How to upskill and find a job after a career break?

According to a recent report, in 2022, 79% of working professionals in India were planning to upskill, which rose to 83% in 2023. Upskilling is essential as jobs evolve, and its relevance and importance is said to rise in the coming years. If you have taken a career break, it can be intimidating to look for a job after that. You might wonder how to start a job after a long break. But you need to remind yourself that no matter how long your break is, you can always get back into the workforce if you possess the relevant skills and knowledge to keep pace with global market trends. All you need to do is look for the job profile you want to work in, learn about all the technical and behavioral skills, and pursue a course if necessary to upskill yourself. Read more: Top online degree courses to upskill yourself

The need to upskill

Upskilling after a career break is extremely necessary. Staying relevant in your field or acquiring new skills is crucial for a successful return to the workforce. Here’s why it is very necessary to upskill to restart your career.

Stay current: Industries often have specific standards and regulations that evolve over time. Upskilling ensures that you are aware of and compliant with the latest industry standards.

Acquiring job-ready skills: You have a better chance of getting a desirable job if you have the relevant technical and behavioral skills for the profile. Nurturing your existing skills and learning new skills help you to be updated with the latest industry standards and trends. You can also negotiate for a better salary after upskilling yourself. 

Keeping pace with technological advancements: The job market is experiencing tremendous innovation in the field of digital technologies. Upskilling allows you to adapt to new technologies, tools, and software that may have emerged during your career break. 

Staying competitive: Industries and job requirements are constantly changing. Upskilling ensures that you remain competitive and aligned with the latest industry trends, technologies, and best practices. Upskilling yourself will also help you to discover interesting new fields and enable a successful career transition.

Networking opportunities: Pursuing online programs to upskill provides opportunities to network with professionals in your industry. Networking can lead to valuable connections, mentorship, and potential job opportunities.

How to upskill?

Follow these steps to successfully upskill yourself after a career break. 

Refresh your knowledge and skills: Start by assessing your career path. Do you possess the relevant skills needed to restart your career? If yes, then great! If not, then look for a relevant course or program that you can pursue in order to brush up your existing skills and gain new skills. Enrolling in accredited courses will give you an opportunity to re-enter the workforce.

Pursue an online course: Online courses are flexible, accessible, and affordable. Pursuing an online course is the simplest way to upskills yourself.  Today, there are tons of accredited online programs available and you can choose the one that fits you the best. You will gain advanced knowledge, industry-relevant skills, and be able to build a professional network-all of which is necessary to restart your career. 

Expand your professional network: Use your existing connections,reach out to your ex-colleagues and try to connect with professionals who will be of help to your career trajectory. You never know who may be of help. You can also attend industry seminars, conferences and webinars to network with professionals. 

Read more: How an MBA helps in building your professional network

Update your CV: Experts suggest it is better to mention your career break in your CV. Individuals take career breaks for multiple reasons- family commitments, sabbatical or redundancy at work. So, there is no need to hide your career gap. During your interview, explain why you took a career break, and highlight your skills to convince the recruiter that you are fit for the job.

Are online degree programs the best way to upskill?

Many universities and institutions offer UGC-recognized online courses in various domains. You could easily find online courses in various domains. You need to consider the course relevant to the field of your interest in which you want to pursue a career. You can fill in the gaps in your resume by upskilling yourself with an online course. It indicates that you are still willing to learn new skills and take up new challenges.

Some of the other benefits of opting for online programs are as follows: 

• You can also decide to take your online courses from anywhere as long as you have a good internet connection.

• Since you have been on a career break, it is possible that you would not want to spend a lot of money on courses to upskill yourself. The tuition fee for online courses is considerably lower compared to an on-campus course.
• These courses are highly flexible in terms of schedule. Candidates can take full-time or part-time jobs to earn money while studying.
• Some of the biggest companies like Amazon, Meta, Apple, American Express, etc., are now implementing partial or complete remote working models. It enforces online collaboration and coordination in all projects. Students who take online courses develop the skills relevant to such an online working model during their courses. 
• Online courses encompass a lot of collaboration, but there are many projects that the students need to complete by themselves. It helps them to learn how to work independently. It will also promote critical thinking and individual growth of the student. 
• Students need to complete various projects and case studies to get their online degrees. These aspects of an online degree help them develop the critical technical and behavioral skills sought in the corporate world.

