Cork woman: Return to work course changed my life

IT can be easy to lose sight of yourself and what you have to offer when you’ve stepped out of the world of paid work for a time.

That’s where a programme called Rejuvenate comes in, as it’s designed to help women work through hurdles - real or imagined - that have been holding them back.

Developed by Taste 4 Success Skillnet and Skillnet Ireland, and hosted by the UCC Food Industry Training Unit, it was launched in 2019 and is a fully-funded 12-week programme, hosted online, which promotes diversity and inclusion.

According to insights gathered by the programme’s coordinators, a loss of confidence, time demands and worries about the relevance of their skill-sets are often cited as common reasons for women to postpone or avoid rejoining the workforce.

Rejuvenate is specifically designed to help participants rebuild their confidence and to learn practical skills and techniques to help in their job search and subsequent re-entry, says programme manager Ingrid Seim.

Topics include training needs assessment, professional network development, as well as mentoring and active career management.

Participants will also receive CV and job interview support, a career action plan, and more.

“As a society, we have thankfully made massive strides when it comes to recognising how counterproductive it is to view gaps on a CV as a negative and how much talent there is amongst women who have, for multiple reasons, stepped out of paid employment for some time.

Part of our mission for Rejuvenate is to ensure that women who do want to return to the workforce also come to fully realise this.

It’s all about opening your eyes to what’s out there, and to the skills you already have, she added.

“It can be easy to lose yourself when you’re fulfilling other people’s needs all the time, but this is a place to rediscover your professional self, or just yourself, outside of that caring role,” she said.

Angela Smiddy, career and interview coach, said that supporting the women on the Rejuvenate programme to navigate a successful return to the workplace and get their ‘career confidence’ back on track is incredibly rewarding.

“Career coaching and interview skills development are key elements of the support framework for career returners.

For many of the participants on the Rejuvenate Programme, making the decision to return to work is a big step and ultimately impacts many aspects of their lives.

“The career coaching element supports each participant in a bespoke manner; each woman’s aspirations, preferences and challenges are unique to them, so coaching helps them to explore and manage any challenges they are experiencing to enable them to figure out what exactly will make them happy and fulfilled at work,” she said.

“The Interview Skills development module of the programme helps participants to get a better understanding of what to expect from the interview process, and provides them with an interview preparation framework that helps them identify what makes them a valuable candidate and how to articulate this with confidence,” Angela added.

Bridie Corrigan Matthews, Network Director, Taste 4 Success Skillnet, pointed out that women are under-represented across many levels in the workplace.

The most recent Irish census data indicates that the workforce participation rate for women aged between 35 and 55 is at approximately 73% – that is about 20% lower than for men.

“Women primarily make up the main care-giver cohort within the family unit,” she said. “For those who have taken time out of work, to perform home-based caring duties, the break from employment, and a return to work, can be daunting, particularly given the fast-paced changes in technology, social media, automation of business systems and processes, and the advent of artificial intelligence, resulting in new/updated skills and competency requirements across all levels of the workforce.

“Our own research, and ongoing feedback from participants on our Rejuvenate Programmes, continues to tell us that ‘returning to work’ after a career break can be a daunting experience, especially concerns around current skills, relevant experience, confidence levels, and, of course working hours/hybrid working.”

The aim of the Rejuvenate programme, she said, is to enable skilled, capable, experienced, professional women to be ready to re-enter employment.

“Gender balance, diversity and inclusiveness is a positive and enriching thing in any profession, in any sector, and we have a huge opportunity to promote and support such an important initiative,” she said.

Some 80% of the most recent programme participants have now either gone into employment or have moved onto other programmes to upskill further in specific areas that they identified as part of the programme.

The next Rejuvenate programme starts in April and applications are now invited. See ucc.ie for more.

Here, two women share their experiences of the programme...

FIDELMA BARRY

The Rejuvenate course changed my life, it was absolutely amazing.

So says Fidelma Barry, of Bishopstown, who whole-heartedly recommends other women apply for a place on the next programme.

Fidelma worked in a variety of roles, including managerial retail positions, before she gave up paid work in 1999 after the birth of her second child.

She always planned to return to work and in 2010, as a mum-of-three, she did so on a part-time basis.

Tragically, her husband Pat was diagnosed with terminal cancer the following summer. When he sadly passed, she was just 45, and their children were aged 16, 11 and six.

“I always said that when I got our youngest to Leaving Cert, that I’d do something for me,” said Fidelma.

“A friend sent me an email about Rejuvenate, and my first reaction was that I didn’t have a third level education so I couldn’t apply.

But that’s the beauty of the programme, you don’t need one, it’s for everyone, regardless of age or background.

Fidelma said the confidence the programme has given her, in all areas of her life, has been ‘unreal’.

“We were asked on the course what would we leave behind, and my response was, not putting myself first, which I hadn’t for a very long time, and it really felt OK to say that.”

Fidelma’s children are now aged 30, 25 and 20 and are thrilled for their mum’s new-found confidence.

“Pat would have been delighted for me too,” she said, adding that so would her late parents.

EMER O’DRISCOLL

Emer stepped out of full-time employment to be a stay-at-home mum, and even though she always knew she’d return, when the time came she found it more daunting than she imagined.

The HR business partner is mum to a nine, seven and three year old, and really enjoyed the opportunity to be at home with them. “But when I started to think about returning, I was nine years out of full-time employment. I felt really disconnected from the ‘world of work’ and had lost self-confidence in my ability.

“I had never worked as a mother and I needed to see how that would work logistically, and I needed help to focus my mindset,” added Emer, who is originally from Whitegate in East Cork.

The UCC graduate saw information about Rejuvenate on some college literature and immediately saw the value in it. She’s lived and worked overseas and had never come across such a ‘unique offering’.

Despite some hesitancy, she applied and was accepted and found the experience ‘invaluable’.

“It was brilliant from a practical perspective, dealing with things like your CV, LinkedIn, recruitment agencies, but also for emotional support, and working through any anxieties as a returner. Over time, you build confidence and figure out for yourself what you want.”

Initially, Emer thought she would work part-time, somewhere locally, but by the end of the programme she had done a complete U-turn.

“I decided to return full time as a HR Business Partner with Unio Financial Services, so it was really a voyage of discovery for me,” said Wicklow-based Emer.

Head of HR, Cliodhna Ferris at Unio said they “recognise the unique contribution returners make to the business and applaud the valuable role of the Rejuvenate programme in supporting and preparing women for a return to work”.

The beauty of Rejuvenate is, Emer said, that it’s not aimed at anyone in particular.

“It’s not only for someone with a degree or someone looking for a corporate career. 

It’s aimed at a cross-section of society, culture, and sectors, and having that blend of life experience and knowledge really worked very well, in what was a very safe space.

“Deciding to go back to work is daunting, and applying to be on the programme can also seem daunting as you have to look at yourself, lift up the carpet, and see what’s holding you back and what will propel you forward, but for me it was an amazing experience and one I’d thoroughly recommend.”