Back in Force

Have you been on a career break?  Are you wondering how to start the return-to-work process?  The iRelaunch Return to Work Conferences are a great launching pad, providing practical tips, advice from successful relaunchers and employers, and strategies from iRelaunch founders Carol Fishman Cohen and Vivian Steir Rabin.  On this episode of Back in Force on BlogTalkRadio with host LeeAnn Dance, Carol Cohen will tell you what you can expect at the upcoming day-long conference scheduled for November 30th in Washington DC.  She'll be joined by Jenny Brody of the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project, an organization helping returning lawyers gain practical experience that not only helps relaunch their careers but provides valuable legal services to low-income clients.  And we'll also be joined by Michelle Shafer, a recruiter at PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the employers who was at the October Return to Work Conference in New York City.  Find out what employers are looking for and why you might be a good fit.  Can't attend the November 30th conference?  There are future conferences scheduled in other cities, and you'll still get some great advice from these three insightful women.

If you are a job seeker, plan to be, think you might be, or hope-to-God you won’t be, but could be, then you need to be on LinkedIn.  It is the world’s largest online network dedicated to professional connecting, and it could help launch you into your next job.  Because, it is, after all, about who you know, right?  So creating a profile and learning to navigate LinkedIn should be one of the first steps you take in your return-to-work process.  It need not be intimidating.  Join my expert guests Jason Alba, author of I’m on LinkedIn, Now What? And Brenda Bernstein, a LinkedIn trainer and author of the ebook LinkedIn Power Tune-up.  By the end of this conversation, you should have the tools you need to join this network of 100+ million professionals.  Come on, listen!

Re-entering the work force as the owner of your own business can be very appealing, especially if it's a business about which you are passionate.  And it may give you the work life balance so hard to find in corporate America.  Tune in to this conversation with guests Joicelyn Nelson of the Women's Business Center in Northern Virginia, Leah Yomtovian Roush of JumpStart, Inc., and Manar Morales, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University where she teaches entrepreneurship.  These three women offer a wealth of insight and common sense advice about this road to re-entry.

It's easy to understand how someone on a career break can quickly feel professionally irrelevant.  While you've taken an off-ramp to the slow lane to care for children or an ailing relative, technology has sped off on the HOV lane.  The terms your former colleagues and middle schoolers toss around can sound like a foreign language.  So returning to the workforce can feel like a major challenge.  But it needn't be.  There are a multitude of practical, do-able things you can do to prepare to re-enter the workforce and become relevant again. Stephanie Scott Harbour of MomCorps in New York City and Sheila Murphy of FlexForce Professional in the Washington Metropolitan area both run flexible recruiting and staffing companies.  They know what employers are looking for.  And they know what you can do not just to get a job, but to succeed. Join the conversation!

Our lives rarely run a straight course.  And when it comes to motherhood and work, we often find the need to jump off the career highway, or maybe take a detour, and, later, find the onramp back. When Meghan McCartan had her oldest daughter eight years ago, she found herself faced with a choice she didn't want to make -- continue working a 60-hour a week job, or quit and stay home full-time with her daughter.  She felt trapped, and she hated it.  She wanted more options -- work that would both satisy her and allow her to be the wife and mother she wanted to be. But her options appeared limited.  People told her that if she wanted to work, she'd have to accept 50 to 60-hour work weeks.  She wanted part-time, and if she couldn't find it, she was determined to create it.  And she did with a part-time consulting business. Along the way, though, she learned about the various and growing options available to women who wanted to work, just not full-time.  The problem, she found, was that many women didn't know about these options.  And that was a problem she wanted to address.  She didn't want anyone to feel trapped the way she had. So Meghan founded Detours & OnRamps, a series of one-day events providing resources, practical ideas, solutions, and strategies to "make work, work" for women and their families.  Four years ago, Lisa Adams, a career coach and job search strategist, began speaking at the conferences and helping Meghan grow her business. They've taken their forum to New Jersey, New York, Boston, and Northern Virginia and plan future forums in Philadelphia, the Boston area, and back to Northern Virginia in the spring of 2012. Listen in to learn more about the forums.  And prepare to be inspired about the options available to YOU!