Read more: How online courses help your career and get you better salary hikes

Popular domains to upskill 

If you are looking for a career switch, then here are some popular domains you can take up to upskill yourself

Data Science

Data Science is a domain that encompasses statistics, machine learning, and data analysis to analyze data and obtain insightful information from the data. This course is one of the most sought-after courses by students because of its application in various fields like Consultancy, Banking, Healthcare, etc. Some of the common applications where you can implement the knowledge of Data science are:

• It can be used to predict and forecast weather and climate changes by analyzing past data.
• It can be used to forecast a company’s potential revenue using past data.
• It is used to improve the transportation route using predictive analysis for traffic or network congestion.
• It helps the industrial and manufacturing sites to maintain the overall work procedures using methods such as regression analysis, prediction analysis, budgeting, etc.

Read more: How to transition into a data science career

Some of the important concepts that you will learn in this course are:

• Machine Learning 
• Programming languages (such as Python, Matlab, and R)
• Fundamentals of statistics
• Database management 
• Data analysis 
• Cloud computing concepts and their application in data science
• Visualization for data mining, etc.

Some of the common career options that can be pursued after completing an online course in data science are as follows:

• Data Analyst
• Data Scientist
• Machine Learning Engineer
• Business Intelligence (BI) Developer 
• Statistician
• Data Engineer
• Infrastructure Analyst

Read: Career path in data science

You can also pursue a career in data science without having to learn how to code.

Business Administration

The study of Business Management includes a broad range of subjects that can help you pursue various career roles. In simple words, people who work in the business management field are responsible for managing a company’s resources, people, and time. One of the main things you will learn in business administration is how to ensure that a business runs efficiently, effectively, and profitably. 

You can choose to work in the fashion industry, foods and beverages sector, hospitality management, retail management, sports entertainment, music industry, etc. If you are an engineer and want to gain some knowledge in the multiple disciplines of the business world, you should consider opting for a Master’s in Business Administration – as pursuing an MBA after a career break can be rewarding. Some of the specializations available for MBA aspirants are:

• Finance
• Accounting
• Human Resources
• Data Science
• Business Analytics
• Information Technology
• Supply Chain and Logistics
• Marketing
• Healthcare Management

Some of the common career options that can be pursued after completing an online course in business administration are as follows:

• Marketing Director
• Business Development Manager
• Management Consultant
• Business Analyst
• Finance Manager
• Budget Analyst

Check out the guide to choose the right MBA elective

Finance

Finance encompasses the creation, management and study of investments and money. The study of Finance can be categorized into three main subfields: 

• Public Finance: This involves the study of government expenditures, tax systems, economic stabilization policies, budget procedures, debt, etc
• Corporate Finance: This involves the study of management of assets, revenues, liabilities and debt for a private organization. 
• Personal Finance: This involves the study of all the financial activities and decisions of a person or a household. It can comprise the process of budgeting, savings, mortgage, insurance and retirement planning.

You can also specialize in other categories like behavioral finance, which aims to understand the reasons (social, psychological, emotional, etc.) behind financial investments and decisions. Some of the crucial concepts that you will learn in this course are:

• Stock market
• Liquidity
• Asset management
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
• Risk management 
• Accounting 
• Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)

Some of the standard career options that can be pursued after completing an online course in finance are as follows:

• Financial Analyst
• Economic Analyst
• Actuary
• Investment Banker
• Portfolio Manager
• Cost Accountant
• Mergers and Acquisitions Analyst

Read: A guide that helps you get a job in finance sector

Marketing

Marketing can be understood as the tasks and activities that a company performs to promote the trade of a service or a product. There are many third-party marketing companies that take care of the marketing requirements of other brands and companies. 

The study of marketing includes the study of the marketing mix, also referred to as the four Ps of the marketing field. They are:

• Product – This refers to the items that are offered by the company.
• Price – This refers to the money asked by the company in exchange for the product.
• Place – This refers to the distribution strategy of the product. For example, online stores, small stores, shopping malls, etc.
• Promotion – This refers to the campaign communicated by the marketing experts to boost the sale of the product.

Some of the essential concepts that you will learn in this course are:

• Digital Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Brand Creating
• Financial Performance
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Social Media Marketing
• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Some of the standard career options that can be pursued after completing an online course in marketing are as follows:

• Product Manager
• Market Research Analyst
• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Analyst
• Digital Marketing Analyst
• Content Writer
• Product Marketing Manager 
• Brand Manager

Read: A guide on how to get a job in marketing sector

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity can be defined as the process of protecting the digital systems, programmes and networks connected via the internet from cyber threats. These cyber threats are generally performed to access, modify, or delete sensitive information and data, interrupt business processes, or extort money from the data owners.

