“Returnships”: We like this idea.
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz’s article in the Chicago Tribune Business Section, “Corporate ‘Returnships’ Gain Steam”, reminds us that many people who step away from their careers for an extended period – to care for an ill or elderly family member, pursue a personal initiative or to start and raise a family – can find that their resume gap leaves them virtually unhireable when they choose to return to the workplace. Elejalde-Ruiz’ piece recounts the frustrations of headhunters who won’t return calls and hiring managers who consider (perhaps, understandably) life experiences off the job to be largely irrelevant.
We’ll all be sympathetic to someone who spent years providing full-time care for a loved one. Perhaps not quite so on board with those who chose to travel the globe for a couple years, launch a B&B out of their house or take a sabbatical to try to write the great American novel. But, lets be candid: The majority of individuals who choose to step away from their careers (or had to do so) will be women starting or raising a family. More and more men doing so? You bet. But statistically, it’s still overwhelmingly women.
And at some point, those women, and all the other folks as well, may decide its time to return to the workplace. But the challenges they face will be enormous.
While the Tribune article is focused in large part on STEM fields, the notion is pertinent to many other careers. In design and creative services, a two-year, five-year or even longer gap could be intimidating. Oh sure, you could stay abreast of evolving design trends in the marketplace via professional publication subscriptions, design blogs and simply remaining observant, just as you did when working. But that’s not going to keep you up to speed on software changes, new techniques and processes. Here at The DIG, we certainly work differently today than we did just a couple years ago. Even more so compared to five years ago. A decade ago? It almost seems like another world.
So, just what are ‘returnships’ as Elejalde-Ruiz calls them in her article?
Basically, experienced workers returning to their field in internship-like roles, often (though not necessarily) at reduced compensation, for a defined period in order to become re-acclimated to the changing field, marketplace and processes. Drawing upon their prior experiences, they already have a dramatic head start vs. recent college grad interns, and can presumably offer more genuine value and utility to the employer. But, they do need to get re-acclimated, and the assumption is that three months, six months or more later, they’ll be back to full power.
The DIG has a long track record with internship programs. The firm’s founder, Tom Strauch, was already exposed to them back in his client side days and knew they could work well for employer and intern alike. Always? Well, no. But often enough to be worthwhile. The DIG’s very first full-time employee was originally an intern, and during the years since we’ve done both formal and unofficial paid internships through Loyola University and Columbia College with pretty good results, and a number of those three-month full-time paid internships lead to full time employment with our firm.
So it stands to reason that the same process could work with experienced people who just need to get caught up with new software, techniques, processes, etc. A designer who left off in an early version of Adobe CS will need to catch up on CC, as will one who was busily burning disks for finals, out of touch with navigating DAMS or mired in early 2000’s aesthetics and trends.
So, would The DIG consider doing “Returnships”? Heck yeah. Now, don’t start sending unsolicited resumes our way. But when the time is right and the need arises, we’d likely be open to looking at experienced pro’s that stepped away from the business for a while, but are anxious to get back in the game.
Look for Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz’ full article at tribune.com
