How to get back to work after a career break | Carol Fishman Cohen

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: Carol Fishman Cohen argues that people returning after career breaks—"relaunchers"—are an underused talent pool whose main barrier is employer risk perception and self-doubt. She shows how reentry internships and proactive networking can bridge the gap, citing successful examples across finance, engineering, and other fields, including her own relaunch and Tracy Shapiro’s return to work.

Main Topics: Defining relaunchers and the career-break talent pool (Priority: 5/5): Cohen broadens the category beyond parents returning after childcare to include elder care, health breaks, veterans, military spouses, retirees, and repatriating expats. The employer-relauncher disconnect (Priority: 5/5): She explains that employers often see resume gaps as risky, while relaunchers may doubt their own readiness after time away. Personal relaunch experience and preparation (Priority: 4/5): Cohen uses her own 11-year break to illustrate how people are perceived as frozen in time and why updating skills and industry knowledge matters. Why relaunchers are valuable hires (Priority: 4/5): She argues relaunchers bring maturity, settled life circumstances, strong experience, and renewed enthusiasm that make them attractive employees. Reentry internships as a solution (Priority: 5/5): Cohen describes the rise of paid internship-like return-to-work programs as a low-risk way for employers to evaluate relaunchers through actual work samples. Tracy Shapiro’s successful relaunch (Priority: 4/5): A case study showing how public networking and a temporary role led to a permanent job, promotion, MBA support, and eventually hiring another relauncher. Scaling the model across industries (Priority: 3/5): She notes that reentry internship concepts are spreading from finance to engineering and could be adapted for veterans and retirees.

Key Arguments: Career breaks should not be treated as disqualifying; relaunchers are a valuable, often overlooked workforce segment. The main obstacle is mutual uncertainty: employers fear risk, while relaunchers fear they are no longer qualified. People returning after a break must actively network and make their job search public rather than relying only on online applications. Skill gaps, especially technology, are real but temporary and can be closed with self-directed learning. Employers should expect relaunchers to clarify their goals and demonstrate where they can add value; that responsibility lies with the candidate. Paid reentry internships reduce hiring risk by letting employers evaluate performance on the job before making a permanent offer. Successful programs are already producing strong hires and institutional change across multiple sectors. The model is transferable to other transition groups, including veterans and retirees.

Data Points: Career break length: 11 years - Cohen’s own time out of the full-time workforce before relaunching Career break length: 5 years - Sammy Kafala, a nuclear physicist in the UK, took this break to care for his five children Career break length: 25 years - Mimi Khan returned to social work after this long break Career break length: 13 years - Tracy Shapiro’s break before returning to work Career break length: 9 months - Tracy had been diligently applying online with no results before Cohen intervened Career break length: 6 months - Cohen read the Wall Street Journal cover to cover for this long to catch up on business news Program count: 5 - Five major financial services companies had reentry internship programs for returning finance professionals Program count: 7 - Seven major engineering companies were piloting reentry internship programs with the Society of Women Engineers Time to permanent offer: Beginning of 2012 - Tracy’s temporary role converted to a permanent offer Time reference: 2015 - By 2015 Tracy had been promoted, received MBA support, and hired another relauncher

Pivotal Quotes: "People returning to work after a career break. I call them relaunchers." — Carol Fishman Cohen: She introduces her core term for the audience "People's view of you is frozen in time." — Carol Fishman Cohen: She explains how former colleagues and classmates often remember relaunchers as they were before the break "Be their first success story, and you can be the example for more relaunchers to come." — Carol Fishman Cohen: Her closing advice to job seekers considering an internship-like arrangement

Implications: Employers can tap a high-potential talent pool by using reentry internships and skills-based evaluation. For relaunchers, proactive networking and willingness to start with a tryout can reopen careers and reshape hiring norms.