Before my career break I worked for 10 years as a subeditor for a large financial journal. After maternity leave I came back 3 days a week for 4 years until I had my second child. During my maternity leave the magazine closed and with 2 children I found I had no energy or desire to look for something else. So for the next 6 years I was a full-time mother, apart from once a year when I worked as a sub-editor for 2-3 weeks to keep my hand in. When my youngest was settled at school, I wanted to get back to work but was sceptical about what I could do and who would hire me as the technology in my industry had changed so much.
In the end I decided that my best option was to go freelance. I sent out my CV to a number of agencies and finally found a freelance role working 4 hours on a Friday morning for a small financial magazine. I remember feeling very nervous for the first few weeks that everyone would notice how out-of-date I was. I asked myself “What’s the worst than can happen?” to put it in perspective. In fact the team were only interested in my experience before my break rather than what I had done recently. If you look competent and behave competently then people see you as competent, no matter how unconfident you are feeling inside! I did have to learn fast under pressure, particularly the new software, but it didn’t take me long to get my confidence back
18 months later I am still working freelance and now have a contract where I am working 2 long days. I’m also doing some tutoring as a Russian teacher. This suits me as it gives me a challenging role, together with time for myself and my family. I love the environment and being part of a team again.