Community colleges are one of this country's great treasures, educating thousands at an affordable cost and offering an array of valuable resources to job seekers.  Your community college can help you assess career options, update skills, network, and find coveted internships.  Listen in on the conversation with Dr. Julie Leidig, provost of the Loudoun campus of Northern Virginia Community College, the second largest community college in the country, Norma Kent with the American Association of Community Colleges, and Mary Ghilani, author and Director of Career Services at Luzerne County Community College in Pennsylvania.  And finally, we'll talk with Belinda Nanda, a former stay-at-home mom who turned to her community college to successfully launch her career re-entry.

Author and professional coach Julie Cohen joins Back in Force to share her insightful and practical tips for attaining the seemingly unattainable.  Work-life balance is highly personal and constantly shifting, but when we figure out what matters most to us, it does become possible to lead the lives we want to lead.  Whether you are contemplating a return to the work force or are already there, Cohen's tips are sure to resonate.  Cohen is the author of Your Work, Your Life...Your Way:  7 Keys to Work-Life Balance, a highly readable and relatable guide to finding what so many of us deeply want.

It's back to school time for the kids, but how about you?  Have you thought about changing careers but hesitated because it means going back to school?  The thought of going back to school with all those twenty-somethings might give you pause.  Or you may wonder how you could possibly handle school and your responsibilities at home.  But it is possible.  Hear the inspirational stories of two moms who decided to go back to school as adults.  There were challenges but, ultimately, tremendous rewards. Debbie Krasnow used to be the vice president at a public relations firm in Boston.  She stopped working after her third child and spent the next 15 years as a stay-at-home mom.  But her volunteer work inspired her to go back to school for a masters in social work.  She was 47-years-old, and her children were 12, 15, and 17. "It's a great time to go back to school," says Krasnow, "because you're more mature and there not because you need to be or are expected to be.  It was fantastic for me." Now she's in a job working with women on welfare -- a position she finds demanding but rewarding. Suzanne Offit spent 15 years raising her three children while handling demanding volunteer responsibilities.  She decided to relaunch by becoming a rabbi, an undertaking that required six years of intensive study.  And yet she still wore the hats of mother and wife.  Today she is the rabbi at Hebrew Senior Life, an elder care provider in the greater Boston area. "If you find great joy at the same time you are filling a need, that's the place to be," says Offit.  "That's where I'm at.  It's hard work, but I'm flying."

The Training Source is an award winning non-profit training and development organization that's been putting people in Maryland and Washington, D.C. to work for the past 17 years.  Under the leadership of founder Kim Rhim, the Training Source consistently beats national success rates in graduating students, getting them jobs, and keeping them in jobs.  Their programs could -- and should -- serve as models for programs throughout the country.  Listen in on the conversation with Executive Director Kim Rhim and find out what this inspirational organization is doing to put people to work.

No matter how long you've been out of the work force raising your kids, it's a good bet your wardrobe could use an overhaul.  And if you're heading back to work, there's no doubt you could use some help.  But where do you even start?  This week's guests can help you figure it out.  Join Susan Kanoff, fashion coach and founder of the website "A Great New Look," and Michele Little, a style and self-image expert and founder of the website "One Chic Mama."  These two can pull you out of the sweatpants or tennis outfit hole, spiff you up, and send you out into the world ready to launch the next clever new business or take on a board meeting.  Who couldn't use some good wardrobe advice?

Nancy Collamer is a career coach, author, and speaker.  She has advised millions of women online through"Jobs and Moms Pro" for Oxygen Media and has helped hundreds of women create family-friendly careers.  Nancy has also created the Back-to-Work Toolkit for stay-at-home moms returning to work.  This entrepreneur mom has lots of smart, sound advice for anyone looking to find a job or launch a new career.  Not to be missed.

