No matter the reason for taking a career break, there is no reason why you can’t go back into the job market when you are ready to. Do you want to know how to do it? Follow the bellow steps.

Assess your situation

First of all, you need to think about your situation. Potential employers will ask you why you take the break, what you did and of course why you want to return. Consider your answers to these questions. These questions aren’t tricky questions but you need to think about how you would answer them and quickly have something to say rather than speculate what to answer.

Another thing to consider, is what type of work you want to do. Don’t just start applying in a panic, think about the hours, location, sector of your next employment. If an employer doesn’t think you are serious about the application, they will assume you are preparing to take another break and that means they will give more attention on another candidate.

Get ready to return

Research as much as you can about the type of career and sector you want to return. The biggest obstacle people face having after a career break is being left behind as technology or processes move on, so make sure you know all about the market trends.

A simple way to know about industry news is to sign up for industry newsletters or follow blogs so you can have a small daily dose of news, which quickly adds up to a lot of knowledge.

Before you start down the social networking route, check that you would be happy for future employers to see your online profiles. If not, then clean up or delete.

Another good way to ease yourself back to the work environment is to volunteer, so when you get an actual job it won’t feel like a shock.

Work Your CV

If your career break was a significant amount of time, it will look odd if you don’t include some information about what you got up to on your CV. If you didn’t have any employment, include any relevant experience section and ensure that anything listed is tied in with a desirable characteristic for an employee. Otherwise, if you are busy, list events as they were a job, summarizing what skills you learn along the way.

Any kind of experience and skills you gained before the break are important too, so ensure you highlight them. Make sure you really emphasize your achievements, it doesn’t matter if you took place a year go, you still achieved it.

Impress with the cover letter

It’s important to say that you had a career break. Explain why you took it and why you want to come back.

If you are returning to the same career, say you can’t wait to return to what you love doing. If you are going onto a new route, highlight how you are excited about the new challenge. Be clear and know what you want to do and that you have fully considered it.

Also, note your availability especially if you are available to start as soon as possible.

The Interview

The biggest deal you have is convincing the interviewers that you aren’t going to pack your things up and leave again. You need to show a lasting commitment.

If it wasn’t your choice to have the break, always be positive. If you had to go through a personal issue, maybe you learned a new skill while you are on the break. These are all positive endings to what can be sad beginnings.

It is important for anyone to research the company you are interviewing for and that’s important especially if you have took career breaks. You need to prove that you are sharp and able as someone who has been doing the job continuously and that you know about the company and the sector they are in.

Employees just want you to demonstrate that you are ready, willing and able to do the job. Gaps only become a problem if they aren’t explained. Don’t apologise about it – confidence is the key.