Your Return December 24

Issue 9 I December 2024

Support and inspiration for career returners

Welcome!

Welcome to our December edition! As 2024 draws to an end, there has been much to celebrate this year and so much to look forward to in 2025!

We’ve loved working with you, our returner community in 2024, meeting you in our monthly webinars, in our coaching programmes and at our Conference, hearing your stories and helping you to navigate your return to work. We celebrate all your successes, so do continue to share them at coach@careerreturners.com and light up our days!

There was much excitement at CRHQ this month as our new Career Returners Community launched and we welcomed in our network members to register and join the Community. It’s been wonderful watching our network chat and connect and we’ve enjoyed hosting various ‘Welcome and Connect’ and ‘Ask the Coaches’ sessions. If you’ve not yet registered, you can do so here to join the conversation and access a wealth of resources and support.

This will be our last edition of the Magazine as we will be moving over to sharing more resources live in the Community going forwards. In this edition, we celebrate the inspiring Gema Mananes who returned to work after a 14 year career break at Markel, as part of an insurance cross company returner programme. We loved her advice to believe in yourself and to go for it as success comes from taking action.

Contributors Karen Danker Head of Coaching

Liz Mearns Deputy Head of Coaching

Lauren Wilson Senior Coach

Faith Ruto Senior Coach

Karen Braakman Senior Coach

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If you’re currently thinking about returning to work after a career break for health reasons then our blog this month is full of practical strategies and advice to help you plan your return. We’ve also created a bank of resources on our website to various organisations that offer advice and support on your rights as you return to work after a health related break, so do check it out here If you’re planning to get started on your return to work in January, then our new Accelerator Programme is the perfect festive gift! Starting on 20 January and running until 12 March, this 6 session group online coaching programme will take you through every stage of your return from working out what you want to do, to updating your CV and LinkedIn profile, to getting ready for interview. We’ll introduce you to AI and how it can support you and we’ll create an Accelerator Group in the Community to encourage continued peer support throughout. To secure your place, join the Community first and then register!

Finally, as this year draws to an end, make sure you take some time to pause, reflect and recharge. Our ‘Ask the Coaches’ Q&A shares some simple strategies for making the most of any downtime you have, so that you can start the new year refreshed, recharged and ready to go!

Wishing you a wonderful festive period, and a very happy and healthy New Year! We look forward to seeing you in the Community in 2025!

Career Returners Coaching Team

Your Return Brought to you by:

Contents

Sponsored by:

DECEMBER 2024

3 Practical Strategies to Support Your Return to Work After Ill-Health Expert advice and lived-experience insights from our recent webinar on returning to work after ill-health

6 Career Returners Community Our global online Community is now live!

Hear about some of the exciting ways you can get involved, find support, make connections and boost your return to work

7 Gema’s Return to Work Success Story

9 Ask the Coaches What steps can you take to get ready to start your return to work in 2025? Our coaches share tips to help you rebalance, reflect and recharge amidst the bustle of the festive period

10 Webinars & Events Find out how our new ‘Return to Work Accelerator’ Group Coaching Programme will equip you with the tools, strategies and support to maximise your chances of getting back to a fulfilling job and our exciting Early Bird offer!

Gema shares how she embraced the challenges of returning to work after a long career break and regained her professional confidence

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Advice BLOG

I n our recent webinar on returning to work after ill health, we discussed several practical strategies to consider and implement. We were joined by Jo Yarker, Professor in Occupational Psychology and Managing Partner at Affinity Health at Work, who shared her expert insights and advice; and Iuliana Udangiu, Business Analyst at EDF, who shared her personal story of returning to work after a four year health related career break.

Taking time to reflect first A good starting point is to reflect on how you left work in the first place. Were you already out of work, or did you leave suddenly or gradually after things had become unsustainable? What did you communicate at the time and how did you feel about how you were treated if relevant.

