How to get back to work after a career break | Carol Fishman Cohen

Translator: Wink Wong Reviewer: Alan Watson

People returning to work after a career break:

無做嘢一排、又再出返嚟工作嘅人

I call them relaunchers.

我叫佢哋做重新工作嘅人

佢哋暫時無做嘢 係為咗要照顧老人家

These are people who have taken career breaks for elder care,

for childcare reasons,

照顧小孩、追求自己嘅興趣

pursuing a personal interest

or a personal health issue.

又或者係健康問題

Closely related are career transitioners of all kinds:

呢啲重新工作嘅人唔同行業都有：

veterans, military spouses,

老兵、軍人嘅家眷、剛剛退休嘅人士

retirees coming out of retirement

or repatriating expats.

又或者係旅居完返國嘅僑胞

Returning to work after a career break is hard

佢哋冇做嘢咁耐，要重新工作好難

because of a disconnect between the employers

因為僱主同重新工作者 嘅關係已經斷咗

and the relaunchers.

Employers can view hiring people with a gap on their resume

僱主會見到佢哋嘅 履歷有一欄空白

as a high-risk proposition,

認為請佢哋係好大風險

and individuals on career break can have doubts about their abilities

呢啲求職者都懷疑自己 重返職場嘅能力

to relaunch their careers,

especially if they've been out for a long time.

尤其佢哋已經好耐無做嘢

This disconnect is a problem that I'm trying to help solve.

我就係想幫佢哋解決 僱主同前員工關係冇咗嘅問題

Now, successful relaunchers are everywhere and in every field.

宜家各行各業都有人 成功重返職場

This is Sami Kafala.

呢個係 Sami Kafala

He's a nuclear physicist in the UK

佢係英國核子物理學家

who took a five-year career break to be home with his five children.

佢無做嘢五年，返咗屋企湊五個細路

The Singapore press recently wrote about nurses returning to work

新加坡新聞最近講

一啲護士離開職場好耐之後再度工作

after long career breaks.

And speaking of long career breaks,

講起長期離膱

this is Mimi Kahn.

呢個係 Mimi Kahn

She's a social worker in Orange County, California,

佢喺加州橘郡做社工

who returned to work in a social services organization

佢冇做嘢 25 年之後

after a 25-year career break.

返返去社會服務機構工作

That's the longest career break that I'm aware of.

以我所知，呢個係最長嘅離職期

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

高等法院法官 Sandra Day O'Connor

took a five-year career break early in her career.

佢工作生涯早期曾經離職五年

And this is Tracy Shapiro, who took a 13-year career break.

呢個係 Tracy Shapiro 佢離職 13 年

Tracy answered a call for essays by the Today Show

Tracy 回應 Today Show 觀眾寄嚟嘅信

from people who were trying to return to work

觀眾話想出嚟工作

but having a difficult time of it.

但覺得困難重重

Tracy wrote in that she was a mom of five who loved her time at home,

Tracy 回信話佢係一個媽媽

有五個細路，熱愛家庭生活

but she had gone through a divorce and needed to return to work,

但佢離咗婚，需要返返職場

plus she really wanted to bring work back into her life

而且佢想生活裏邊有返工作

because she loved working.

因為佢鍾意做嘢

Tracy was doing what so many of us do

Tracy 以前就好似我哋好多人咁

when we feel like we've put in a good day in the job search.

覺得用咗一日時間搵工就係好好

She was looking for a finance or accounting role,

佢想搵一份金融或者會計嘅工作

and she had just spent the last nine months

佢好努力花咗九個月上網搵工

very diligently researching companies online

and applying for jobs with no results.

但都係無結果

I met Tracy in June of 2011,

我係 2011 年 6 月認識 Tracy

when the Today Show asked me if I could work with her

嗰時 Today Show 問我

可唔可以同佢一齊幫佢扭轉劣勢

to see if I could help her turn things around.

The first thing I told Tracy was she had to get out of the house.

我第一件事就叫佢行出屋企

I told her she had to go public with her job search

講畀大家知佢要揾工

and tell everyone she knew about her interest in returning to work.

同埋話自己有興趣再做嘢

I also told her, "You are going to have a lot of conversations

我又話畀佢聽： 「你要同好多人講你搵工，

但人哋多數都唔會幫你轉達。

that don't go anywhere.

Expect that, and don't be discouraged by it.

