Move over internship, there’s a new kid on the block: the returnship.
Yes, this is the new buzzword in recruitment circles to describe later-life work placements that help women resume their careers after taking a break to bring up their kids.
Returnships are particularly aimed at getting highly qualified women – those with gaps in their CV’s hitherto filled only by nappies and playdates – back into the workplace and using their talents again.
Scotland has already embraced the concept, which was first developed at Goldman Sachs in the US almost a decade ago. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon pledged her support for it last year, vowing to work with Scottish employers to pilot returnships. And in March’s Spring budget, the UK government announced funding of £5million will be given to support workplace returners.
Almost every sector is interested in returnships but banking, financial services, law, engineering, teaching and the NHS are the sectors that already offer initiatives to attract former professionals back into work.
STEM industries – those involving science, technology, engineering and maths – are especially keen, as historically they’ve always suffered from the female brain drain. Equate Scotland has already picked up the baton and is helping women update their skills and regain their confidence through mentoring and work placements.
Of course, as an HR professional or perhaps hoping to kickstart your career in recruitment, you need to know how it all works.
Essentially, returnships follow a similar formula to internships – only instead of millennials being the target audience, it’s mums.
Mentors are assigned to help new recruits through those first tricky few weeks of office life.
There are also corporate culture workshops and the all-important IT sessions to get to grips with changing technology.
After three months or so, the once slightly-rusty employee has had a taster of professional life again, had their confidence levels boosted and been given a glimpse of a life beyond the school gates.
They can then decide if they want to pursue a full-time role.
Fans of returnships say this try-before-you buy approach brings benefits for businesses and potential employees. Not only does it help recruiters refill the leaking talent pool, but it allows women to test out whether they’re ready for a professional role again.
In return, firms get employees who are not only highly qualified and a good fit for the business but bring a fresh perspective.
Why not boost your chances of returning to a fab career by checking out the latest vacancies at s1jobs?