Are you feeling stressed about jumping back into the workforce? Here is how to restart your career and work from home after an extended break.
After years of scrambling to juggle kids, work, and other responsibilities, I can’t say enough about the shift in work-life balance that came with my decision to work remotely. Even when I’m busy working, I love being physically present each day when my children come home. That’s why I was completely understanding when my husband’s COVID-19 break inspired him to follow the same path.
The good news for anyone looking to shift to remote work after a break is that there’s never been a better time for bouncing back. Whereas a spotty or uneven work history could once be a deal-breaker, today’s employers tend to look at the big picture in terms of competency, skills, motivation, and professional accomplishments.
If a career break has left you ready for a remote work career reboot, here’s everything you need to know to get started.
Reframe How You See Your Career Break
As someone who does resume work as a side gig, I often encounter clients who struggle with confidence issues due to gaps in employment or a complicated work experience history. For example, someone may have worked service jobs while looking for post-college work or taken time off to raise their young kids, recover from a health condition, or take classes toward a new career path.
It wasn’t all that long ago that a spotty job history could be a real deal-breaker. But the past couple of decades have seen a shift in workforce culture. As employers trim retirement benefits and other payoffs for years of experience, workers are, in turn, favoring flexibility and opportunities that yield a healthy work-life balance. At the same time, more employers are becoming more interested in the big picture of what each professional brings to the table.
In the spirit of this sea change, I prefer to build resumes that tell a story by focusing on professionals’ skills, knowledge, and talent over a chronological work history. Stepping away from a resume that emphasizes work history gaps and toward a more narrative, skill-centered alternative will help you build confidence in your potential as an asset to a remote work environment. And that begins with a bit of reflection.
Start here:
1. Grab a pen and paper
Whether we’re talking resumes or interview preparation, I’m a huge fan of brainstorming. Even if you don’t use everything you write down at some point during the online job application process, taking the time to create a detailed, deep dive into your personal skills, experience, and passions can truly bring what you have to offer as a professional into focus.
I’m fond of an old-fashioned yellow legal pad and a scratchy Number 2 pencil, but you might prefer using your Apple notes. Either way, the medium doesn’t matter as much as simply giving yourself the space and permission to explore the broader picture of your professional talents.
And don’t feel obligated to crack this out in one go. While you may find yourself on a roll once you begin, it can also be helpful to step away from the notepad and return later with fresh eyes and a rested mind.
2. Assess your career goals
Before you dig into the many little pieces that together comprise your work history, it pays to have a clear vision of the job you’re trying to land.
Start by researching remote work opportunities in your target field on job boards like LinkedIn. Not sure where to start? Spend some time poking around The Work at Home Woman, where you’ll find tons of leads on great remote jobs for all levels of experience.
Keep your notebook handy so you can jot down things like job titles or new job boards with remote opportunities while you’re researching. Once you start the research process, you may encounter job roles that you had not previously considered or some job skills you’d like to develop, so keep that pencil handy throughout the process.
As you’re exploring remote opportunities, jot down some of the qualifications you find along the way. This will help you conceptualize what your own resume needs to be focused on.
3. Put your past jobs under the microscope
With your handy-dandy notepad at your side, it’s time to examine your past jobs. Most of us have previous roles we might leave off of a formal resume, but you’ll want to write them all down this time.
That doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily include them as a job listing, though. Instead, you’re probing into each past role to see what you learned and developed to include in your skills-focused resume. For example, your past role as a bartender may have refined your creativity or time management skills, which could transfer to work as a freelance writer or editor.
Under each job, write out every duty you can think of. Consider looking up similar job roles as a reference if you’re having trouble, but the goal here is to be as detailed as possible so you can see the fruits of your past experience in granular detail. If you intend to include a job in your resume work history, write out detailed numbers and dates (for example, the number of employees on a team you managed or the length of a project you edited).
And don’t overlook volunteer opportunities in this process, no matter how small or minor they might seem. Did you participate in a community project? Include it. Volunteer in a church nursery for a special event? Examine your experience for applicable skills.
4. Deconstruct past professional development opportunities
Just as you went into granular detail on your work experience, take a look at your past career development and learning opportunities. When I worked as an educator, I attended regular professional development trainings and seminars. Even though I don’t include my time as an educator on my writing resume, I do include some of the skills I learned during those trainings, such as curriculum development, neurodiversity, and team building.
