Breaking Down the Barriers to Returning to Work
If you are an adult who has taken a break from full-time work you may have done so for many reasons. Some reasons may include raising children, looking after elderly parents, or sudden illness with yourself or a family member. When adults want to go back to work, barriers to employment usually appear as the job search process begins. Sometimes those barriers can be created by the job seeker themselves.
Let’s take a closer look at what those barriers look like when going back to work.
The Biggest Barriers to Returning to Work
A Negative Attitude
If you are a mature adult returning to work, there is a common belief that age may be the biggest barrier to getting a job or having a change in career. While this may be the case in some instances, unfortunately, what other people won’t tell you is one of the biggest barriers is in fact having a negative attitude.
Recruiters and employers can easily pick up on a positive or negative attitude. 55% of our communication comes through body language. Add what comes out of your mouth and it is pretty easy to spot. Your attitude has the potential to attract or repel the people you want to impress.
You may have heard of that proverb, ‘You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar’. I still remember my mother teaching me this from a young age. Good proverbs always have their place even in the 21st century when you are competing for a job you want or need.
A negative attitude may be the shell that is covering up some unresolved personal issues or past work issues. When we return to work we bring our whole selves in mind, spirit, and body.
Unresolved Personal Issues
When you offer your services to any employer, you are bringing your whole self to that place of employment. It is next to impossible to leave your personal issues at home and push them under the carpet. If you are in personal pain, it will show up usually as part of a bad attitude.
Issues such as unhappy personal relationships, fear, anger, jealousy, and envy can present themselves. They will keep being obstacles if not dealt with.
It is important to seek personal counselling to resolve these issues so you can feel like you can present your best self to a future employer.
Unresolved Past Work Issues
Some examples of past work issues can include bullying, loss of trust, unexpected redundancy and fractured past work relationships. There are many more and again these can be worked through with a personal counsellor or career counsellor depending on the extent to which the person has be affected. If they are not talked through, those issues will surface eventually in a new work environment or at the job interview.
Having a Fixed Mindset & an Ego to Match
A fixed mindset can be present when a job search candidate adopts the thinking ‘I know everything ’. This can happen at any age. When the person has a fixed mindset they effectively are shutting the door to a key employability skill called ‘Life Long Learning’.
Life Long Learning is a concept that is widely now adopted around the world as detailed in the UNESCO Medium Term Strategy 2022-2029. It can be a real turnoff for potential employers & recruiters if you are not willing to learn new things. It will show you are not adaptable to the changes that can happen in a business. Particularly in these uncertain times, employers need their employees to be flexible and adaptable.
For mature individuals, although they have lots of life experiences, the biggest mistake they can make is to stop learning & think they know everything. The ego can kick in and presents itself as Ryan Holiday describes in his latest book ‘Ego is the Enemy’ as “an unhealthy belief in one’s self-importance”, “a sense of superiority & certainty that exceeds the bounds of confidence & talent”.
Remember if you remain open to learning, you may pick up just one new piece of information that could be the key to you opening a door to a possible job/career option you never thought of.
Burning Your Bridges
Regardless of who you are interacting with, being rude and unprofessional has the potential to backfire on you. Everybody has the potential to be an employer or know of an employer that could employ you in the future.
When you interact with people whether it’s buying a coffee at your favourite café or visiting your GP, they are all part of your network, your social capital. Behaviour that is toxic is not nice and will have you being shown a red card and marched off the career/job search field.
Making you aware of the biggest barriers to returning to work will now allow you to reflect on whether these barriers exist for you as you contemplate a returning to work plan.
If you need help with attitude or getting confident with how you present in front of recruiters, ask for help and think about the value of some career coaching and career counselling. If you are returning to work after retirement kick those barriers for good if you are contemplating a change in career.
I want you to be successful but you need to want this for yourself.
Remember that proverb, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar!
Written by Gina Bell
Gina Bell is a university-qualified Sydney Career Expert in Career Advice, Career Coaching, and Career Counselling. She also works as a career coach for small and medium business owners & their leaders. She is passionate about aligning a person’s work purpose in a work environment where they can find fulfillment & reach their potential.
Her qualifications include a Graduate Diploma in Career Development, a Graduate Diploma in Chartered Accounting, and a Bachelor of Economics. She is registered with the Career Industry Council of Australia, Professional Member of the Career Development Association of Australia, National Career Development Association in the USA, Asia Pacific Career Development Association & Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand.
In her free time, she loves to travel, cook, and learn.
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