Questions

I would love to have your opinions on this. I took a career break sometime in 2014 for my MBA, upon finishing I tried to find a job but nothing was coming up so I decided to start a growing online retailing business while at it in 2015. I was at the same time volunteering for a non profit organisation to help coach SME's which I am still doing on the side for free. I now have a 17 month old baby with no support so I'm having to look after my child alone and cannot afford full-time day care for her nor afford to hire a nanny as hubby has taken time off work for study abroad so financially things are down. I'm looking to get back into work, but numerous applications have failed, my side business is not generating profit yet enough to take care of needs, part of it is because I'm not promoting it as I should due to fear of potential employers finding out as I still want to go back to paid employment. I'm considering starting a coaching service to sme's & startups to earn some money. My question is how will recruiters and employers view this? Should I continue to wait to get a job which I don't know when? Hopefully by the end of next year when hubby is done we can get a nanny or have baby go to full time nursery. The coaching service will still require me to go online since most businesses success now depends on the internet to grow. Recruiters ask me about the gap in my CV and I explain but some are not willing to go forward due to this - I never mention my side business, I talk about my voluntary service to the non-profit organisation. Please I need advice from anyone who has run a business and went back to work or from HR managers, hiring managers and recruiters. Will my side business and coaching service hinder me from getting the job I want? Should I promote my business online that will require my personal brand to be active to support the business as well.

Hi. A lot of information here...how about if we start to break down into small pieces?

1) You have a baby at home with no one to take care of it
2) You have a 4 year experience gap
3) You are not sure if you want to be an entrepreneur or an employee
4) You need/want a certain amount of income

Is this so? Out of all 4, the least of your problems is the 4 year experience gap...I am being serious here. I could tell you to start working part-time, but I am not sure if this will cover whatever financial expectations you might have (although it will solve your baby issue). I could advise you to start working as a temp somewhere, but you may not make as much money as you need/want. Those 2 options will get you a job in no time...but then it comes the question: are you ok with having someone bossing you around? Or do you enjoy your current freedom as a business owner? If you love your freedom, if being with your child as much as possible is something you are not willing to give up, then being an employee will bring nothing but frustration down the road...

You should also be prepared to those "tricky" questions about your 4 year employment gap...pay attention, it was an employment, not experience gap...being an entrepreneur gave you a whole new set of skills and competencies you wouldn´t have otherwise...so when asked about that, be ready to answer back with everything you experienced and learned during that time...

But right now, you need to focus on what you really want so your energy flows in the right direction.

Feel free to contact me if you need some support with the decision making process. I have a few exercises that might help you

All the best!


Answered 6 years ago

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