Find work that doesn't just fill your wallet but also feeds your soul!  Author Patricia DiVecchio talks about her book "Evolutionary Work" and shares her wisdom not about "finding a job" but about "creating work."  She believes everyone is capable of doing this -- including women who've taken extended breaks to raise their children.  We all have something to offer, and it's just a matter of discovering what that is.  Listen, be inspired, and get ready to make a change in your life.

Mary Kaye is a career coach, founder of Comeback Moms (www.comebackmoms.com) and the author of an upcoming book about re-entering the work force. She's passionate about finding the inner talents of stay-at-home moms and helping them to discover the work that's right for them.

There may be as many as two million women contemplating or actually attempting to re-enter the workforce, according to estimates by Carol Cohen and Vivian Rabin, authors of "Back on the Career Track."  And yet many women in the midst of this process feel alone.  You are not!  Today's show is an opportunity to call in and share your story and connect with others.  Whether you've just begun thinking about it, are well into the process, or have launched into a part-time or full-time job, I'd love to hear from you.  Call me at 323-679-0901.

A conversation with Carol Cohen, author of "Back on the Career Track: A Guide for Stay-at-Home Moms Who Want to Return to Work" and career coach Julie Cohen about assessing your readiness to re-enter the work force. You may think you're ready, but how do you really know? We'll discuss the questions you should be asking yourself and the issues you need to consider before you return to work.

Mary Ghilani is a nationally certified counselor with 18 years of academic and career counseling experience with college students and adults. She's the Director of Career Services at Luzerne County Community College in Pennsylvania and author of "10 Strategies for Reentering the Workforce." This easy-to-read book is filled with advice for anyone who wants or needs to go back to work. She'll share tips she's gleaned from her many years of counseling and offer advice to overcome the obstacles that often prevent people from finding a meaningful work life.

You've been out of the work force raising children and want to go back to work. But maybe not doing what you did before your career break. So how do you find that dream job? Back in Force talks to author Kerry Hannon, a nationally recognized authority on career transitions, about her book "What's Next?" This book is filled with inspiring stories from people who changed careers mid-life. This book can give you the motivation and a roadmap to jump start your career re-entry.

Back in Force is joined by the founders of FlexForce Professionals, a recruiting and staffing company that places professional women in part-time positions in the Washington, D.C. area. All three founders are former stay-at-home moms who took breaks from successful careers to raise their children. FlexForce is their entrepreneurial return to work. They've got great insight into what former stay-at-home moms bring to future employers, advice about how to prepare yourself for re-entry, and what you can expect when you return to work.

An updated resume and a powerful LinkedIn profile are important tools for anyone preparing to re-enter the workforce. But employment gaps present a daunting challenge. Brenda Bernstein is a writing consultant with an expertise in resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and college essays (theessayexpert.com). She joins Back in Force with advice on how to handle career gaps and volunteer experience. If you're thinking of re-entering the work force and need to update your resume, join us with your questions.

Back in Force host LeeAnn Dance talks with therapist and career coach Colleen Smith about mommy guilt -- the guilt many women feel whether they choose to be a stay-at-home mom or return to work. Society puts a great deal of stress on women to be the perfect mother. But often this can be at the expense of a woman's own sense of identity. If a woman chooses to stay home, she may feel guilty about not contributing enough to the family income or resentful that she's sacrificing too much of her own self. But if she works outside the home, she may feel guilt about not focussing on her family. Does the thought of relaunching stir up fears that you might be seen as a bad mother? And yet, staying at home and ignoring your own needs and desires may leave you angry and frustrated. Our guest expert knows all about these conflicting feelings. Colleen Smith is a career-business coach and a therapist at the Women's Center in Vienna, Virginia, where she also conducts Returning to Work seminars for women preparing to relaunch. She also has a private practice called Insight Coaching and Counseling. Join us with your questions and concerns.