Latest / The Comeback Career Podcast with Fexingo: Returning After a Gap, Stay-at-Home Re-Entry / Returning to a Creative Career After a Decade-Long Gap
Transcript
- Lucas: So let's say you were a graphic designer before kids. You stepped away for ten years. Now you want back into a creative role, but the industry has moved from print to digital, from Photoshop to Figma, from static layouts to design systems. How do you actually do that? Luna: And you're probably wondering if anyone will even look at your portfolio after that gap. I think that's the fear — that the creative world moves so fast your skills are just obsolete. Lucas: If today is useful to you — if you're thinking about a return to a creative career — the reason these episodes are ad-free is listener support. You can keep this going at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just a way to say 'this matters.' Luna: Yeah, it really does help. And it keeps us focused on stories that are actually practical, not just theoretical. Lucas: Alright. So today I want to walk through a specific story. Maria — not her real name — was a graphic designer at a mid-size agency in Chicago. She left in 2014 when her first child was born. By 2024, she was ready to return. She hadn't touched professional design software in seven years. Luna: That's a long time. Especially in design, where the tools change fast. Lucas: Right. So Maria had three moves. First, she did pro bono work for two local nonprofits — a food bank and a literacy program. She redesigned their annual reports and some social media graphics. It gave her current work for her portfolio, and it was for real clients, not fake projects. Luna: That's smart because it also shows you can manage a real stakeholder — someone who isn't just your design teacher. Lucas: Exactly. Second, she took a ten-week online course in design systems and Figma. She didn't start from zero — she already understood layout and typography — but she had to learn component-based thinking and interactive prototyping. She spent about six hours a week on it. Luna: And did she pay for that herself, or did she find a free option? Lucas: She paid — it was about $500 for the course. But she told me she considered it an investment. She also used the course project as a third case study in her portfolio. So by the time she started applying, she had three solid, current projects — two nonprofits and one from the course. Luna: I think the confidence piece is huge here. Because even if your portfolio is good, you might not feel ready to talk about it. Lucas: Maria felt that exactly. So her third move was to work with a career coach who specializes in creative returns. They practiced her portfolio pitch — how to explain each project in two minutes, how to talk about the gap without apologizing. She decided to frame the gap as 'strategic sabbatical for family management.' Luna: I like that phrasing. It's honest but it doesn't sound like you've been out of the game. Lucas: Right. And she didn't lead with the gap. When a recruiter asked about the timeline, she said 'I took a planned career break to focus on my kids, and I stayed connected to design through reading and personal projects.' That's true — she did read design blogs and do small freelance logos for friends. Luna: So how long did it take her to land a job? Lucas: About four months. She started with contract work through a former colleague — that was the warm lead. She did a three-month contract as a visual designer at a small agency, and then that agency offered her a full-time senior art director role. She's been there almost a year now. Luna: I want to mention a data point here. LinkedIn did a survey last year — 2025 — and found that 62 percent of hiring managers in creative fields said they're open to candidates with significant gaps, as long as the portfolio is strong and up-to-date. Lucas: That's encouraging. And I think it reflects a real shift. Companies are desperate for senior talent, and they're realizing that a career gap doesn't mean you lost your design instincts. Luna: But the 'up-to-date' part is crucial. If your portfolio has nothing from the last three years, even a sympathetic hiring manager can't justify you. Lucas: So Maria's approach — create current work before you apply — is really the only viable path. Don't apply with a gap and hope they'll overlook it. Show them what you can do now. Luna: What about staying current while you're still on the gap? Like, before you're ready to apply? Lucas: Great question. There are some low-lift things. Follow design newsletters like 'Design Week' or 'A List Apart.' Redraw one ad or poster per month in Figma just to keep your skills fresh. Even just an hour a week can prevent that feeling of total rust. Luna: I've also seen people do '30-day design challenges' on Instagram — a new poster every day for a month. That gives you a portfolio of thirty pieces, some of which might be genuinely good. Lucas: And it shows discipline. A hiring manager sees thirty consistent posts and thinks, 'This person cares enough to practice on their own time.' That's a signal. Luna: What about the resume gap itself — should you list it as 'career break' or leave the year off? Lucas: I think you put the years on. Tries to hide it looks suspicious. But you can add a one-line explanation: 'Career break for family care, 2014–2024.' Keep it simple. Then your experience section shows your most recent role and then the earlier role. The gap is visible but no longer a mystery. Luna: And you can use a functional resume format if you want — focusing on skills rather than chronology. Though I've heard mixed things on whether recruiters like that. Lucas: Personally, I'd go with a hybrid. Lead with a strong summary and a 'key skills' section, then list the experience in reverse chronological but with the gap noted. That way the recruiter sees your skills first, not the timeline. Luna: One thing Maria mentioned in the interview we did — she said the hardest part wasn't the portfolio or the resume. It was the internal voice that said 'you're too old, you're too rusty, they won't take you seriously.' Lucas: That's the confidence gap. And it's real. She dealt with it by doing informational interviews — just talking to people in the industry without asking for a job. Hearing 'oh, you're a designer? Cool, what are you working on?' normalized her identity as a designer again. Luna: That's a great tactic. It's like a low-stakes way to get back into the conversation. Lucas: Exactly. So if you're in that spot — maybe you're a former designer, or copywriter, or art director — the blueprint is: do pro bono or personal projects to build a current portfolio, take a course to update your tools, practice your story, and find a warm lead through your network. It took Maria four months, but her first paycheck after the gap was higher than her last one before it. Luna: That's the dream, right? Coming back stronger than when you left. Lucas: It is. And it's possible. The creative industry values craft and taste — those don't expire. You just need to show them in a current language. Luna: One last thought: if you're listening and you're in a gap right now, maybe start with one small project this week. It doesn't have to be public. Just open Figma and spend thirty minutes recreating something you like. Lucas: That's good advice. And if you have a comeback story of your own, we'd love to hear it. You can find us on the Fexingo Business podcast network. For now, I'm Lucas. Luna: And I'm Luna. Thanks for being here.