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Back to Work
Getting Ahead After Being Behind
by Bill Murray |
Returning to work
after raising a family.
A real issue facing tens of thousands, if not millions, of women today is how to return to
the work force after starting a family. We're not talking the two or three months
maternity leave--we're talking about returning to work five or six years.
For many women who feel torn between job and home, stepping off the full-time track for a
period of time -- "sequencing" -- seems the ideal solution: slow down or pause
your career while your kids are young and then start to pick up the pace as they grow
older.
Another approach has parents dividing tasks 50-50 over a lifetime rather than on any given
day. In this scenario, one parent focuses on career when the kids are young; the other
manages the child-rearing. When the kids grow older, the parents trade places.
The problem with these plans is that they can have life-long (or career-long)
ramifications. Employees who leave the workplace often pay a substantial price in lower
salaries and fewer opportunities to advance.
Paying The Price
A study comparing women with no "gaps" in their employment to those who had
returned to work after an absence found that those who had taken time off earned 17
percent less than those who had not. In addition, 60 percent of those who had not taken
time off had reached middle/upper management or higher, compared to 44 percent of those
who had been away.
So how can a woman who takes time off return to the workforce without sacrificing position
or salary? In short, not very easily. The problem with taking time off, of course, is that
the business world does not slow down.
One head hunter, who didn't want to be identified, won't work with what he calls
"returning professionals." He says companies are more interested in people who
are already employed.
"It's much easier to find a job if you have a job," he says. "These firms
want a track record. They're not willing to stick their necks out for a person who hasn't
been in the work force for years. They want to know what you've done lately; not what
you've done three four or even five years ago."
All Is Not Lost
One option for the returning professional is returning to school. While this may not be an
option for women who are under tighter financial constraints, it may be one way of
opening--or reopening--doors that have been shut.
Going back to school is also a way of fulfilling a dream, of pursuing a career track that
may have been sidelined at some earlier point. Restarting your education as an established
professional can give you a leg up at a time when some employers might otherwise consider
you a step behind.
In any case, the landscape is certain to change. In every segment of the American economy,
women are making advances faster than ever. Six million businesses are now owned by women,
employing more people than all Fortune 500 companies, and the majority of recent law
school and college graduates are women. Indeed, corporate America has no choice but to
re-think the way it does business with these individuals if it wants to stay competitive
in the global marketplace.
Related Resources:
Reprinted with permission
of CareerBuilder.com. CareerBuilder, Inc. has emerged
as the leading provider of E-cruiting (electronic recruiting) services with the
CareerBuilder Network, its pioneering model to provide employers with a choice of the best
career sites on the Web from a single vendor. The CareerBuilder Network is made up of over
25 leading professional, broad appeal, diversity, and industry career centers.
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