Up-skilling - What women on career break should focus on?

Richa Sharma, a 31 year old IT professional, quit her job to spend more time with her family. After 5 years, she decides to give her career a second chance. But she’s worried that returning after a long break will be a challenge. She hasn’t kept in touch with the industry trends for so long. And she has no experience working on some of the newer technologies that have mushroomed all over the IT space.

Rejoining the workforce after a long gap can be quite daunting for women. Employability can get pretty challenging! However, women today have excelled at the art of maintaining a perfect balance between a successful career and a satisfying personal life. And one of the main reasons is their focus on re-skilling and building new and relevant professional skills that will help them to get back to work.

Today, technology is advancing faster than we can imagine, and there are chances that a lot might have changed during your break. So when you start planning your second innings at work, you must focus on acquiring skills that help you stay relevant and boost your personal brand as well. An online course in your chosen domain will help you achieve this. To pursue a course, women need not be hassled with class schedules and lengthy admission processes. Online courses and Certifications have made this daunting task easy and fast.

And once you pick up the necessary skills to add to your portfolio and earn that certification, you can start building professional contacts on social media and update your job skills that will help you land a career of your choice.

What do women look for before joining the workforce

• Flexible timings and work-life balance: Women looking for flexi-working can work for the agreed number of hours, per their convenience. It is an agreement between the employer and the employee. Flexi-working provides a perfect balance between work and personal life. A lot of women prefer to take up careers that provide work from home options. This gives them advantages like less commute and being around their family when they are needed.

• Salary & Perks: Quite often, after a long career break, women are unsure of how much they should be paid. However, you can evaluate the job offer by checking the present market value for your skill sets and expertise. Speak to your peers who have been in this field for quite some time, and the type of job you are looking for.

• Role & Responsibilities: A lot of women prefer to take up roles and responsibilities that allow them to efficiently manage both personal and professional life with ease.

• Proximity to office: Many women choose to work at an office that’s closer to their homes. This saves travel time, and allows them to be productive at office as well as spend quality time with their family.

Skills women acquire before getting back to work

Six skills that benefit women who are looking for a balance between their professional and personal lives are:

• Data Analytics: A career in data analytics is a great choice for working moms who have a keen eye for processing information. Data analytics is the next big thing and organizations, everywhere, are looking for data analysts. You can take up one of the available courses on data analytics to jumpstart your return. Many companies offer attractive salaries and perks, and good opportunities for career growth.

• Blogging/Content Development: With the Internet boom over the last few years, Content Marketing has taken the centre stage. And, this has led to a growing demand for content developers. A graduation degree and an ability to churn out informative articles are prerequisites to take your blogging/content developing career on the path of success. Other benefits on offer are flexible work schedules, good compensation, and work from home option.

• IT & Programming: A career in the IT industry definitely demands a lot of your time and attention. However, quite a few women choose to restart their career in this industry, as many companies provide flexibility along with an attractive salary package and promising career growth options. To restart your career in the IT industry, you might have to upgrade your skills through online courses or certification programs that are easily available.

• Entrepreneurship: There is not much difference between taking care of your family and taking care of your business. So, if you dream of starting your own business, do your research, enhance your skills (there are a lot of courses available for the necessary guidance), launch your business, and watch your dream turn into reality! Entrepreneurs can choose their work hours and can perfectly balance their time between work and family.

• Web Development: Web development is yet another promising option to restart your career with. It involves creating the architecture and design of a website. It would be good if you have a bachelor’s degree in computer science, along with some skills which can be enhanced through online programs and other certification courses. Web developers have the flexibility to work during the preferred hours and not necessarily from the office. A lot of web developers describe it as a “creative” job, where you learn a lot of new things and upgrade your knowledge-base all the time.

• Digital Marketing: With the rapid rise in Internet access, the demand for digital marketing is increasing rapidly. Understanding of content marketing, social media marketing, SEO, and SEM will help you launch your career in digital marketing.This career not only promises enormous growth and compensation but also gives you the flexibility to choose work hours convenient for you and operate as a freelancer from home

Restarting your career might sound challenging, but it really isn’t the case if you have some confidence and enthusiasm to learn new skills and technologies . Get set and up-skill, so that you can be on the right track to grab your dream job and also enjoy a healthy work-life balance.

(This article is contributed by Simplilearn)

(Image Credits: Thinkstock)