Latest / The Comeback Career Podcast with Fexingo: Returning After a Gap, Stay-at-Home Re-Entry / How a Stay-at-Home Parent Returned as an Executive Assistant
Transcript
- Lucas: So the Bureau of Labor Statistics put out a number last month that I keep coming back to — the share of stay-at-home parents who are actively looking for work has been creeping up for three years straight, and it's now at a level we haven't seen since the early nineties. Luna: That tracks with what I'm hearing from recruiters, honestly. A lot of them are starting to see the gap as less of a red flag and more of a neutral fact. Lucas: Exactly. And today I want to look at one specific return story that I think is a really useful template. Priya — she was a marketing coordinator before she had kids, took six years off to be home with them, and then came back as an executive assistant at a tech company here in Austin. Luna: I love that you picked this one, because executive assistant is such a smart on-ramp. It's not a job that requires a ton of fresh technical training, but it does demand a certain kind of organizational maturity. Lucas: Right. And Priya didn't just apply cold. She spent about four months before she even started applying — and that prep phase is where the real lessons are. First thing she did was refresh her software skills. She was comfortable with Microsoft Office from before, but she had never touched the modern scheduling tools or the project management platforms that are standard now. Lucas: So she took a couple of free courses through a local library — one on advanced Outlook, one on a popular project management tool. Nothing fancy. But it gave her the vocabulary to talk about her skills in a current way. Luna: It's so true that the language changes. Like, 'calendar management' sounds a lot more professional than 'I know how to schedule things.' Lucas: Yeah, and she was smart about how she framed her volunteer work. For the last three years of her break, she was the treasurer for the parent-teacher association at her kids' school. That's a real job — managing a budget of about forty thousand dollars a year, coordinating with vendors, reconciling accounts. She put that on her resume under a 'Leadership and Volunteer Experience' section, with bullet points that used the same kind of language you'd see in a corporate finance role. Luna: That's such a good move. I always tell people — volunteer work is work. It shows you can show up, you can be reliable, and you can handle responsibility. Lucas: Exactly. And then there was the gap question. She told me she dreaded it, but by the time she got to interviews, she had a really clean way of handling it. She didn't apologize, she didn't over-explain. She said something like, 'I took six years to be home with my kids, and it was the right choice for our family. During that time, I kept my skills current and took on leadership roles in volunteer work. I'm now ready to bring that experience and energy back into a professional setting.' Luna: That's almost a perfect answer. It's confident, it's brief, and it pivots forward. She didn't let the interviewer hang on the past. Lucas: She also did something I really like — she reached out to a few former colleagues before applying, just to catch up, not to ask for jobs. And that's how she heard about the executive assistant opening at the tech firm. One of those former colleagues worked with the CEO's chief of staff, and they passed her resume along. Luna: Networking is still the best job search strategy, even after a gap. People want to hire someone they trust, and that trust can carry over a six-year break. Lucas: Right. And the interview itself — she said the hardest question was when they asked her to describe a time she had to manage competing priorities. And she used an example from her volunteer work, coordinating the school fundraiser while handling a family emergency. That's a real answer. Lucas: She got the offer about two weeks later. And the salary? It was actually about fifteen percent higher than what she was making before she left, even though it's a different role. Because the company valued her maturity and her ability to handle ambiguity. Luna: That's a great point — a gap doesn't have to mean a financial setback. Especially if you come back into a role where your life experience is an asset, not a liability. Lucas: So the through line here is preparation, framing, and network. Priya didn't wing it. She treated the return like a project — she gave herself a timeline, she upskilled, she reworked her narrative, and she activated her contacts. Luna: And she also gave herself permission to start at a level that made sense. She didn't try to jump back into marketing management. She chose a role that leveraged her strengths and gave her a foothold. Lucas: Exactly. And I think that's the real takeaway for anyone listening who's in that same boat. It's not about picking up where you left off. It's about being strategic about where you're going next. Luna: Yeah. And on that note — if this kind of practical career advice has helped you think through your own return, a few of our listeners have started supporting the show directly. It's through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and it's genuinely what helps us keep making episodes like this without ads. Lucas: Yeah, we really do it because we love it, but that support makes a real difference. It's a small group already, and it keeps the whole thing sustainable. So if you've gotten something out of the show, that's a simple way to keep it going. Luna: Alright, back to it. So if you're returning after a gap, what's the first concrete step you'd tell someone to take this week? Lucas: I'd say pick one skill you know is relevant to the jobs you're eyeing, and spend an hour a day on it for a month. And start talking to two former colleagues — not to ask for a job, just to reconnect. That's the seed. Luna: That's a plan. And maybe check if your city has a returnship program — more companies are offering them now, and they're designed for exactly this situation. Lucas: Good call. Priya didn't use one, but she mentioned she wished she had known about them earlier. They're often paid, they're structured, and they take the pressure off. Luna: And if you're listening and you've done a return yourself, what worked for you? We'd love to hear your story. Lucas: Yeah, that's the kind of thing that helps the next person. For now, though — I think Priya's story is a reminder that the gap isn't a wall, it's just a door you haven't opened yet.