This will help you to understand what went on before and what that means for you now in terms of how you approach or reframe your return journey.

When thinking about how your illness may affect your return to the workplace, consider both the impact on your physical and mental health, and how you are managing both. It’s important to accept and understand that with fluctuating long term conditions, how you feel in terms of readiness to return can change from week to week, and that’s perfectly normal there often isn’t a simple linear progression with health.

It’s important therefore to think about what you may need to sustain your health over the long term, not just over the first week or month.

There’s usually not just one solution that's going to work on an ongoing basis, so view this as a continuing journey that may need to flex and evolve over time.

Change in identity A change in identity often comes about after a period of ill health as your priorities may be different. There may need to be a period of coming to terms with your new ways of being

and pace. So, if you were able to work very long or intense hours previously or used to view yourself as someone who always goes above and beyond, this may no longer be sustainable.

It helps to accept this and be realistic about the type of work boundaries you now need to operate within, in order to maintain health.

For some, it’s perfectly possible to resume or return to your previous career, for others this may present an opportunity to take stock and consider a change of direction to a new role or sector. If so, take some time to reflect on your interests, strengths, transferable skills and new work boundaries to help you explore other opportunities.

While you’re not working, it’s also valuable to make sure that your identity is not completely tied in with your job search and any barriers you may be experiencing. Consider what activities you can participate in which you can talk to that build alternative new skills and bring you joy such as something creative like pottery or photography.

Telling others about your ill health This will be a very personal and individual decision, and you should only disclose what you feel comfortable to, and in so far as it effects your delivery of the job requirements. Some people will choose to be upfront about this in their covering letter and CV, listing the reason for their career break as being health reasons.

Others will wait for the right point in interview, namely when they feel they’ve wowed their

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Advice BLOG interviewers with their skills and experience and the balance is more skewed in their direction to raise relevant aspects and discuss what adjustments if any they might need. Practice talking out loud to friends and family to see what you are comfortable with, and so that you can be prepared for any questions that may come up as a result of your disclosure.

Requesting adjustments Part of your preparation for your return to work is recognising what your symptoms are and how these might translate to being at work. If you think there are particular areas of the role that you might struggle with because of your health, then be specific about how certain aspects of your health condition might affect those. So, at the right point for you, you might say something like “I know I can confidently deliver on this element, but I might find this element difficult because my health condition means that…”

There are different adjustments that you might want to consider and need to access to sustain your work on an ongoing basis and these may include adjustments around scheduling, cognitive tasks or commuting.

Do spend some time rehearsing what you will disclose and the adjustments you think you might need to boost your confidence in asking for them. Consider practicing your narrative with a trusted friend to sense check how comfortable you felt disclosing them - you don't want to come away from an interview feeling like you ‘over disclosed’.

Embracing self-compassion and support from others It’s really important to practise self-compassion on your journey back to work and especially so after a period of ill health. Turn kindness onto yourself and speak to yourself as you would do to a friend. Jo talks to “building your own igloo” to stay safe inside and create building blocks of support around yourself. You don’t have to do this on your own! If you're feeling frustrated or lost, peer groups can be really valuable in helping to combat loneliness, share tips and boost morale.

Join our online global Community for valuable peer support – we’ve created a group specifically for returners returning to work after a career break for health reasons. When you do return to work, other support will hopefully come from your line manager, from your organisation in terms of the policies they have in place and other external networks so embrace all of these to help you return sustainably to your fulfilling career.

For more resources for those looking to return to work after a career break for ill health, see our website here

Read more in our Back to Your Future Blog

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Inspiration COMMUNITY

Our Career Returners Community - Now Live!

We’ve loved welcoming you, our network members, to our new Community this month! Over the last few weeks, we’ve hosted ‘Welcome and Connect’ sessions, ‘Ask the Coach’ clinics, and webinars. And that’s just the start …. there’s a variety of Groups to join for Returners looking to return to a particular sector or for those that are ‘Explorers’ and not yet sure what they’d like to do next – we’ve got you all covered! If there’s a Group you’d like to see that’s not yet there, then email our wonderful Community Manager natalie@careerreturners.com to let her know!

