It’s said that economies grow when women are a vital part of the workforce. And now more than ever, women are becoming leaders in their fields.
But 25% of women left their jobs last year to stay at home and raise their children. Experts fear many will never go back to the office.
But now, when the time is right, one program is helping these moms get back to work in high-paying, high-level jobs.
“I took a career pause for about eight years,” said Marion Bakamitsou.
“I took 13 years off,” said Betsy Gardner.
“I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom,” said Pamela Massengale.
Each of these college-educated, career-focused women stepped away from their full-time jobs to be full-time moms. Each of them wanted to return to the workforce but didn’t know how.
“It’s just when you’ve been out for eight years and you’re like doing play dates and volunteering at the school, you feel like, a little bit like, a fraud,” said Bakamitsou, who is the assistant registrar for transfer student services at Rollins College.
“That confidence gap exists and then it gets wider and wider and wider the longer that person is out of work, and I remember thinking, ‘Who would want me?’” said Gardner, who is now President & CEO of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce.
Gardner said her Chamber of Commerce work is where she saw an overwhelming need for high-achieving, reliable employees.
She started Relaunch, a program to help stay-at-home moms understand their worth.
First lesson…
“We call it a career pause because we see women as on this dynamic trajectory,” explained Gardner.
In fact, moms gain valuable skills while away from the office.
“So, staying home with children is a soft skills acquisition bonanza, right? You have to get good at soft skills because you don’t have any other choice. You’re dealing with difficult people all day long. They’re called toddlers, right?” said Gardner.
And soft skills are the No. 1 skill set managers say the younger generations are lacking. Relaunch also helps women to be unapologetic about their choices.
“So that being apologetic thing is the very thing that we target in this program. We teach them how to take control of the interview. The best way to take control of an interview is to start asking the questions,” explained Gardner.
The program gives women all the tools they need to relaunch their careers.
“You have all of these skills, you’re just not giving yourself the credit for them,” explained Massengale, who is an executive assistant with AdventHealth.
“Be confident in yourself and the skill set you have,” said Bakamitsou.
Relaunch is a five-week program that costs $295 and covers other topics such as the psychology of career re-entry, leveraging your brand, developing your elevator pitch and practicing for your interview.
Relaunch is now available over Zoom to women all across the country.
To find out about upcoming classes, go to winterpark.org.