Get Hired 2- Women's special

On the occasion of Women's Day, why not have a special on our blog too. After all Spearhead Intersearch is 60% female, and that too, now, after the conscious effort to have "gender balance" the other way round!

It is a well known cliche that women have to work twice as hard to go half as far as men. One of my earlier blog posts deals with disparity in pay among women and men workers in India. In the organized sector women still usually get roughly 60% of the salary that men get doing the same job. There are still lot less women in higher positions than even equal opportunity providers would want. Even in companies with woman CEOs, there are so few women in the pipeline for the top jobs, that it is unnerving.
It has been noticed that there are three kinds of women who get into the workplace as far as career goes.

• The first is the women who would like to work till they have kids and settle down. These form the bulk of the working women's population.
• Then there is the kind who work for some time, take a break for kids and then come back to work. For them working is more of a financial or personal necessity, after they have taken care of their responsibilities.
• Then there is the third kind, the companies' dream woman-worker- the careerist- who keep to their job with sincerity, with the driving ambition of rising to the top. This is the kind of employee who is encouraged to achieve, in quite a few companies today. The drive and ambition of these women are an inspiration for young girls around the globe.

But everyone is not made of the stuff Indra Nooyi has. Therefore, what about mortals like us, who have to handle home and hearth, children, shopping, and almost everything one can think of?

• One of my daughters friends mum is a mother of two. She works in a software firm in a mid-management position, where she has reached after 8 years of hard work. Now with a child in Std 2 and another is UKG, she is struggling to cope with the pressures of motherhood and work. She told me to look for a job for her which would allow her to work part time, or work from home. It was only saving grace that her husband works on UK timings and is usually there to bring the kids home from school. Today she was there at 3.30 pm at the school and told me her company has shifted her timings from the usual 9- 6pm to 7 am to 3 pm three days a week. Now she can be there to get her kids home and be with them for 3 of the 5 working days too. She loves her workplace, she wants to rise in her career, but she does not want to let go of the joys of motherhood either. Her company must be commended for keeping all her dreams in place.
• A friend of mine joined a bank from campus, and in the last ten years has quickly risen to the position of VP. The birth of a daughter came as a blessing and joy to the couple, but without family to support them in Delhi, she quickly had to decide to take a break till her daughter is old enough to put in play school.
• My cousin, another bank employee for about 15 years now, is a branch manager in Bangalore. Was, I should say, for the only way she was going to work in a city like Bangalore was having her parents from Dehradun over to look after her 4 year old. It was only a matter of time before they all realised it was not feasible any more, and now she has taken a sabbatical till she can rejoin.

Here too, these women are valued employees in a very woman- friendly environment. Their jobs will probably be waiting for them when they get back, probably they would have missed out on a couple of promotions and increments, but still, they have made their mark and they will survive.
I was lucky enough to be in a company which allows women to work from home when they have problems. But what if my company didnt allow me to work from home. With no family in Chennai and a small kindergarten going child, I would have two options- leave my child in the care of help at home or in a creche, or to leave my job and stay at home till the time my child was old enough to fend for herself. I would not have chosen the first option. What if I just needed the time off to recover from an illness.

• One of my candidates had to leave her job after her rat fever would not let her work for months. Now after 6 months of rest and recovery she is back to searching.

What if I just need the rest after having slogged for years, after all, any woman does the job of three men. Wife, home maker, mother, cook, cleaner, driver... name it. What if you just need the holiday to recahrge your batteries for a year.
So what is in it for women like us all over the country. How do we get back to the workplace after 2 or 3 years of break. Here are some tips:
Be positive: It always helps if you approach your renewed search with a positive frame of mind. It will clearly show in your interviews and reflect in your communications. A confident attitude will impress any panel. Whatever you did in your sabbatical, you know what you bring to the table and the company should know it too.
Take a course: There might have been something you would like to brush up on while you had been on a sabbatical. An online course would be an added qualification and send the message to your prospective employer that you are not just wasting anyone's time.
Prepare your CV anew: Nowadays most employers appreciate the need to take time off for ones children, to upgrade skill sets. But it should reflect in your profile. Update your profile with relevant skill sets for the company or industry you would like to present yourself to. In other words- customize. You should write a clear opening statement which would state that your time off has given you the opportunity to think of the growth path you need to take and hence you are looking for that kind of an opening. It does not matter if this statement is the whole and indelible truth.
Get your references in order: A good reference in often the clincher for a job. Make sure you have the best references you can offer right there in your profile. Keep your references informed that they might get calls from consultants or company HR. The words "Available on request" will not help, trust me.
Be aggressive in your search: Approach consulting firms. Call old colleagues, friends and people in power, whoever would be able to help you. Repeat after me- There is no shame in linking with someone after a period of time in order to get a job.
Start off temporary if you wish: Maybe your child needs you half the day but you can take the morning to work. Look for temp jobs if they are available instead of waiting for the time when you will get the whole day off. This will be a hue positive in your profile when you want to get back full time.
Know that it will take time: It would definitely take more time than, say if you were actively searching for a job while you were working. Take it in stride and dont lose hope. A probable time line would be about 6 to 7 months.
And then just follow the steps to get hired that I have enumerated in my earlier blog.