你要預咗咁樣，但唔好氣餒

There will be a handful

可能就係有幾個幫你轉達，

that ultimately lead to a job opportunity."

令你有工做。」

I'll tell you what happened with Tracy in a little bit,

我會講少少 Tracy 後來發生嘅事

但我想先同你哋講下

but I want to share with you a discovery that I made

when I was returning to work

我經過 11 年離開全職工作 返到工作崗位嘅發現

after my own career break of 11 years out of the full-time workforce.

And that is, that people's view of you is frozen in time.

就係人哋對你嘅印象會停留喺舊時

What I mean by this is, when you start to get in touch with people

即係話你再聯絡返啲人

聯絡返以前認識嘅人

and you get back in touch with those people from the past,

the people with whom you worked or went to school,

嗰啲同你工作過或者一齊返學嘅人

佢哋只會記得你離職前嘅嘢

they are going to remember you as you were

before your career break.

And that's even if your sense of self has diminished over time,

就算你隨著時間而覺得自己冇咗意義

就好似我哋好多專業人士咁

as happens with so many of us

the farther removed we are from our professional identities.

太耐唔做嘢都會咁樣

So for example, you might think of yourself

例如你或者會諗自己

as someone who looks like this.

好似咁樣嘅人

This is me, crazy after a day of driving around in my minivan.

呢個係我嚟，揸咗成日車 人都儍咗

或者我喺廚房入面

Or here I am in the kitchen.

But those people from the past,

但係以前識得嘅人完全唔知我呢啲嘢

they don't know about any of this.

They only remember you as you were,

佢哋只會記得以前嘅你

and it's a great confidence boost to be back in touch with these people

當你再同返佢哋聯絡

and hear their enthusiasm about your interest in returning to work.

同埋當佢哋好想聽你返嚟嘅故仔

你嘅信心就會返曬嚟

There's one more thing I remember vividly from my own career break.

仲有一樣嘢 我離職期間好記得

And that was that I hardly kept up with the business news.

就係我好難追返財經新聞

My background is in finance,

我擁有金融背景

and I hardly kept up with any news

但係當我喺屋企睇住四個細路時

好難跟得上任何新聞

when I was home caring for my four young children.

所以我好驚面試嗰陣 講咗間已經唔存在嘅公司

So I was afraid I'd go into an interview

and start talking about a company that didn't exist anymore.

So I had to resubscribe to the Wall Street Journal

於是我重新訂閱華爾街日報

and read it for a good six months cover to cover before I felt

我每份報紙每個報導都有睇

一睇就睇咗六個月

like I had a handle on what was going on in the business world again.

直至我覺得可以掌握返市場脈搏

I believe relaunchers are a gem of the workforce,

我相信重新工作者都係優秀人才

and here's why.

原因係咁樣

Think about our life stage:

諗一諗我哋嘅人生階段：

for those of us who took career breaks for childcare reasons,

嗰啲因為照顧小孩而離職嘅人

we have fewer or no maternity leaves.

佢哋會少啲或者冇得放產假

We did that already.

因為我哋以前已經放咗產假

We have fewer spousal or partner job relocations.

而且我哋伴侶轉工冇咁多

We're in a more settled time of life.

我哋生活比較安定

We have great work experience.

我哋有豐富工作經驗

思想比較成熟

We have a more mature perspective.

我哋唔會有咗份工，先嚟尋找真我

We're not trying to find ourselves at an employer's expense.

Plus we have an energy, an enthusiasm about returning to work

再加上因為我哋已經好耐無做嘢

precisely because we've been away from it for a while.

我哋充滿幹勁，熱衷於返返崗位

On the flip side, I speak with employers,

我想講講僱主嗰方面

and here are two concerns that employers have

僱主想招請重新工作者時 有兩樣憂慮

about hiring relaunchers.

The first one is, employers are worried that relaunchers

第一樣係擔心重新工作者 嘅科技知識落伍

are technologically obsolete.

Now, I can tell you,

宜家我可以話俾你聼

having been technologically obsolete myself at one point,

我曾經有一段時間 科技知識落後

that it's a temporary condition.

但係只係嗰個時候

I had done my financial analysis so long ago that I used Lotus 1-2-3.

我好耐以前係用 Lotus 1-2-3 做財務分析

I don't know if anyone can even remember back that far,

唔知道仲有無人記得

but I had to relearn it on Excel.