If you’d like to chat through your CV or LinkedIn profile or get support for an upcoming interview, then pop into our Skills rooms to connect with each other and share feedback and advice. Our coaching team will also be hosting regular ‘Live Chats’ in the Skills rooms to answer all your questions.

If you’re a fan of our Success Story Library, then you’ll also be able to hear from our returners live as we’ll be hosting ‘Success Story’ Live sessions in the Community. We’ll also be starting to welcome employers into the Community too to share details of upcoming opportunities and answer your questions.

We’re building a wonderful, dynamic, supportive Community and we look forward to welcoming you on board! If you’ve not already registered, don’t miss out and click to join today!

Sign up Your Return

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Gema’s Success Story “I never thought I would be where I am now just 6 months after reenacting my career. I feel very enthusiastic about the future, and I’ve gained the confidence I had somehow lost.”

Gema Mananes Technology Professional Indemnity / Cyber Underwriter Markel 14 year career break

I began my career with Chubb, an American Insurance Company, where I spent 13 years as an insurance underwriter. I was based in Madrid for the majority of the time but did spend 4 years in London too and enjoyed working across different lines of business including Commercial Property, Casualty, Entertainment and Financial lines.

I was based in Madrid when my son was born but soon after decided to come back to London and so that’s when my career break started. During this time, I decided to explore my interest in teaching and went on a course to teach Spanish to young learners for a while and then went on to take a one year teaching assistant qualification. This enabled me to work in a primary school for 2 years, working with children who have English as an additional language.

I really enjoyed working with children and looking back, I can see that I developed transferable skills I can apply to my new role letting me be much more open and understanding of people than I was before. I also took the opportunity to complete a degree during this time in History and Art History, a real passion of mine.

“Looking back, I can see that I developed transferable skills I can apply to my new role” As my son grew up and became more independent, I realised I had more flexibility again to be able to commit to a full time job and so I started exploring options to return to my professional

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Inspiration SUCCESS STORY career. It was a little bit daunting at the beginning and I wasn’t sure where to go or how to start with such a gap on my CV. These days, job applications happen predominantly through social media like LinkedIn which is very impersonal. Following such a long career break, you need a human touch to guide you through the process.

“As part of the programme they ran support workshops on CVs and interview skills which really helped guide you throughout the application process” A contact I had met previously had successfully returned to work via Career Returners, and so I joined their professional network and heard about a cross company returner programme they were running in the insurance sector. This looked like a fantastic opportunity to return to work via a supported programme and so I applied. As part of the programme they ran support workshops on CVs and interview skills which really helped guide you throughout the application process. I was delighted to be offered a six month placement at Markel, one of the participating organisations, and was then thrilled to be offered a permanent role at the end of the returnship.

“When I joined, I wasn’t sure how I would fit in after such a long career break. I just embraced every opportunity to learn” When I joined, I wasn’t sure how I would fit in after such a long career break. I just embraced every opportunity to learn. The team at Markel have been so welcoming and supportive and have always offered a helping hand. There were

“You're not starting from scratch, there is a lot already there and it comes back quickly, so be confident” lots of meetings with different individuals in the early days that explained how things are done and how everything is connected which was so helpful. My manager was so supportive, helping to set me up for success, and I also received valuable mentoring from Markel.

Being back at work was a mix of excitement and fear at the beginning but very fulfilling as you go along. It can be very challenging at times, but you gain confidence to embrace the challenge, and you learn how to cope with it. I never thought I would be where I am now just 6 months after re-enacting my career in insurance. I feel very enthusiastic about the future, and I’ve gained the confidence I had somehow lost.

