready to back down yet.

Tags: on-ramp, working mom, Lehman Bros., career advice for moms

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