但後來我要學用 Excel 做財務分析

It actually wasn't that hard. A lot of the commands are the same.

其實唔係好難 因為好多指令都係一樣

I found PowerPoint much more challenging,

我嗰陣覺得 PowerPoint 比較難學

but now I use PowerPoint all the time.

但而家已經冇問題 我仲成日用 PowerPoint

I tell relaunchers that employers expect them to come to the table

我話畀再做嘢嘅人知

僱主期望佢哋 有基本嘅電腦文書知識

with a working knowledge of basic office management software.

And if they're not up to speed,

如果佢哋仲未跟得上

then it's their responsibility to get there.

佢哋就有責任學識佢

And they do.

佢哋做到喎

The second area of concern that employers have about relaunchers

第二樣令僱主擔心嘅嘢

is they're worried that relaunchers don't know what they want to do.

係重新工作者唔知道自己想做乜

I tell relaunchers that they need to do the hard work

我叫佢哋一定要

to figure out whether their interests and skills have changed

睇清楚究竟喺離職期間

自己嘅興趣同技術有無改到

or have not changed

while they have been on career break.

That's not the employer's job.

所以呢樣唔係僱主嘅工作

It's the relauncher's responsibility to demonstrate to the employer

而係重回工作者嘅責任

佢哋要證明畀僱主睇

where they can add the most value.

佢哋可以為公司貢獻最多價值

Back in 2010 I started noticing something.

早喺 2010 年，我發覺一啲嘢

I had been tracking return to work programs since 2008,

由 2008 年開始 我不斷跟進重回工作嘅計劃

and in 2010, I started noticing

喺 2010年，我注意到

the use of a short-term paid work opportunity,

市場有短期有薪工作嘅機會

whether it was called an internship or not,

無論係咪叫實習都好

but an internship-like experience,

但係呢啲類似實習嘅嘢

as a way for professionals to return to work.

可以係專業人士返去職場嘅一個方法

I saw Goldman Sachs and Sara Lee

我見到高盛同 Sara Lee 開始咗再次實習計劃

start corporate reentry internship programs.

I saw a returning engineer, a nontraditional reentry candidate,

我見過一位重投工作嘅工程師

佢係一個突破傳統嘅人嚟

apply for an entry-level internship program in the military,

佢申請軍方嘅入門實習計劃

and then get a permanent job afterward.

跟住得到一份長工

I saw two universities integrate internships

我見過兩間大學將實習

into mid-career executive education programs.

加入到業界行政人員職業教育計劃

So I wrote a report about what I was seeing,

於是我寫咗一篇報告 記錄我見到嘅嘢

咁就變成咗哈佛商業評論嘅文章

and it became this article for Harvard Business Review

叫做「40 歲的實習生」

called "The 40-Year-Old Intern."

I have to thank the editors there for that title,

我要多謝嗰度嘅編輯度呢個標題

and also for this artwork

仲有呢個插圖 見到有個 40 歲嘅實習生

where you can see the 40-year-old intern in the midst of all the college interns.

企喺一班大專實習生裡面

And then, courtesy of Fox Business News,

霍士財經新聞叫呢個概念做 「50 歲嘅實習生」

they called the concept "The 50-Year-Old Intern."

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So five of the biggest financial services companies

又有五間大型財務公司

have reentry internship programs for returning finance professionals.

舉辦咗呢啲再入行實習計劃

畀嗰啲想重回職場嘅金融專業人士

And at this point, hundreds of people have participated.

有數以百計嘅人參加咗呢啲計劃

These internships are paid,

個計劃係有薪實習

and the people who move on to permanent roles

呢啲人後來得到長工

are commanding competitive salaries.

仲有唔錯嘅薪酬

And now, seven of the biggest engineering companies

而家有七間大型工程公司

are piloting reentry internship programs for returning engineers

由婦女工程師協會牽頭

as part of an initiative with the Society of Women Engineers.

試行同類實習計劃 畀重返職場嘅工程師

Now, why are companies embracing the reentry internship?

點解啲公司支持再實習呢？

Because the internship allows the employer

因為實習可以畀僱主 根據實際嘅工作表現決定請人

to base their hiring decision on an actual work sample

instead of a series of interviews,

而唔係靠一連串面試

and the employer does not have to make that permanent hiring decision

僱主可以等到佢哋實習期完畢

until the internship period is over.

