How to look for a job after a career break

So far you’ve thought about your career goals, brushed up your skills, updated your CV and explained your career break – now it’s time to start looking. Our advice is to start your search somewhere familiar – in your personal network. When you are ready to return to work, let your friends and acquaintances know. If you know people working in an industry or a role you’re interested in ask them about it – how did they get the job? Do they know any other good companies who might need staff? If you tell your network you are looking for work you may find someone works for a company that has just the right opportunity – or knows someone else who does.  

Once you’ve exhausted your network opportunities we suggest looking at businesses in your local area. We operate in the Herts and Essex area where there are exceptional small businesses and larger employers, many of which have employment opportunities. Look on local newspapers, social media sites and even your high street for companies that you admire – then check their websites or social media pages for any vacancies. If you find a company you really like but which doesn’t advertise any current vacancies you could think about applying on spec – write a cover letter telling them how much you admire the business and include your CV. You never know what you might achieve!  

Next we advise looking at the online job boards through Google. There are several job boards available but you can search for roles in Google and it will aggregate results from most of them. Using specific terms will help you  - for example if you are looking for a job in account management try including location, seniority and ideal salary. 

Our last piece of advice is to use a good recruitment agency. Ask for recommendations and search in your area for the consultancies with the best reputation. At RecruitAbility we have many years’ experience of helping people return to work after a break – we'd love to hear from you. Call us on 01279 758855 to speak to one of our consultants.