Latest / The Comeback Career Podcast with Fexingo: Returning After a Gap, Stay-at-Home Re-Entry / How a Career Gap Helped One Parent Land a Sustainability Role
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot on this show about returning to the same field after a gap — marketing manager, data analyst, project manager. But what about coming back into a completely different industry? One you don't necessarily have direct experience in. Luna: That's a tougher sell on a resume. You're competing with people who've been in that field for years. Lucas: Exactly. And today's story is about someone who did exactly that. Maria Gonzalez — former marketing manager at a midsize consumer goods company. She took five years off to raise two kids. When she was ready to return, she didn't want to go back to marketing. Luna: What did she want to do instead? Lucas: She wanted into sustainability. ESG — environmental, social, governance — the whole corporate-responsibility space. And she landed a sustainability analyst role at a renewable energy firm with about 300 employees. So how did she bridge that gap? Luna: I'm guessing it wasn't just 'I care about the planet' in the cover letter. Lucas: No. She was very methodical. First thing she did — she took a free online course on ESG reporting from Coursera. It's called 'ESG and Sustainable Investing' by the University of Pennsylvania. Took her about six weeks, maybe five hours a week. She put that certificate right at the top of her resume, under her name. Luna: So she signaled commitment before she even applied. Lucas: Right. But the course alone wasn't enough. She also reached out to two former colleagues who had moved into sustainability roles. One worked at a nonprofit doing carbon accounting, the other at a consulting firm focused on ESG strategy. She asked them for twenty-minute informational interviews. Not job hunting — just learning. Luna: That's smart. You get real insight into what the day-to-day actually looks like. Lucas: And one of them told her something crucial: companies are desperate for people who can communicate sustainability internally — not just crunch numbers, but talk to different departments. That played directly into Maria's marketing background. Luna: So she reframed her experience. Instead of 'I ran ad campaigns,' she positioned it as 'I managed cross-functional stakeholder engagement and drove behavior change.' Lucas: Exactly. That reframe was everything. She rewrote her entire resume around that narrative. Every bullet point was about coordinating with product teams, presenting to senior leadership, measuring campaign impact — all transferable to sustainability reporting. Luna: I imagine the cover letter was key too. You have to explain the gap and the pivot. Lucas: She did something specific there. She addressed the five-year gap in the first paragraph — very matter of fact: 'I took time away to care for my children, and during that time I used my evenings to study ESG frameworks and follow industry news.' Then she immediately tied it to why she wanted this particular company. Luna: So no apologizing, just context. Lucas: Right. And she targeted companies that had explicit return to work programs — 'returnships' — for parents re-entering after a gap. Turns out a lot of mid-sized renewable energy firms have informal versions of that. They just don't always advertise it. Luna: How did she find those? Lucas: She used LinkedIn filters for companies that had posted about 'career breaks' or 'returners' in their job descriptions. And she networked with people at those companies through her two contacts. One of them introduced her to the head of HR at the firm she eventually joined. Luna: That introduction probably made all the difference. Lucas: Huge difference. But she also prepared obsessively for the interview. She read the company's own sustainability reports — they had published two at that point — and she came in with specific questions about their carbon reduction targets and how they measured supplier compliance. Luna: That shows genuine interest and research. I bet most candidates didn't do that. Lucas: She told me the hiring manager said exactly that. And now she's been in the role for about eight months. She works on ESG data collection, helps prepare the annual sustainability report, and coordinates with operations to track energy usage. Luna: It's a great example of a deliberate, strategic pivot. And the free online course is such a low-barrier way to test the waters. Lucas: Totally. If we've helped you think through a career move or decision like Maria's, we want you to know something. A small group of listeners already chips in monthly at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that support is what keeps this show ad-free and sustainable. Luna: Yeah, it's a simple way to give back if you find value here. No pressure at all. Lucas: Exactly. And back to Maria — the other thing she did was negotiate her start date. She asked to start part-time for the first month, just three days a week, to ease back into the routine. The company agreed. Luna: That's a great tactic for anyone with a gap. It shows you're thoughtful about the transition. Lucas: And it worked. After four weeks, she went full-time. Her manager told her later that the ramp-up was smoother than most new hires because she was so upfront about what she needed. Luna: So the key takeaways: find a free course, reframe your experience, target return-friendly companies, and negotiate your start structure. Lucas: That's the playbook. And the sustainability field is growing fast — the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects green jobs to grow about 8 percent over the next decade, faster than average. So for parents returning after a gap, it's a smart sector to consider. Luna: Especially if you're willing to spend a few weeks learning the basics and reframing what you already know.