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Getting back in the workforce after a career break is a tough process for women. It is important for companies to make them welcome, rather than try to demean their skills or passion.
It is always a crucial decision for women when it comes to making it back to their career path after what feels like a never-ending or long maternity break. The duration of a maternity break depends upon so many factors like support from family members, health conditions, baby care, and other personal reasons.
For someone who has been working since she graduated or post-graduated, it becomes hard to decide not to work. For most of us, it is a heartbreaking feeling to sit at home and do nothing about our personal growth. Especially when the kid has grown up enough to eat food by herself or himself and is potty trained as well. These two are major milestones for any mother in the path of making her child independent.
When a mother finally decides to get back in the workforce and look out for the best possible career options available, little does she realise that the outside world is a really harsh place waiting for her to come and face the challenges. She carries the same enthusiasm and child-like smile with an aim to nail the job market, but let me tell you that at times it becomes quite an intimidating experience for women.
I am a Mental Health Awareness blogger and YouTube vlogger. I deliberately decided to take this two year gap, after a work tenure of seven years. I began my search for the best job when my daughter turned five and got into a full day school and activity center. We had also moved to a new city, and my mother-in-law refused to move-in along with us. It was a new experience for us to leave the baby unattended in a foreign environment. More than myself, my husband was reluctant to opt for any daycare arrangements. I had no option but to take this break and look after our daughter. Meanwhile, I followed my passion for writing and started raising my second baby, my blog which is also doing well now!
On a practical note, in a city like Mumbai, both husband and wife need to work to make ends meet. Now that my baby is five years old and able to convey everything to me, I have started applying for jobs after spending time preparing her well.
I came out of my cocoon after two years and went for several interviews. I felt that everywhere I went, I got stuck at the issue of working hours. I requested some flexibility in timings or work from home options but I was told that rules are rules. Job timings could not get adjusted with the timings of my daughter’s school and activity center, but I kept on trying. Finally, I got a call from an Institute for the profile of a content writer. It is a renowned Institute and the offer was amazing too. I could not resist it and I went ahead with the interview.
I cleared the first round and in my second round, I was asked to demonstrate my writing skills. I did that and also asked them to check my blog site, which has over 200 articles written by me. I thought that would help them to understand my writing style but they refused, saying that they didn’t have much time to go through all of that.
Next, I was bombarded with a lot of technical questions which were not under my area of expertise. I politely said that I was not aware of those topics. I answered everything I knew, but after each answer I gave, there was a sarcastic smile on the interviewer’s face. He made fun of my blog saying that many mothers do it because it’s a thing of convenience for them doing it from home. He remarked that if I didn’t even know how to promote my own blog then there was little use of it. I replied saying that we wrote in order to express our views and connect with other women who went through the same situations in their lives. That itself was sufficient for us, and many women were making their mark in the blogging world due to their consistent and creative writing skills.
In the end, I was at my wits’ end and I asked him, “Sir, did you go through my resume before short-listing me?” He said, “We don’t have much time to read each and every line of each candidate’s resume. We called you seeing that you are a Freelance Writer.” I replied, “You already know what I am, then why are you asking me the technical questions which even you know I can’t answer.” Saying this, I got up and left.
Every time we try to break the glass ceiling, we find such people who come in our way and try to break our will. But NO, we are not stopping here, neither are we giving up. Bring it on! We will make our way through all the jeopardy.
Much love and gratitude!
First published at author’s blog
Image via Pixabay
Single mom to a lovely daughter, blogger and Founder at Sanity Daily. An NLP practitioner, advocating Mental health since 2016. Among the top 15 Mental Health Bloggers, read in 60 Countries. Helping you priortise your read more...
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Menopause is a reality in women's lives, so Indian workplaces need to gear up and address women's menopausal needs.
Picture this: A seasoned executive at the peak of her career suddenly grapples with hot flashes and sleep disturbances during important meetings. She also battles mood swings and cognitive changes, affecting her productivity and confidence. Eventually, she resigns from her job.
Fiction? Not really. The scenario above is a reality many women face as they navigate menopause while meeting their work responsibilities.
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