7 Benefits of Returnships for Experienced Workers
What is one benefit of taking a returnship as an experienced worker?
To help experienced professionals return to the workforce after an extended leave, we asked human resource specialists and business leaders this question for their best advice. From helping build up your self-confidence to easing into a career change, there are several advantages to taking on a returnship that may help you restart your career in the current market.
Here are seven benefits of returnships:
- Explore New Experiences
- Get Mentored and Supported
- Benefit the Employee and Employer
- Warm Up Your Skills
- Build Self-Confidence
- Ease of Career Change
- Foster Diversity and Inclusion
Explore New Experiences
Seniors in retirement sometimes miss the social aspect of work, require additional income, or want to explore a second career. For these reasons and more, unretiring and delaying retirement are becoming commonplace. Since more and more companies are looking to expand their talent pools, returnships are an excellent way for candidates going back to work after retiring to seek new work opportunities.
Liz Riggleman, Arrow Lift
Get Mentored and Supported
Our company values help drive the way we support our incoming team members, no matter the role. In particular, our core value “You Are Unique” recognizes that everyone we onboard brings knowledge and value to our community. Returnships allow those re-entering the workforce to build a community of support. We do this with our record of mentoring marketing professionals, embracing their different levels of experience, and helping them grow their SEO skills and knowledge.
Jenn Christie, Markitors
Benefit the Employee and Employer
There are a few potential benefits of taking a returnship even as an experienced worker. There are many reasons why someone might have a gap in their work history. Travel, military service, volunteering, or a sabbatical, just to name a few. Returnships are a great way to smoothen the transition back into the hustle and bustle of the working environment.
Similar to an internship, a returnship offers you an opportunity to test the waters and see if the role or career is a good fit for you. After all, it’s one thing to think you want to work somewhere versus the reality of actually performing your day-to-day duties. Likewise, for the employer, a returnship provides a great litmus test in ensuring that the skills and capabilities of the employee are up to par and that there is a promising upside to invest in further.
Jagoda Wieczorek, ResumeLab
Warm Up Your Skills
Taking long breaks, perhaps years, from the workforce might require you to warm up your talents and skills. Doing a returnship is a great way to refresh such talents and skills and keep it up-to-date! They take it easy on you until you’re warmed up and updated. They will be training you again in certain areas. I believe the rates between regular employment and returnship are similar, so there’s no problem with that aspect.
Joe Flanagan, VelvetJobs
Build Self-Confidence
Returnships provide returnees a chance to build their self-confidence that they may have lost from being out of work for some time. Through this experience, returnees recover their valuable skills, adapt to the changes in the workplace, and meet new friends. Companies vary in their benefits for returnship programs, but normally, returnees end up having a full-time job which is a good step to re-launch their career.
Francisco Remolino, Remolino Associates
Ease of Career Change
Returnship programs enable experienced workers to pursue a career change despite being out of work for many reasons. It could be raising a family, attending to the needs of their elderly parents, and more. Through returnship, they have a chance to learn new skills, software, and other trends in the workplace with the help of a mentor or a buddy. In the end, they reintegrate into the workplace confidently and live a life they always wanted.
Thomas Vibe, Stone Wizards
Foster Diversity and Inclusion
The significant benefit of returnships is the scope they provide organizations to broaden their hiring to groups. Returnships are also the best-in-class way to broaden diversity in the recruitment process. Such programs propel difference and inclusion. Most importantly, it helps expel bias in the recruitment process.
Eden Cheng, WeInvoice
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