先決定請唔請佢哋做長工

This testing out period removes the perceived risk

試用期可以避免

經理誤判受聘嘅人會為公司帶嚟風險

that some managers attach to hiring relaunchers,

and they are attracting excellent candidates

而且仲可以吸引優秀嘅求職者

who are turning into great hires.

呢班人最後仲變成公司出色嘅員工！

Think about how far we have come.

諗下我哋推動咗幾多！

Before this, most employers were not interested

實行呢啲計劃前

多數僱主都無興趣招聘重新工作者

in engaging with relaunchers at all.

But now, not only are programs being developed

但係而家呢啲計劃已經發展到係

specifically with relaunchers in mind,

好重視重新求職者

而且佢哋要求你嘅覆歷有空白

but you can't even apply for these programs

unless you have a gap on your résumé.

否則你就申請唔到呢個計劃

This is the mark of real change,

咁樣見到機構已經唔同咗

of true institutional shift,

標誌住真正嘅改變

because if we can solve this problem for relaunchers,

因為如果我哋可以解決職場者嘅問題

we can solve it for other career transitioners too.

亦都可以解決其他職業過渡嘅問題

In fact, an employer just told me

有僱主啱啱同我講

佢有啲經驗豐富嘅人 因為再次實習計劃

that their veterans return to work program

is based on their reentry internship program.

返到工作崗位

所以我會話無理由 唔搞退休人士實習計劃

And there's no reason why there can't be a retiree internship program.

雖然類型唔同，但係概念一樣

Different pool, same concept.

So let me tell you what happened with Tracy Shapiro.

跟住等我話俾你哋聽 Tracy Shapiro 發生咗咩事

Remember that she had to tell everyone she knew

仲記得佢講畀每個認識嘅人

about her interest in returning to work.

佢有興趣出返嚟做工作

Well, one critical conversation with another parent in her community

就係有一次同同區家長傾計

帶咗 Tracy 一個工作機會

led to a job offer for Tracy,

and it was an accounting job in a finance department.

嗰份係財政部門嘅會計工作

But it was a temp job.

但只係臨時工

The company told her there was a possibility

公司同佢講佢可能有機會 轉到更好嘅工作

it could turn into something more, but no guarantees.

但唔擔保一定有

This was in the fall of 2011.

去到 2011 年秋天

Tracy loved this company, and she loved the people

Tracy 好鍾意佢間公司同埋同事

and the office was less than 10 minutes from her house.

而且公司離佢屋企只係十分鐘

So even though she had a second job offer

雖然第二間公司開出一份長工協議

at another company for a permanent full-time role,

she decided to take her chances with this internship

但佢決定揀呢次實習嘅機會

and hope for the best.

並希望一切順利

Well, she ended up blowing away all of their expectations,

最後佢超乎公司嘅預期

and the company not only made her a permanent offer

喺 2012 年頭 公司不但請佢做長工

at the beginning of 2012,

but they made it even more interesting and challenging,

仲畀 Tracy 做 更有趣味同有挑戰嘅工作

because they knew what Tracy could handle.

因為公司知道佢應付得到

Fast forward to 2015,

去到 2015 年

Tracy's been promoted.

Tracy 已經升職

They've paid for her to get her MBA at night.

公司仲畀錢佢夜晚讀工商管理

She's even hired another relauncher to work for her.

Tracy 佢自己仲請咗 第二個重回工作者為佢做嘢

Tracy's temp job was a tryout,

Tracy 開頭嘅臨時工係試用嚟

just like an internship,

就好似實習咁

and it ended up being a win for both Tracy and her employer.

咁最後對 Tracy 同僱主嚟講都係雙贏

Now, my goal is to bring the reentry internship concept

宜家我嘅目標係

向更多僱主推銷呢個實習概念

to more and more employers.

But in the meantime,

但係呢段時間

if you are returning to work after a career break,

如果你離職後，想出返嚟工作

don't hesitate to suggest an internship or an internship-like arrangement

唔好猶豫向嗰啲 無呢啲實習計劃嘅公司

to an employer that does not have a formal reentry internship program.

提議佢哋安排一個咁嘅實習計劃

Be their first success story,

你可以成為佢哋第一個成功故事

and you can be the example for more relaunchers to come.

你可以係鼓勵更多人 重回職場嘅最佳例子

Thank you.

多謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）