Greetings. Welcome to Pivot and Prosper, strategy is important for women changing careers, where we discuss how to navigate career changes and provide strategies to support the women who have experience in the workforce, and are looking to transition into a new career. I'm your host and career coach, Daniel Woods, and it is important to me to be able to assist you in your career change and to make that transition as easy as possible. I do invite you to follow us and share the podcast with your family and friends, and also click on the link in the podcast and visit our website to check out some of our additional resources as well.
I'd also like to invite you to share your thoughts about the podcast, as well as ask a question that you might have about career change. So thanks so much for tuning into the podcast. Now, let's get to today's episode. In today's episode, we're going to discuss changing careers and having gaps in employment, and I will share with you some strategies for managing gaps in your work history and positioning yourself for success as you transition into a new career.
Having a gap in your employment history can be a challenging obstacle to overcome, especially when you're looking to change careers. However, there are many strategies that you can use to address these gaps and demonstrate your value to potential employers. Now, the first thing to remember is that you have value. Second, it's important to be honest about why you have gaps in your employment and your work history, whether you took time off to care for a family member, travel or pursue your education.
Make sure that you explain these reasons clearly and concisely. What I want to do is share five additional strategies that you can use for developing a good answer for your gaps in employment. And I suggest that you do this in advance so that you won't be rambling on about different things or sound like you're confused to the people to whom you're speaking with. So the first tip I want to give to you is to welcome the question.
Don't be defensive and be aware of your body language. When you are talking to someone, just mention the fact that, well, I'm glad you ask or say something like that or I want to explain it's personal, but you do have the right to know. Those types of interests to your challenges when they ask you the question is important. How you step into that question.
The next thing, number two, is to explain. Now, share a brief explanation why you made the decision that you made. Don't blame other people or be negative. And remember that our decisions are our responsibility.
So make sure that you're explaining and you're giving brief. You don't have to go into super details about it. You know, it's also important to show what you've been doing during the gap in employment if you've been in school or something to that effect. Now, this could be anything from volunteering, taking classes or workshop to build new skills, reading, freelance or consulting work, different things like that.
So show that you have, demonstrate that you have been active during that time in the gap in your employment, even if it's not directly related to that new career, highlighting these experiences shows that you've been active and engaged during the time offered during the time you've had this gap. Another strategy, number four, is to consider taking on a temporary or a contract work. This may or may not work for you depending on your schedule. So it really is up to you as an individual.
You want to take on something that you can manage that you can handle at the time. Now, this can help you build new skills or gain valuable experience and it can make connections in your new field as well. But now these types of roles can also provide, you know, a bridge between your previous work, experience and your new career path. So think about that.
Take time to make sure that this is something that you really want to do. I can't really stress that enough when we're changing careers, not to just do anything that just pops up, but to do something that you're passionate about, especially in part two, around two in your career change. Now, lastly, it's important to stay positive and focused on your goals. Now, changing careers, we already know our challenge.
Nobody has to tell us that. It's very, very stressful. It can be mentally draining because it may not turn out the way we had anticipated it to turn out. But it's important to remember that your past experience and skills are very, very valuable.
You are valuable and don't let anyone discourage you in regards to, well, you know, this is something new new technology. You're not up to date. Don't let anyone sow those types of seeds into your heart because if you grab a hold to that, it's going to affect how you go forward in your ability to change careers. It really does matter who you talk to and who you're around.
So make sure that you're staying positive and that you're around positive individuals that are going to build you up. So in summary, I want to just remind you that gaps in employment, they can be challenging to have, but it's not impossible to get through. Make sure that you have the right mindset as you overcoming the obstacles and write these things down. You should have a journal of some sort.
When you, you should have a journal, I would say, anyway, I have a journal, but when you're changing careers, you want to take that time to have that quiet time. Sit down, find some place where you can just be alone and write down your goals. Make sure that you're following your heart and I cannot stress that enough to follow your heart and make sure that you're listening to that something told me your spirit man in there to help guide you along the way. Just don't allow anybody and everybody to bring negativity.
Make sure you pay attention to what you're listening to, what you're watching, what you're putting inside, what are you allowing to bombard you with. There's so many things today that bombard us that can cause us to go in a negative route and get us frustrated quickly, still allow things to pull you here and there and not continue to focus in on your goals and objectives. So make sure that you're spending that time with yourself to build yourself up in many different ways as you step into that new career, as you deal with these gaps in employment. Like I said, write it down.
Make sure you have your answers down. Practice it a little bit of what you're going to say when they ask that question and be positive. So thank you so much for listening to the episode and I look forward to sharing more insights and strategies with you in the future as we continue to pivot and prosper and move forward. And you have a great one.