Role-specific Career Break Interview Questions & Answers:
1. List some tips to re-enter in the workforce after a career break?
Here are a few tips for re-entering the workforce:
★Prepare before you leave
★Stay connected while you are away
★Volunteer or be part of a trade organization
★Learn new skills
★Stay relevant
★Sharing your story when you return
★Explaining your career break
2. How would you prepare before you leave for career break?
Make sure you inform your network (trusted colleagues, former supervisors/clients, friends, family) about your career break and keep them updated during your journey. This will keep you top of mind when you return from your break. Even if you do not plan to return to the same industry, your network is invaluable. The contacts you have made are the shortest distance between you and your next job, they are your connections to multiple industries and companies. Statistically, you are 70%-80% more likely to receive a job offer through your network than through job boards and direct applications.
3. Why should you learn new skills while on the career break?
Remember your career break is also a chance to add new skills, particularly ones you want to learn. Perhaps you want to become a better writer. Use blogging to practice and share your skills. Maybe you always wanted to learn html or build a website? Use this chance to build a travel website. These are all useful skills to learn while away and are very relevant to the work place. The tools you use to stay in touch (video conferencing, blogging) also make you a stronger communicator and emphasize your ability to connect with people remotely. These are important skills as the workforce becomes more global and remote workers become more prevalent.
4. How would you nail the cover letter to go to work after a career break?
It is important to say from the get go that you had a career break. Explain why you took it and why you want to come back.
If you are returning to the same career, say you can not wait to return to what you love doing. If you are embarking on a new career, emphasis how you are excited about the new challenge. Be clear that you know this is what you want to do and that you have fully considered it.
If you can start immediately, make sure you include that in your cover letter too.
5. Tell me about the interview to start working after a career break?
The biggest hurdle you have is convincing the interviewers that you are not going to pack up and leave. You need to show lasting commitment.
If it was not your choice to have the break, maybe you had to look after a relative or suffered illness, always be positive. Did you overcome something personal? Maybe learnt a new skill while on the break? These are all positive endings to what can be sad beginnings.
Be succinct when talking about the reason for the break and always divert attention to your previous work experience. However, one common pitfall made when returning to work is talking about your life before the break as if it was centuries ago. Obviously it is in the past but do not labor the point. Rather than referring to years, just refer to the task. You do not want to highlight how long you have been away from the workforce.
It is important for anyone to research the company they are interviewing for but this is especially important when it comes to career breaks. You need to prove that you are as sharp as someone who has been doing the job continuously and that you know all there is to know about the company and the sector they are in.
6. How would you get ready to return from a career break to start working?
Research as much as you can about the career and sector you want to return to. The biggest obstacle people face after having a career break is being left behind as technology or processes move on, so ensure you know about all the market trends.
A simple way to get this information is to sign up for industry newsletters or follow blogs. This way you can have a small daily dose of news, which quickly adds up to a lot of knowledge.
Before you start down the social networking route, check that you would be happy for potential employers to see your online profiles. If not, clean up or delete.
Volunteering is also a good way to ease yourself back into the work environment and when you get a job it won't be such a culture shock. But if you are claiming benefits, make sure you check to see if there are any limitations on what you can do.
7. How would you work your resume to go to work after a career break?
If your career break was a significant amount of time, it will look odd if you do not include some information about what you got up to on your resume. If you did not have any employment, include a 'relevant experience' section. Ensure that anything listed is tied in with a desirable characteristic for an employee. Alternatively, if you were incredibly busy, list events as if they were a job, summarizing what skills you learnt along the way.
The experience and skills you gained before the break are important too, so ensure you highlight them. Make sure you really emphasis your achievements, it does not matter if they took place a year ago, you still achieved it.
If the gaps in your resume make you uncomfortable, try using a functional resume format instead. This focuses on skills and experience rather than dates of job titles. This is not for everyone, so do some research first.
8. List some tips to go back to work after career break?
Follow these simple tips and make the move back into work a whole lot easier:
★ Assess your situation
★ Get ready to return
★ Work your CV
★ Nail the cover letter
★ The interview
9. How would you assess your situation to go to work aster a career break?
Before you start getting ready to return to work, it is worth having a think about your situation. Potential employers will ask why you took the break, what you did and also why you want to come back. Consider your answers to these questions. They are not trick questions but if you do not think about how you would answer them, you can quickly look suspect.
Another thing to consider is what type of work you want to do. Do not just start applying in a panic, think about the hours, location and sector of your next employment. Again, if an employer does not think you are serious about the application, they will assume you are preparing to take another break and so will focus on another candidate.
One of the most important things to possess as you are working your way back into the workforce again is to have confidence in your ability to do so. If you do not believe that your career break was beneficial and you are simply trying to create a sales pitch, then it will not be as successful. As you converse with future employers and network with colleagues, you must ooze confidence about your career break.
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