Executive life empowerment coach, Pirie Jones Grossman Coaching.
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You might have recently quit your job for various reasons.
According to a 2022 FlexJobs survey conducted during the Great Resignation, the top reason people left a job was a toxic company culture. That reason was “closely followed by low salary (59%), poor management (56%), and a lack of healthy work-life balance (49%).” Maybe you stepped away for one of these reasons or for another reason, such as having a baby or needing to take care of a sick parent. Regardless of your reason for stepping away, if you’re now considering returning to work, it could feel overwhelming. After all, a fresh start is on the horizon—and that’s intimidating. But by taking specific steps, you can reenter the workforce with a renewed purpose and feel fulfilled.
Write Your North Star Statement
When you’re returning to the workforce, it’s important that you get clarity on who you are, where you want to go and what your why is. The clearer you are on these factors, the easier your job search will go because you’ll be moving forward with a purpose rather than aimlessly submitting applications.
That’s where writing a North Star statement comes into play. A North Star statement is a compass that will guide every decision you make. Additionally, in my view, when you have a North Star statement, you can create new habits more easily because you’ve put what you want to accomplish into words.
To create your North Star statement, start by reflecting on your core values. Then think about the times you felt the happiest in your professional life. For instance, if you felt the most joy when you were a classroom teacher, that indicates that you like helping people solve problems and that you should look for a job that enables you to do just that. Your values and happy moments will form the foundation of your North Star statement. Next, you can identify your passions and strengths and vividly describe your ideal life. Once you have your North Star statement, you can go through the five activator steps.
Tackle The Five Activator Steps
In my years of coaching people, I’ve developed what I call the “five activator steps” of returning to work.
The first step is to sit down and honestly assess your existing skills. Think about what you’re good at—make a list of the work and nonwork activities you’ve done over the years to identify your skills. For instance, if you didn’t work in the last decade but held a leadership role in the PTO program at your children’s school, account for those skills, which might include forming partnerships with local businesses and fundraising. Write down as many skills as you can brainstorm, no matter how minuscule you might think some skills are. After you jot down your skills, determine which of them bring you joy and which align with your North Star statement. Then be brutally honest and evaluate how well those skills fit into the current market and industry you’re trying to enter.
From there, start networking. Every event you attend, such as a soccer game or happy hour, is an opportunity to meet interesting people and form new connections. Reach out to former colleagues and classmates to reconnect with them as well. Networking is a lifelong activity, so continue it even after you find a job.
Next, create a new resume and cover letter that’s easy to tailor based on each job post. Your updated resume and cover letter should reflect the experiences you’ve had in the past. If you find that you don’t have enough experience or skills, keep in mind that you can still go out there and get them! Volunteering, taking a community college class or starting a side hustle are great ways to enrich yourself and, ultimately, your resume and cover letter.
Once your cover letter and resume are ready, it’s time for interview preparation. Look up common interview questions, as well as interview questions that are pertinent to your industry of choice, and start practicing. The goal isn’t to walk into an interview with the answers memorized. Instead, the goal is to be comfortable talking about yourself naturally, confidently and authentically, regardless of what question an interviewer asks you. As you practice, keep honesty top of mind. For instance, don’t answer a question about why you have an employment gap with a lie—don’t say you traveled in that time when you were caregiving for someone, for instance. People can pick up on dishonesty, and if you tell one lie, you’ll likely have to tell more lies down the line, and you risk the truth coming out.
Finally, seek support systems and resources. There are various programs and websites geared toward job seekers. Research them and hone in on the ones that seem like the best fit for your situation. Some of my favorite resources are Path Forward, iRelaunch, AARP’s “BACK TO WORK 50+,” CareerOne, Hire My Mom and The Mom Project. You can also find a mentor or connect with other people who are returning to the workforce for support.
Get Rid Of Limiting Beliefs
As you undergo your journey of reentering the workforce, get rid of any limiting beliefs you have. As career counselor Anita Houghton wrote in the BMJ, a medical journal, “The intrinsic nature, and therefore the danger of limiting beliefs is that they are blind spots.” She continued that limiting beliefs are “also self perpetuating. As with any prejudice or assumption, our sensory systems select information that supports our beliefs. These hidden and self perpetuating beliefs have a profound effect on our actions, our feelings, and, ultimately, our success and happiness.”
If you have thoughts such as, “Entering a new industry just isn’t possible for me because of my age” and “No one will want to hire me because I was a stay-at-home parent for a decade,” put those thoughts aside and replace them. For instance, as alternatives, you could say, “My wealth of experience over the years positions me well to enter a new industry” and “As a stay-at-home parent, I learned many skills while volunteering with my kids’ school and in the community that employers will appreciate.”
When you push limiting beliefs away and approach the job search with your North Star statement and the five activator steps, sooner or later, you’ll end up right where you’re supposed to be.
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