Landing a Job After a Lengthy Absence

Absence from the job market does not make employers grow fonder of a job candidate. Quite the opposite. People who are unemployed for a lengthy period of time -- two years or more -- face an incredulous audience when it comes to auditioning for a full-time position.

There are many reasons for taking a protracted break between jobs. Women often drop out of the workforce to raise a family or care for an elderly parent. Military careerists might retire early and then apply for civilian jobs. People who are laid off in financially-troubled industries might discover that it takes time to find a new job, and it may even entail training for a different career.

Regardless of why you've been out of work for an extended period, you need to assess what you want in a position before you even start looking for employment. Figure out the type of job and lifestyle you want. Chances are that your needs and interests may have changed since your last job.

Maybe you were in finance, and now, you're more interested in health care after caring for your dad who had Alzheimer's disease. Or maybe you've decided to ditch sales, which you were good at but didn't love, in exchange for doing something that pays less but is more personally rewarding, such as working as the head fundraiser at a nonprofit.

Here's how to win over employers and return to work.

Be Flexible in Your Approach
While it's good to examine your interests, also weigh them against job opportunities. Tom Johnston, president and CEO of the Cleveland-based recruitment firm SearchPath International, had a client who had retired from running his own company. After a couple of years of rest and relaxation, he wanted to get back into the workforce, but his dream job turned out to be a pipe dream.

"He told me he was looking at making $200,000 a year with a minimum of six to eight weeks of vacation and that he didn't really want to work downtown because of the traffic," Johnston says. "I asked him, 'Do you really think someone is going to pay you to do that?'"

Instead, what Johnston and other experts counsel is flexibility when it comes to hours, title, compensation and even the size of the employer you are targeting. Flexibility is your way to compensate for time off from work.

"Let's face it, three years off makes you three years behind all the other candidates," Johnston says.

Or as Julie Hodson, an account executive with the temporary and permanent staffing firm Segue Staffing in Danbury, Conn., puts it, "The biggest mistake I've seen people make is in being too rigid. They seem to have this feeling that they can't take a step backward and take less money or a slightly different job title."

Flexibility may also extend to where you look for work. Smaller is sometimes better. Entrepreneurial firms may be more interested in your expertise than in how much time you were unemployed. Also, if job prospects are poor in the industry where you once worked, analyze your skills and apply them to a different arena with more opportunities.

Jean Erickson Walker, a managing partner with OI Partners, a career consulting firm in Portland, Ore., had a client who sold commercial real estate. When he encountered problems finding a new job, he switched gears and got a job buying properties for an investment firm. Similarly, that client could have applied his skills at putting together real estate deals as a project manager, Walker says.

Next: "Take the time to devise a customized job search plan." >

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