Guest AuthorNeha Bagaria
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How to Upskill and Find a Job After a Career Break

By | Sandhya | www.jobsforher.com

Upskilling is an essential element for career growth opportunities in recent times and is especially true for women returnees on a career break.

When Swati, a senior software analyst, had wanted to return to her career after a 7-year break, she found that her resumes that were shortlisted by firms were far and few. Even after being shortlisted, she was asked about her dated tech skills during her interview. That is when she realized that the technology and the platforms she worked on had changed and she had to upskill immediately. 

This is not the story of one Swati but thousands of women returnees on long career breaks who have realized that upskilling or reskilling is essential to get job opportunities that are relevant to their requirements. Infact, according to the DivHERsity Benchmarking Report, 2020-2021, by JobsForHer, 94% of women agree that upskilling will improve their chances of getting the desired job. 

While the tech sector is one of the most dynamic industries with emerging trends every 6 months, other functions such as Marketing, HR and others also require adopting new technologies to the changing demands of digital disruption. 

Why is Upskilling so Important?

These changing dynamics led to employers seeking candidates with the latest skills and allowing experienced employees to upskill themselves. So, it is extremely significant for women wanting to restart their careers to enhance their skills if they have taken more than a year’s break. 

Upskilling helps close the skills gap and offers them better job and growth opportunities. What’s more! It gives them the confidence to negotiate their salary, explore a career change and enhance work-life quality. !  

While augmenting your technical skills and functional skills is important, you also need to emphasize on your soft skills. They help you to manage and collaborate your work and prepare you for a higher level of roles and responsibilities. 

How to go about your upskilling program

Before starting any training or program, here’s what you need to do:

  • Identify your goals
  • Identify your knowledge gap
  • Network with peers to understand the right skills
  • Focus on your soft skills
  • Evaluate the courses that offer the skills you need
  • Update your resume

Choosing the Right Programs

Gone are the days when one needed to physically attend a classroom environment to do the learning and get the required training. Now, virtual classrooms give you the flexibility to learn anything, anywhere at any time! 

You have courses that are budget-friendly and affordable while there are courses that allow you to pay in EMIs, courses with the learn-now-and -pay-later options and many others which charge you only after placements! You also have the option of pay-per-module. 

There are many e-learning companies and colleges that offer online training for both tech and functional skills as well as soft skills. 

JobsForHer has partnered with some of the leading organisations in India to provide ample job and upskilling opportunities for women who are ready to make a career comeback.

You can also enroll on the RestartHer Academy by JobsForHer, which offers an exclusive ‘‘Back to Work-Jobs Readiness Program’ for women on a career break. During this 6-week course, you will learn from the best in the industry, interact with mentors and coaches and other women restarters as yourself.

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s S.P Jain Institute Of Management And Research is offering an 11-month Full-Time General Management Programme based at the Mumbai campus (Hybrid option available), a full-time management programme for women who wish to return to their full-time professional careers. 

The programme aims to impart relevant knowledge, skills and attitude which can enable participants to upskill themselves with generalist orientation, functional focus and return to their professional careers after a break.

Apart from these, many tech companies like Thoughtworks, OracleGoogle and Airbus  and non-tech companies like Reliance Retail, Fine Food and scores of others have return-to-work programs that offer onboarding with training, mentoring and placement programs in their companies. 

Republished with permission and originally published at www.jobsforher.com

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www.jobsforher.com
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