Latest / The Comeback Career Podcast with Fexingo: Returning After a Gap, Stay-at-Home Re-Entry / How a Career Gap Helped One Parent Return as a Project Manager
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot on this show about specific roles people return to after a career gap — data analyst, loan officer, clinical coordinator. But one path we haven't really dug into is project management. Luna: And that's interesting because project management is one of those fields where the certification can almost substitute for recent experience. Lucas: Exactly. And it's not just my opinion — there's a growing number of companies actively recruiting returners with a Project Management Professional, or PMP, credential. The Project Management Institute reports that by 2027, employers will need nearly 88 million people in project management oriented roles. Luna: 88 million — that's staggering. And it's global, but a big chunk is in North America. Lucas: Right. So we wanted to look at one real example: Maria. She was a marketing coordinator at a mid-size consumer goods company before she took an eight-year break to raise twins. When she started thinking about going back, she felt her marketing skills were dated — the tools had changed, the platforms had shifted. Luna: So she didn't try to go back into marketing. She pivoted entirely. Lucas: She did. And her entry point was project management. She told me that she'd always been the person who organized the team calendar, tracked the campaign timelines, managed the agency relationships — that's project management, even if her title said 'coordinator.' Luna: So the first step was recognizing that those are transferable skills. Lucas: Exactly. But she didn't just rely on her resume to tell that story. She decided to get certified. She went for the PMP, which is the gold standard. The PMP requires either a four-year degree plus three years of project management experience and 35 hours of education, or a high school diploma plus five years of experience. Maria had the degree, so she needed to document her past experience and take a prep course. Luna: And that prep course — did she do it online? Lucas: Yes, she took a self-paced online course through a local community college extension. Cost about four hundred dollars. She studied during nap time and after the kids went to bed. It took her about three months to feel ready for the exam. Luna: And she passed on the first try? Lucas: She did. But here's the part I think is really smart: while she was studying, she also joined her local chapter of the Project Management Institute. PMI chapters almost always need volunteers for their own events. She volunteered to help coordinate a chapter workshop on agile methodologies. That gave her a recent project management experience she could put on her resume — and it was literally project managing a project management event. Luna: That's almost too meta. But it's brilliant. She's building a narrative of 'I've been doing this work, even if I wasn't getting paid.' Lucas: And that narrative is key. She then took on a bigger volunteer role — she became the volunteer scheduler for a local nonprofit that was renovating a community center. She managed the timeline, coordinated with contractors, tracked the budget. That became her capstone example in interviews. Luna: So by the time she applied, she had a PMP, a volunteer project she could talk about in detail, and a chapter network that could vouch for her. How long did the whole process take? Lucas: From deciding to go back to getting a job offer — about eleven months. She applied to about twenty positions, got three interviews, and accepted a project manager role at a regional healthcare system. Starting salary: seventy-two thousand dollars. That was about ten thousand less than her pre-gap marketing salary, but she's back in a growth path. Luna: And healthcare systems are often more open to returners — they have structured onboarding and less of a 'we only hire people who are currently employed' culture. Lucas: That's a really good point. A lot of hospitals and health insurers have formal return to work programs, sometimes called 'returnships.' Maria didn't use one — she applied directly — but she told me the PMP was mentioned in every interview as a strong positive signal. Luna: It's a credential that says 'I can manage complexity, I can deliver on a timeline, I can communicate with stakeholders' — all things a hiring manager wants to see, regardless of a gap. Lucas: And I think that's the broader lesson here. If you're a parent considering a return, project management is worth a close look because the certification is standardized, widely recognized, and the skills are in demand across virtually every industry. Luna: Speaking of things worth a close look — we get a lot of messages from listeners saying this show has helped them think through their own career decisions. And honestly, that feedback is a big part of why we keep doing this ad-free. Lucas: Yeah, we've never run ads, and we want to keep it that way. So if the show has been useful to you — maybe you're one of the parents who's taken a certification or a volunteer role after listening — and you'd like to support us, you can do that at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: And no pressure at all. But that support helps us keep researching these deep-dive episodes. So — back to Maria. She's now eighteen months into the healthcare role, and she's managing a team of three junior project coordinators. Lucas: That's a pretty fast trajectory. And she told me the thing that surprised her most was how much her parenting experience actually helped in the job — managing competing priorities, negotiating with stakeholders who have different agendas, keeping a long-term view. Luna: There's a real parallel between running a household and running a project. Budgeting, scheduling, risk management — it's all there. Lucas: And some companies are starting to recognize that. I've seen job descriptions that explicitly say 'parenting experience is a plus' — not many, but it's a shift. Luna: For someone listening who's thinking about this path, what's the single most actionable first step? Lucas: I'd say go to the PMI website and look up the requirements for the PMP. See if you qualify based on your past work experience. If you do, find a prep course — there are affordable ones. And while you study, get involved with a local PMI chapter. Volunteer for something small. That combination — certification plus recent volunteer experience — is what worked for Maria. Luna: And the cost is not negligible — the exam alone is over five hundred dollars for PMI members — but it's an investment with a solid return. Lucas: Absolutely. And some employers will reimburse you for the exam once you're hired. Maria's new employer actually paid for her to take the exam renewal course. Luna: That's a nice perk. So for anyone with a background in marketing, operations, or any role that involved coordinating people and deadlines — project management could be your comeback career. Lucas: Yeah. And if you have a story like Maria's, we'd love to hear it — we're at Fexingo on social. For now, I'm Lucas. Luna: And I'm Luna. Thanks for listening.