So, you had to get off the career wheel and take a career break.
So what?
We’ve got you covered if you’re ready to jump back in!
We’re highlighting 7 best skills to put on your CV when getting back to work after a sabbatical.

So, whether your break was for marriage, motherhood, relocation, elderly care, or pursuing a passion, the way you market your skills on your resume can make or break your return. Thankfully, employers and organisations are increasingly becoming cognizant of the need for career breaks in the lives of working professionals.

So, take your pick from these 7 skills (ones that even a group of working mothers vouched for), and flaunt them on your resume!

1. Multitasking

All women innately discover this skill when any of the above said life events occur. The one skill that allows you to juggle all that’s on your plate while adding more! The skill that makes you capable of being…

wife, daughter-in-law, mother; 
cook, tutor, caretaker;
working woman, homemaker, traveler… all rolled into one!

And when translated into your corporate schedule, this skill works wonders as you work your way through your new role. So, don’t be shy of quoting on your resume an incident of how your multitasker hat saved the day!

For eg: How you may have juggled between office, school, and home, with your daughter’s PTM on a working day, while also making arrangements for your in-laws at home!

2. Networking

Women on a break are increasingly realising how this skill could become a powerful tool to go back to work. From kitty lunches and tea parties, women on a break are shifting the needle to leverage their socialising skills by attending job fairs and events around career development. 

And if that’s what you did on your time away, then MAKE A MENTION of the events you attended (with dates and names), and what it did for you to stay the course of your career.

It may have helped you...

• Sustain relationships with known connections (colleagues, employers, etc) 
• Meet new people from diverse fields 
• Chance upon job opportunities, new market trends, even courses to explore

Tip: Spice it up with thumbnail pictures of the event logos, or add bullet points to your learnings from these events.

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3. Time Management

Most often, a woman on a career break juggles her time between family schedules.

From her children’s routines (school, PTM, tuition, hobby classes, play dates and more)
to her family’s demands (groceries, doctor’s appointments, meal preps and the like)
to her own needs (health and wellness, time with friends, career development and so on),
she challenges the 24 hours of a day.

If you mention this as learning on your resume, back it with examples of how it led you to wisely use your hours of the day.

Tip: Add in a fun foot-note like this (if you please):

A day in the life of (your name),
- Mother, wife, athlete, aspiring woman returnee

5 am - Go for a run

6.15 - Wake up kids (and husband!)

6.30 - Pack snack boxes

7 am - Cuppa tea

7.15 - Read the newspaper, browse through market trends, new jobs in the market 

8 am - Prep breakfast (and meals of the day)

9 am - Run a mock interview with husband before he leaves! (IMPT)

...and so on!

4. Budgeting

Imagine a woman (of the 70s) dusting her hands off with a been-there-done-that look on her face. That’s how well (and how long) women have known and mastered the art of budgeting.

So, if you could pay salaries to the staff, buy groceries for the month, fuel up your car, squeeze in a treat for the kids and save — boast it on your resume!

Because managing finances personally enables you professionally to:

• negotiate deals
• work within budgets 
• discover ways of cost-cutting
  

5. Persistence

Rhea was in her 8th month of pregnancy when she went on a career break. Assuming she would be back to work in a year, she kept up with emerging market scenarios.

But Rhea didn’t return until her son was 12 years old.
Until the age of 10, Rhea’s son  battled chronic asthma and viral infections. She tried everything — from home remedies to allopathy, from homeopathy to ayurvedic. Each treatment would help, but only for a while.

But Rhea did not stop looking for alternatives. Finally, one day, through research, she chanced upon an allergy treatment. And that worked like a charm.

Today, her son is 13 years old and is as fit as can be.
And Rhea has been working with an MNC for a year.

She ranks PERSISTENCE as one among her top skills in taking her places — a skill that she developed during (and due to) her career break.

This Mother Gave Her Resume to 17 Companies but Received a Call from NONE. 

6. Interdependence

It would be apt to quote the old African saying ‘It takes a village to raise a child’.
Not only because it’s true in every sense, but also because through motherhood, women experience the importance of interdependence. 

So, if your support system offered you that, make sure to add this skill to your resume if:
...you’re looking to work with a team
...its helped you understand the dynamics of each member’s role
...you can translate on paper how you’ll leverage this to benefit the organisation

7. Career Development

Lastly, but most importantly, if you took the time to stay relevant during your career break by:

• Attending networking events and connecting with peers 
• Signing up for a course or certification to help you hit the ground running
• Joining relevant groups to stay up to date
• Volunteering or interning at an organisation or a foundation

Be sure to say all this loud and proud on your resume. Companies value such efforts that working professionals make despite being on a sabbatical.  

So, here we are with our list of skills to portray on your CV.
If you have an additional skill to add, remember to flesh it out and back it with examples.

JobsForHer, your restart buddy, wishes you the very best in your restart journey!

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