About

About Us

We are women helping women. We are a few women who happen to be trying to get back into the working world at the same time. Together, we have over 100 years of work experience! Surely that type of experience would be valuable to some company, right? We decided it would be less intimidating and much more fun if we got together to support each other in our efforts. So that's what we do. We meet. We share ideas. We give each other encouragement. We help each other with resumes. We help each other with interview prep. We laugh a lot and we frequently get sidetracked into totally unrelated conversations. Oh do we enjoy getting sidetracked! This blog is a delightful result of one of our sidetrack conversations.

About this blog

We hope that this blog does what we have been doing in our get-togethers (except for the sidetrack conversations part). We hope it serves as a place where people can share ideas; give encouragement and help each other. We hope you find value in it and enjoy it.

-Clare, Kim, Kristin, Linda and Susan

Back to Work - What's it like?

The calendar said it had been 19 years since I held traditional paid full time work. Those years were filled with family and friends, part-time work, volunteer experiences and elected roles but along the way I yearned to be back at work. Eventually, I tick that box and the goal was achieved, I was offered and accepted a full time role in my field of interest! Everyone asked me "What was I going to do before I started back to work?" - was I going to start or finish projects at home, was I going to travel, was I going to visit old and new friends However, I wasn't going to intentionally do any of those things, I was going to wake up every day knowing that the schedule and rhythm of these days was of my own making and that would soon change. The morning arrived when it was time to head to work. With an office dress code of 'dress for the day', I selected a casual dress and sweater. I wanted to look like I had never left the office but not be over or under dre...

Be Ready for the Unforeseen Opportunity

Sitting at the kitchen table, staring at my laptop, what do I do next to find a job? Networking, LinkedIn, combing through online job postings, informational interviews. Pop! My Facebook feed shows reacHIRE - an organization to help women re-enter the workforce is offering a "Resume" workshop and a "PowerUp" workshop to prepare to go back to work. It sounds interesting, all I have to do is send in my resume, how hard can that be I think, let's go for this! I send along my resume with a brief yet professional email. There's a response email in my inbox a few days later--you have been selected to take the next step, please answer some questions for us by email. Sure, why not! I am about to pack up a family of 4 and put the dog in the kennel. We are about to travel halfway around the world to see family for two weeks. I can fit in few short answers to these questions can't I? Before I know it I am writing my responses to these questions at LAX, surp...

The Returners' Dilemma

Fellow returners, do you sometimes feel that you are suffering from Returners' Settling Syndrome? Ok, so maybe I made that name up, but it is a VERY REAL feeling. You know that stoic resignation you feel when accepting a position that isn't exactly what you thought you would take. Why do we feel like we are "settling" when in fact we are stepping along the cobblestone path to something new and exciting? In our blog group, we have had many conversations about just that - the majority of women returners we know are taking jobs that are not at the same level as where they off-ramped to pursue other things. We use words like entry level, junior position, lower level and ground floor to describe the back to work positions we accepted and/or are applying for. We talk of the quandary we face trying to decide if we should wait for something "better". We all have enthusiasm and eagerness for the new positions. BUT... There is also a tinge of disappointment; a...

WE'VE GOT THIS

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