Would you return to a career after a 10-year break?

Trends suggest that the premium on experience and the willingness to work is high; so it is no longer career suicide for women to take a backseat for a few years to nurture their families and get a second wind on their return to corporate life.

Meera Khatri, a Khar resident, decided to get back to work after a nine-year career break. She quit her job in 2001, when her daughter was born, so that she had more time to spend with her child.

“But when my daughter went off to full-day school, I had a lot of time on my hands and felt myself stagnating. It was then that I decided to go back to work,” she says. Like Meera, many women are now choosing to get back to work after extended career breaks.

Till a few years ago, women rarely returned to their jobs once they got married, went on maternity leave or took a break for other personal reasons. Marcel Parker, Director and Chief Mentor of Ikya explains, “Today, a few companies are realizing that instead of completely losing out on good talent when these women quit working, it would be better to absorb and provide them with job opportunities even after long breaks.”

This changing trend has companies as well as women considering second career opportunities. Diageo, one such company, recruits women returning to work after long breaks, on a full-time basis, and has a whole host of women leaders playing critical roles. Sarah Walton, Human Resources Director of Diageo says, “We have identified women returning from sabbaticals, as a ready and rich pool of experienced talent. We value these women for their unique perspectives, insights and skill sets that help shape the organisation’s culture.

Whether returning as a freelancer or full time, the decision to return to work after a long gap, is not easy. The change in work culture is a challenge to many women. While some find that people, today, are more knowledgeable and work faster, others feel that the commitment levels are not the same. “Adjusting to the younger generation that now populates the workplace, was a challenge, but I enjoy having them around. Things have changed since I first began working. Today, you can get a good job soon after college; but when I started off, getting a job was not as easy,” says Divya Suresh, who heads the Immigration Team at Cognizant Technology Solutions.

Most women returning to work, feel the break in their careers has taken a toll on them. “At home, my life revolved around my family. I read the newspapers, but rarely from a business angle. As I lost touch with the business world, I did not feel confident enough and really had to prove myself.

Since I was home for so long, when I returned to work, I was initially preoccupied with thoughts of home,” says Laxmi Sahasranaman, who quit her job as an Assistant Manager with the National Stock Exchange in 2005 and returned to her career, eight years later, as a freelance Corporate Trainer at TCS.

The Tata Group, in sync with providing career opportunities to talented, professional women with a minimum of two years work experience, wishing to return to the job front, has started the Second Career Internship Programme. The programme offers live business projects with flexible schedules and project-based employment to women who have taken a career break of six months to eight years. Women are taken on as consultants in departments such as HR, marketing, finance, legal, manufacturing, communication, engineering and other corporate domains, for six months. After this, those who are ready for full-time jobs are absorbed.

Other organisations like Deutsche Bank Group, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Microsoft IT, Vodafone, PepsiCo India, IBM, Genpact, Goldman Sachs, Accenture, have partnered with AVTAR I-WIN, (a part of FLEXI Career India, Diversity & Inclusion Consulting firm) which organises workshops, skill building programmes and events for companies looking to hire women interested in returning to their career and for women on the hunt for organisations encouraging a comeback to the corporate world after a long gap. “The workshops we conduct aim at sensitising managers (about hiring and engaging women wishing to return to their careers after a break) and at women who are returning to their careers, by preparing for their comeback,” says Karthik Ekambaram Assistant Vice President at FLEXI Careers India.

While these women do feel the pinch of taking a break once in a while, it is not a decision they regret. “Other colleagues moved up the social ladder, while I was not working. This was one of the things that motivated me to go back to work. There is a sense of achievement and financial independence that you wouldn’t feel if you are sitting at home. But by the same token, when I think of my reasons for choosing to take a break, it balances out the feeling. Being a mum is important to me and I will never regret my decision,” finishes Meera.

Despite the challenges, with courage, determination and the support of their families, women now have the chance to make it big even if they thought their careers were over.