But don’t stop there. If you spent time learning a skill online or self-teaching with a book, include that as well. For example, when I was learning to write online content, I spent countless hours watching online videos about search engine optimization and business blog writing. I consider that education to be every bit as valuable as what I learned in the English program at my alma mater.
Did you train under a mentor or participate in an internship program? Take some time to jot down everything you learned through that process, especially if those items connect to items on the list of skills from your career goal brainstorming.
5. Consider your individual talents
Landing a good job where you can work from home is about more than just the hard skills on a job listing. Every employee comes with their own unique blend of innate talents and gifts, and sometimes that can be the secret ingredient employers are searching for.
Returning once more to your handy note pad, scratch out all of the individual gifts you feel you bring to the job market. You can also Google a list of soft skills, print them up, and use a highlighter to mark those that resonate with your experience. Do you have a natural charisma when it comes to teambuilding or a knack for engaging online presentations? Write those down!
6. Speak with your former colleagues
If you’re still in touch with former colleagues from past jobs and feel comfortable, send an email or text. Better yet, set up some time for a phone call or meeting. After you’re done catching up on all the office gossip, ask if they’d be willing to help you fill in some of the items from this list. You might be surprised at some of the details you’ve forgotten that could prove helpful to your remote job search.
7. List your software and tech skills
I am always surprised at how many software platforms I have learned to use between my various jobs and personal life. I’ve rarely worked a job that didn’t add to that list, and that’s especially valuable as a remote worker where everything is done through online platforms.
Even when you don’t have direct experience with a software platform mentioned on a job listing, showing that you’re adept at learning new tech can go a long way in demonstrating that you’ll adapt quickly to a new online work environment. Consider everything from digital work suites and time clock tools to creative tools you’ve worked with on your own, even if it’s just for personal use.
Take my software experience, for example. In my various professional roles, I’ve used platforms like Trello, Slack, various content management systems (CMSs), MailChimp, Toggl, WordPress, and Adobe Suite. But I also include creative apps I have used just for fun, like Canva and Pixlr, when applying for more creative roles.
8. Include your life experience
After you’ve explored your work-related experiences with a fine-toothed comb, try examining the life experience you gained during your career break. Just as you did with your work skills, take a deep dive into the very real responsibilities and experiences you racked up during your time away from a traditional job.
As women, we know that the important work of household management is often brushed off as invisible labor. But as my own husband learned during his brief stint as a stay-at-home parent, it takes some serious household management tools like scheduling, multitasking, project management, and budgeting to run a home full of kids.
Put it All Together
After you’ve written out your hard and soft skills and broken down your past work experience in granular detail, it’s time to build a resume that shows what you’ve got. Revisiting those career goals and example jobs once more, start by crafting a powerful and specific objective that encompasses your career focus, desire to work remotely, and key selling points in no more than three or four sentences.
Next, build a “Core Competencies” section that draws on the skills from your brainstorm and those example jobs to paint a powerful picture of your unique offerings as a remote worker. Include subheadings and detailed explanations of how each of those competencies ties in with your experience or learning.
Now build the “Professional History” section. Rather than simply listing all of your past jobs, start with your strongest relevant history and work your way down. Omit anything that doesn’t fit the job. Although it’s unlikely you’ll be asked about any career gaps, if they do come up in an interview, emphasize that you have consistently worked on building professional skills but only included those jobs you felt were most relevant to this role.
Consider Creating Your Own Job
In my family, we’re huge fans of the DIY side hustle. After struggling through the recession and pandemic, we’ve found a good deal of security in having marketable skills we can fall back on while performing valuable services within our local community. And thanks to social media sites like Facebook and Nextdoor, you don’t necessarily have to invest in a whole business startup to get started.
Besides resume writing and freelance work, I’ve earned a decent side income by training large language models, editing, tutoring, and offering college-level academic support services. Likewise, my freelance writer and warranty assessor husband repairs small engines and flips resale merchandise as a side gig. But any of these jobs could be leveraged into a full-time career if you had the will and drive for it, and there are tons of other ways to make a living as an independent contractor without having to pick up a small business loan.
How to Restart Your Career: Remember You Got This
Shifting from a traditional job to a work from home opportunity can be intimidating enough on its own, let alone after taking a break. It’s my sincere hope that going over your professional skills and experience with a keen eye will not only help refocus your sense of what you have to offer professionally but will also build some serious enthusiasm you can take into your job search.
Do you have any recommendations for women hoping to work from home after a break? We’d love to hear them. Let me know in the comments below, and I wish you the best of luck in your new career working from home!
