Latest / The Comeback Career Podcast with Fexingo: Returning After a Gap, Stay-at-Home Re-Entry / How a Career Gap Led to a Six-Figure HR Role
Transcript
- Lucas: Priya spent seven years at home raising two kids, and this spring she started a job as an HR business partner making one hundred fifteen thousand a year. That's not a unicorn story, and I want to walk through exactly how she did it. Luna: I love that we're opening with a real number, because so much return to work advice is vague. What was her background before the gap? Lucas: She'd been a generalist in HR for about six years, mostly at a mid-sized manufacturing firm. She left when her first kid was born, and she always figured she'd go back, but the years just slipped by. Then her youngest started kindergarten and she realized she had maybe ten productive years left before retirement, and she didn't want to spend them driving carpool. Luna: That timeline pressure is real. So what was her first move, practically speaking? Lucas: She didn't dust off her old resume. She spent a month rebuilding it from scratch, and the big shift was reframing her volunteer work as real projects. She'd been the treasurer for the PTA, so she framed that as managing a two-hundred-thousand-dollar budget and coordinating a team of twelve volunteers. She'd also organized a school fundraiser that pulled in forty thousand dollars, so that became 'event management and community engagement'. Luna: Okay, that's smart, but don't hiring managers see through that? I mean, they know a PTA isn't a corporation. Lucas: Most of them do, and that's fine. The point isn't to pretend it was a corporate role. It's to prove she still had the skills: financial stewardship, logistics, influencing people without formal authority. And she backed it up with concrete numbers, which is more than most resumes do. Luna: So she reframed her resume. Then what? Lucas: She got a recruiter. Not a fancy one, just a local agency that specialized in HR placements. She sent them her resume and told them she was looking for something part-time or project-based to start. And here's the key: she didn't aim for a full-time senior role right away. She took a three-month contract as a benefits administrator, mostly data entry, forty hours a week, but it was remote and flexible. Luna: A step down, though. Did that feel like a demotion? Lucas: She said it felt like a bridge. It got her back into a professional rhythm, gave her recent references, and let her prove she could still handle the work. Plus, the company liked her so much they extended the contract twice. But she kept applying for the role she actually wanted, and she used that contract as leverage: 'I'm currently working, but I'm looking for something more strategic.' Luna: So she was working and interviewing at the same time. That's exhausting. Lucas: It was, for about six months. But it worked. The role she landed came through a former colleague who was now a director at a different company. They had coffee, she mentioned the contract, and he said his HR team was looking for a business partner. So that network piece was huge—she'd stayed in touch with maybe a dozen ex-coworkers throughout her gap, just the occasional text or coffee, so she wasn't a stranger. Luna: That's the thing I always hear from returnees: the network is everything. But what about the actual interviews? How did she handle the seven-year gap without sounding defensive? Lucas: She had a one-line narrative that she practiced until it felt natural. Something like: 'I took a deliberate pause to be present for my kids, but I kept my skills sharp through volunteer leadership, and I'm ready to bring that same commitment to your team.' She never apologized, never over-explained. And she always pivoted to what she could do for them. Luna: And the salary negotiation? Because one hundred fifteen thousand is not entry-level. How did she get there? Lucas: She went in knowing the market rate. She'd done her homework on salary sites and had her recruiter give her a range. When they offered ninety-five, she countered with one fifteen, based on her years of experience and the fact that she was already working a contract. She also asked for a four-day week, which they gave her in exchange for a slightly lower base. But she got the title and the flexibility she wanted, and the base ended up at one fifteen anyway because they really wanted her. Luna: So she negotiated both salary and schedule and still landed above the initial offer. That's a masterclass. Lucas: And it's not just about the money. She told me the biggest shift was internal. For the first year back, she still felt like an impostor. But now, six months in, she says she realizes her time away gave her a perspective a lot of her colleagues don't have. She's not rattled by office drama because she's handled a toddler screaming in a grocery store. She's a better conflict resolver, honestly. Luna: That's a great point. So what's the one takeaway for someone listening who's thinking about going back? Lucas: Don't wait until you feel 'ready'. Priya started with that contract when she was still terrified. The readiness comes from doing, not from thinking. And don't be afraid to start small—a contract, a part-time gig—to build momentum. Luna: And if someone's listening and thinking, 'That's great for her, but I don't have an HR background'—what would you say? Lucas: The same playbook works in most fields. Replace 'benefits administrator' with 'junior analyst' or 'staff accountant'. The principles are the same: reframe your volunteer work with numbers, get a recruiter, take a bridge job, use your network, and negotiate with confidence. The specific title changes, but the strategy doesn't. Luna: That's really encouraging. And I think it's helpful to hear that it took her six months of hustle. It's not a one-week fix. Lucas: Exactly. It's a process, but it's a process with a payoff. And honestly, if hearing this story helps you think through your own move, that's what we're here for. If today was worth a coffee to you, there's a link in the show notes—buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo—and that's how this stays ad-free. No pressure, just appreciated. Luna: Yeah, we do this because we love it, but a coffee helps keep the lights on. And it's a nice way to say thanks. Lucas: So back to Priya—one more thing she did that I think was really smart. She didn't just ask for flexible hours, she proposed a trial period. She said, 'Let me do it for three months, and if it's not working, we can adjust.' That lowered the risk for the employer and made it easier for them to say yes. Luna: And it gave her a chance to prove herself without a permanent commitment on either side. That's a smart negotiation tactic. Lucas: It is. And it's a great example of how returning after a gap can actually make you a more thoughtful candidate. You've had time to reflect on what you want and how to get it. Luna: So if someone's listening and they're in that gap right now, feeling stuck—what's the first thing they should do tomorrow? Lucas: Write down three volunteer or community things you've done in the last year, and put a number on each one. Maybe it's 'organized a playgroup' or 'managed the team blog'. Give it a metric. That's your new resume starting point. Luna: That's concrete. And then get it in front of a recruiter, right? Lucas: Yeah, even if you don't feel ready. Recruiters are used to career gaps, and they know where the flexible roles are. Just be honest about what you're looking for and let them help. Luna: I love that Priya's story shows you don't have to start from zero. You build on what you have. Lucas: Exactly. And the best part is, the longer you're away, the more you realize how much you've learned in that time—patience, resilience, project management, budgeting. All of that is transferable. Luna: So for anyone out there thinking about a comeback, this is your sign. It's possible, it's structured, and you're not alone. Lucas: And we'll be here with more stories like this every week. Next time, we're talking to a former teacher who became a corporate trainer—that one has some great parallels. Until then, keep building that bridge.