“Stop thinking and start acting” For others thinking about returning to work, my advice is to believe in yourself. You're not starting from scratch, there is a lot already there and it comes back quickly, so be confident. The other thing I would say is to stop thinking and start acting. For quite a long time, I thought about returning to work, but I always had doubts I would be able to work without sacrificing my family. But it works, it is a challenge but it’s possible and I wouldn’t go back now. I am happier for having my own space outside family life, that I can share what happens at work with my family and inspire others around me in different ways.

Read more inspiring stories in our Success Story Library

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Advice

ASK THE COACHES

Our coaching team is on hand to answer your questions!

I’m hoping to return to work in 2025.

What steps can I take over the festive break to get myself ready to get started in the New Year?

The festive period is often a very busy and hectic time for many of us. Adding return to work pressure into the mix can feel overwhelming. Amidst the bustle, we’d encourage you to seek out moments of calm to help you rebalance, reflect and recharge ahead of the January restart.

When you can, get out for a brisk walk in the fresh air to shake off the cobwebs. Tune in to our Career Returners Podcast whilst you’re out walking to get your daily dose of inspiration. You’ll hear from a range of returners who have navigated a return to work, either to their old sector or as in our most recent mini-series, to a completely new role and sector, and come away with renewed optimism that you too can do it.

If you have some downtime at home, curl up with a cuppa and read some of the wonderful returner success stories in our Success Story Library. Our Library features over 100 stories of returners sharing their journeys of returning to work in different sectors and they share the ups and downs of their return to work, as well as their top tips and advice for you to take away.

Journalling can be very valuable and therapeutic.

Buy yourself a lovely ‘return to work’ journal that you’ll enjoy writing in and carve out a short daily practice over the holidays to capture your thoughts and reflections about returning to work. You could have different pages in there, on areas/topics you’re interested in, what’s important to you now about work, what activities energise you and you’d like to be doing ideally, who you could chat to for ideas, and you could add to these pages as you go to capture all your thoughts and ideas that you can build on in January.

Finally, if you get the opportunity, grab a coffee with a supportive friend to chat over some of these ideas to see and feel how they sound out loud! Chatting over your career story and what you may do next can help you to refine this further and will come in handy once you get out and about exploring these ideas in the New Year!

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Webinars & Events 2025

Return to Work Accelerator 2025 Group Coaching Programme

Location: Worldwide: Virtual Opportunity: Return to Work Group Coaching Programme Programme Dates: 20 January to 12 March 2025 Register by: 12pm (GMT) on 16 January 2025 Are you looking for a motivational and practical boost to support you to get back to work? Join our expert Career Returners Coaches for our 6-week online Return to Work Accelerator. The Group Coaching Programme, running from 20 January to 12 March 2025, will equip you with the tools, strategies and support to maximise your chances of getting back to a fulfilling job. Book by 31 December and you’ll receive 14 hours of expert-led support for an Early Bird price of £95 (discounted from £125). It’s the perfect festive present to gift yourself or add to your list!

“The coaching workshops helped break down internal barriers, understand what I wanted from my career and gave me the confidence to be clear about my direction and find work that suited me. It also helped to team up with a cohort of returners, know that I was not alone and the problems we faced were the same.” 2023 Participant (similar programme) Six live and interactive coach-led workshops, boosted by practical exercises and tailored resources.

Rebuild your professional confidence, develop your skills to network effectively online and in person, enhance your CV, identify key strengths and transferable skills, optimise your LinkedIn profile, navigate online job applications and prepare for interview success.

Throughout, learn how to incorporate AI into your return to work experience.

Join a ready-made return to work peer support group. You’ll have a dedicated Accelerator peer group in our new online Community Hub for you to connect and support each other throughout the programme and beyond.

To book your place, please go into our new Career Returners Community Hub or click the link below and you’ll find the Accelerator under Courses and Coaching.

For more information, or if you have any problems signing up, email coach@careerreturners.com

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