Ep. 104: How to Talk About a Career Break, with Carol Fishman Cohen

Many people take breaks during their career. People take breaks for childcare, elder care, travel, health, and more. When you’re ready to return after a multi-year break from work, it can be hard to make a plan to relaunch your career. The first step is to figure out what you want, according to career expert Carol Fishman Cohen. “From there,” she says, “everything else flows.” In this episode, Carol shares her personal experience with relaunching her career, and gives advice for job seekers who need a plan to reenter the workforce. One great tactic is to use strategic volunteering to beef up your recent experience. Carol shared a few resources to find opportunities, including Idealist and Catchafire . Our Guest for This Episode: Carol Fishman Cohen Carol Fishman Cohen is the CEO and co-founder of iRelaunch , a pioneering company in the career reentry space. She contributes regularly to the Harvard Business Review and her TED talk on relaunching has been viewed over 1.5 million times. Carol also hosts the 3,2,1 iRelaunch podcast. Ben’s Job Search Resource: How to Volunteer Abroad Volunteering abroad isn’t just for church youth groups and just-out-of-college peace corp cadets. There are a lot of opportunities for people with professional level skills to make a difference through volunteer work. You can use the education, training and experience you have to help people where such skills are less common. Find Your Dream Job Listener Question: Seasonal Jobs This week’s question comes from Wendy Lynn of Talent, Oregon. “I'm wondering to what extent job openings are seasonal? Are there better or worse times to look for a job?” These segments are sponsored by Mac’s new book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere . The book offers practical, actionable, and proven tools to help you get clear about your career goals, find hidden jobs, and ace your next interview. Get the first chapter of this useful resource free. Be a part of the Find Your Dream Job podcast! Join in: Ask your job-related question! Email it to becky@macslist.org , or leave us a message at 716-JOB-TALK . If we use your question on the air, you will receive either a copy of our new book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere . Share your best job resource with our listeners! Send your resource to ben@macslist.org , and tell him how it has helped you find your dream job. What do you think of our show? Rate and review our podcast on iTunes . We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices