As APS approaches and many of us prepare to return to Canada – myself included – our thoughts are turning to career planning. Employment opportunities are scarce for spouses and family members in Europe. Many have been out of work for several years, and returning to work is not always easy.
Whether you’ve been out of the workforce for 12 months or five years, getting back into the hiring pool can be nerve-racking. Add to that how much the workplace has changed in the last 12 months, and it is easy to feel uncertain about your prospects and your value. However, the most important thing is that you remain confident in your abilities.
Without confidence, you can easily undervalue what you can offer an employer, and if you can’t see your value, the employer will not have a chance to see it either. So before you do anything, review your achievements to date.
Write down your skills and strengths on a piece of paper. Don’t stop there. What are your top accomplishments over your career? The things you are most proud of. Write those down too. Refer to this during your job search, to help give you a boost of energy. If you’re uncertain, ask friends and family, and past co-workers, to share their feedback on where your strengths lie. They may offer some suggestions that you had not previously considered.
Concerned that your workplace skills are no longer up-to-date? See if you can take a refresher course. There has never been more available online. You may even find a course that lets you add a new skill to your repertoire.
Taking a career break is more common than you may think, and employers are far less concerned about employment gaps than they used to be. They just want to know why you have been out of work, and what else you have been doing these past few years. An OUTCAN posting is a perfectly legitimate reason for a career break, and the experience of living in and adapting to another culture and language is the kind of life experience that can make you a better employee and co-worker.
If you need help preparing your resume for a return to Canada, reach out to me at MFSE.EmploymentEducationTraining@cfmws.com. I am happy to review your documents and provide advice on updating them for your return to work.
- Natalie MacLellan
Programs Coordinator, Employment, Education & Training