Going back to work after a career break

Confident Conversations is a weekly podcast show for ambitious women about confidently balancing work and life, hosted by me, Sherry Bevan, Author, Coach & Speaker. A former Global Head of IT Service for a City law firm, I now work with ambitious women to help them get clear on the career they really want then find the confidence to do it.

Going back to work with confidence after a career break

This week’s episode is about going back to work after a career break and how you can do this with confidence. I invited former client Ashley Aspin to share her personal experiences. Ashley experienced my first Back to Work Confidence programme. Her feedback helped me develop it to what it is today.

Ashley graduated from Cardiff University with a degree in Music in 1997 and started her working life in London with a leading classical music management agency. Two years later she took a post with the BBC Classical Music Department assisting the managing editor and working on some unique television programmes and events such as the Queen’s Jubilee Concerts at Buckingham Palace.

Seeking a career change two years later, Ashley joined the fast-track management training scheme for Davy’s Wine Bars in the City of London gaining great experience in the trade and learning about wine. She transferred these skills to recruitment in the hospitality sector and became Davy’s recruitment consultant at agency Berkeley Scott before taking a career break to bring up her young children. In 2012 she moved from London to the town of Marple, a small town in Greater Manchester on the edge of the Peak District.

Whilst on her career break, Ashley took up several charitable causes. She volunteered for the National Childbirth Trust, as editor of the local branch newsletter; raised over £2000 for St John Ambulance by running the London Marathon and supported the local primary school by organising major fundraising events.

She is now the HR Officer for the Laurus Trust, a newly established multi-academy trust in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport. She continues to contribute to the local community by assisting as a coach support worker for the girls teams at Marple Cricket Club which has over 90 junior members attending weekly, and of whom over a third are girls.

In the show we discuss:

How to maintain the intellectual challenge during your career break
How volunteering helps you to acquire new skills and maintain existing ones
The value of your skills gained through volunteering
Ashley’s big worries before going back to work and how she worked through them all
How to find work you love that fits around family

Ashley’s top tips for ambitious women who want to go back to work after a career break AND balance work and life “Stop looking for the perfect role and think about your skillset. The perfect balance is elusive but check in with yourself on a regular basis. Be honest with yourself and decide whether or not you need to take action. Be flexible in your approach and be adaptable to what you best can match.”

GUEST: Ashley Aspin
HOSTED BY: Sherry Bevan