Latest / The Comeback Career Podcast with Fexingo: Returning After a Gap, Stay-at-Home Re-Entry / How a Career Gap Led to a Cybersecurity Analyst Role
Transcript
- Lucas: You know, when we talk about career gaps, the conversation usually centers on how to explain the gap away. But today I want to flip that script. Because we're going to look at how a seven-year gap actually became the launchpad for a brand-new technical career. Luna: That sounds like a plot twist. Who are we following today? Lucas: Her name is Priya. Before she stepped away, she was in IT support — the classic helpdesk role where you're resetting passwords and walking people through printer issues. Then she had twins, and she and her husband decided she'd stay home for a while. That while turned into seven years. Luna: Seven years is a long stretch. When she decided to go back, she must have felt the ground had shifted under her feet. Lucas: Absolutely. And she told me the first time she looked at job postings, she felt like she was reading a foreign language. All these acronyms — SIEM, IAM, SOAR. She thought, 'I have a degree in computer science, but I don't know what any of this is.' Luna: So what did she do? Did she just dive into a bootcamp? Lucas: Not exactly. She started with a returnship — a program specifically designed for career returners. And that's the key here. Instead of trying to compete for entry-level roles against recent grads, she found a structured path that acknowledged her experience. Luna: Hmm, sounds like something our listeners have told us about. You know, it's funny — we've heard from so many people who've been in Priya's shoes, trying to figure out how to bridge that gap. Lucas: And that's exactly why the show exists. We're lucky to have you listening, and if you've found these stories useful, a small way to keep us going is to grab us a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It literally funds the next episode. Luna: Yeah, it's a simple way to say thanks. Now, back to Priya — how did she find this returnship? Lucas: Through a former colleague who'd been through one herself. She reached out on LinkedIn, and that connection turned into a referral. The returnship was at a mid-sized bank, specifically for women returning to tech after a break. Luna: That's a smart network move. But three months in, is she still working there? Lucas: She is. She's now a cybersecurity analyst — not in the SOC command center like you see in movies, but on the governance and compliance side. She reviews access controls, helps with audits, and makes sure the bank's data handling follows regulations. Luna: That's a world away from password resets. What did she do to get ready? Lucas: She spent about six months before the returnship doing two things: she took a structured online course in cybersecurity fundamentals, and she volunteered to manage the technology for her kids' school's parent association. That gave her something concrete to talk about. Luna: Volunteering — that's a bridge many returners underestimate. It's real experience, just not paid. Lucas: Exactly. And in her interviews, she framed those seven years not as a blank space, but as a period where she honed skills that actually matter in cybersecurity: crisis management when a toddler meltdown hits during a school play, budget negotiation for the school fundraiser, and patience — loads of patience. Luna: I love that. How did she handle the 'what have you been doing?' question? Lucas: She was honest but strategic. She'd say, 'I was raising my children, which meant I became an expert at multitasking and prioritization. And I kept my technical skills sharp by maintaining our home network and learning about new tools.' She didn't apologize for the gap. Luna: That's a powerful shift in mindset. Did she have to take a step back in salary? Lucas: She did. Her first offer was about twenty percent less than what she made when she left. But she told me she saw it as a short-term trade-off. Within a year, she got a raise and a promotion, and she's now earning more than she ever did before. Luna: So the long game paid off. What was the most surprising thing she learned during the process? Lucas: That hiring managers in cybersecurity actually value non-linear paths. They know the threat landscape changes constantly, so they care more about your problem-solving mindset than your exact job history. One manager told her, 'I can teach you the tools, but I can't teach you how to stay calm when a system goes down.' Luna: That's reassuring. So for someone listening right now, thinking, 'I've been out for five years, should I even try?', what's the first step? Lucas: Start by researching returnships in your field. They exist in tech, finance, healthcare, even marketing. And don't wait until you feel ready — imposter syndrome never fully disappears. Priya told me she felt like a fraud on day one, but by week two, she realized she was adding real value. Luna: That's such a concrete takeaway. I think a lot of our listeners will identify with Priya's story. Lucas: And that's the goal. We want you to see that a career gap doesn't have to be a tombstone — it can be a comma, a pause that gives you time to pivot into something even better. Luna: Well said. Next week, we're talking about returning as a risk analyst after a gap — a similar but distinct path. Until then, keep thinking about what you bring to the table, not what you've missed.