Some common types of cyber security threats are: 

• Phishing – This involves sending fraudulent messages and emails that are similar to the ones sent by reputable sources. The objective behind sending these messages is generally to steal login information and credit card numbers.
• Ransomware – This is a kind of software that is programmed to extort money. It blocks access to files and systems until the money is paid to the ransomware creator.
• Malware – This is a kind of malicious software. It is specifically designed to cause damage or obtain access to a computer system or network.
• Social Engineering – This is a method that cyber attackers use to persuade you to reveal your sensitive information. 

If you have an IT background and want to learn about data protection, you can opt for a course in cybersecurity. Some of the crucial concepts that you will learn in this course are:

• Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) 
• Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) 
• Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) 
• Security Operations Centre (SOC) 
• Identify Access Management (IAM) 
• Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) 
• User and Entity Behaviour Analytics (UEBA)

Some of the common career options that can be pursued after completing an online course in cybersecurity are as follows:

• Network Security Engineer 
• Application Security Engineer 
• Information Security Manager 
• Cybersecurity Engineer 
• Security Architect 
• Ethical Hackers 
• Cloud Security Engineer 

Machine Learning

Machine Learning is the field of artificial intelligence that enables a computer system to learn and adapt to new data without the intervention of human beings. We are generating and consuming data at an ever-increasing rate in the modern world, and it gives us an opportunity to make use of this data for our benefit. Many companies and organizations hire machine learning experts to make sense of this data and gain actionable insights using machine learning algorithms.

The four categories of machine learning algorithms are as follows:

• Supervised Learning
• Semi-supervised Learning
• Unsupervised Learning
• Reinforcement Learning

Some of the essential concepts that you will learn in this course are:

• Random forest algorithm 
• Logistic regression 
• Dimensionality reduction algorithms
• Naive Bayes algorithm
• Linear regression 
• K-means method 
• Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm

Some of the common career options that can be pursued after completing an online course in machine learning are as follows:

• Machine Learning Engineer 
• Data Scientist
• Business Intelligence (BI) Developer
• Software Developer
• NLP (Natural Language Processing) Engineer
• Software Engineer
• Computational Linguist

Blockchain

Blockchain can be defined as a distributed ledger system which can be used by the public for various purposes. The significance of blockchain is that it becomes difficult to alter a piece of information that is once recorded in a block. In simple words, a Blockchain can be understood as a chain of blocks with data. Blockchain technology was designed to timestamp the digital information recorded in the block to improve its security. However, it did not have a proper application until 2009. Satoshi Nakamoto used blockchain technology to create a Cryptocurrency (known as Bitcoin) in 2009. 

Some of the common domains where blockchain can find its application are:

• Banking and finance
• Healthcare
• Real estate records
• Smart contracts
• Supply chain
• Voting mechanisms

Some of the essential concepts that you will learn in this course are:

• Blockchain platforms
• Cryptography
• Digital Ledger Technology
• Proof of Work System
• Proof of Stake System
• Cryptocurrencies
• Decentralization

Some of the standard career options that can be pursued after completing an online course in blockchain are as follows:

• Core Blockchain Developer 
• Blockchain Application Developer
• Blockchain Quality Manager
• Blockchain Project Manager
• Blockchain Solutions Architect
• Blockchain Legal Consultant
• Blockchain Consultant

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is the modern way of using online computer services. It is a great field to pursue for people trying to find a job in the IT domain after taking a career break. Cloud Computing can be defined as the delivery of various computer services via the internet. The components used in a cloud computing mechanism are servers, data storage facilities, databases, networking, and software applications.

Some of the important concepts that you will learn in this course are:

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): This involves the subscription of digital infrastructure to the users. You can use this service for servers, software, etc., including Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS), etc.
• Platform as a Service (PaaS): This involves the subscription of a platform to the users. For example, you can subscribe to the platforms offered by vendors like Salesforce, SAP, etc.
• Software as a Service (SaaS): This involves the subscription of a software application to the users. The subscriptions are generally in the on-demand or pay-as-you-go model. For example, you can subscribe to the suite of applications of Microsoft 365.

Some of the common career options that can be pursued after completing an online course in cloud computing are as follows:

• Cloud Systems Engineer
• Front End Developer
• Back End Developer
• SQL Database Developer
• Cloud Database Administration
• Cloud Network Engineer
• Cloud Security aAnalyst

Read: What is cloud computing? Why should you learn it?

Choose Online Manipal to upskill

Online Manipal gives you access to accredited online degree programs and certifications from premium institutions like Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ), Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), T.A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI), and Sikkim Manipal University (SMU). Get access to online programs on business administration, data science, business analytics, finance, marketing, supply chain management, and more with Online Manipal. Our online programs are specially designed to suit the hectic schedules of working professionals through flexible live online classes and convenience class schedules. 

Read more: How to find a job after a career break