Restarting a Science Career after a Break

Page last updated: September 23, 2024

On this page, the CSWA has compiled resources on re-entering the workforce after a career break. Some of these resources apply to (1) any break. Although most people think of a career break as (2) occurring early in the career for child-raising purposes, we list resources relating to (3) astronomical employment or other activities after retirement as well. Resources are all included for those switching careers as well.

1. Any career break

"We know that candidates acquire multiple skills on career breaks. We also know that taking a career break doesn’t mean you don’t want to restart the career that you worked so hard to build.  We know that you are qualified, experienced and motivated and we know it should be simple.  Unfortunately, we also know that it isn’t.  We know that it can be difficult to articulate the skills that you have gained on a career break through standard recruitment channels, and to compete for roles against candidates with a continuous career.  We know this gets harder and harder depending on the length of your career break."

"A powerful alliance geared towards technical or engineering professional women who are seeking to resume their careers."

"This guide has been compiled by past and present Wellcome Trust Research Career Re-entry Fellows. We all have taken a break from research in the past and, thanks to this funding scheme, have since returned to a career in science. We come from a range of scientific backgrounds, and took time away from research for a wide variety of reasons. Some of us have taken a two-year break, some took 20 years, but what we all have in common is the passion, commitment and drive needed to get back into research. We have first-hand experience of the challenges and opportunities involved in relaunching a scientific career after a prolonged break. We hope that our tips and suggestions in this guide will be helpful for anyone who is considering taking a career break or returning to research."

"The decision to start science later in life comes with challenges: a mature student may have to go back to secondary- or undergraduate-level classes to pick up necessary qualifications. They might have to rejig their financial or living situations to support a science career. They have less time to build up a CV and research programme, and they may have to combat ageism when it comes to securing a job.

But older students have advantages, too, such as maturity, drive and unique experiences and networks. The best way to explore a new career, say many, is to try out an evening science class or two, maybe a master's programme, before diving full-time into a PhD. Those who have trod this path say that although it might have been daunting and involved sacrifices, it was worth doing. “I love what I do,” says Dunne."

'To enable women to return to physics research careers after having had to interrupt those careers. The fellowship consists of a one-year award of up to $45,000 (applicants can apply in a subsequent year for one additional year of support). Allowed expenses include dependent care (limited to 50% of the award), salary, travel, equipment, and tuition and fees. Overhead charges by the institution are not allowed.'

Application Deadline: June 1 each year

The guidelines presented specify neither an age limit nor acceptable reasons for the break. During the tenure of the grant, institutional affiliation is required.

'Some people’s lives begin to sound like a Soap Opera because there have been so many extenuating circumstances. Nobody’s perfect. But nobody wants to hear about your problems and baggage either. Especially in the job interview. The following is some advice to handle those tricky situations when interviewing that may be difficult to talk about let alone explain.'

If you have been away from science for a while, you may need to learn or refresh technical skills such as coding or web design. One hears the complaint that many students get through grad school without learning to code. If you know Perl, Java, a variant of C, or another language, you might actually have an advantage over such a fresh Ph.D. in competing for a postdoc. This page, aimed at budding entrepreneurs but suitable for any scientific or technical person, may point you in the right direction.

'The Ronin Institute is devoted to facilitating and promoting scholarly research outside the confines of traditional academic research institutions.'

' ... maybe go ahead and put those "phantom" jobs on your resume, even if you do it as a single line item. "Paid way through graduate school school as a freelance editor, library assistant, and bartender, 2007-2012." Obviously you want to highlight your most related career experience, but I don't think people should ever look down on their own work or apologize for what put food on their table, and the skills you took from those passing jobs actually do contribute to who you are professionally.'

'Are you returning to work after a break? You’re at the right place. Hundreds of experienced, midcareer professionals—MBAs, JDs, engineers, and others—trust iRelaunch’s hands-on expertise and career resources to help them jump back into the game. Better still? Many Fortune 500 employers turn to us to access our Relaunchers. With conferences, coaching circles, webinars, inspiring role models, and our empowering newsletter, you’re in the right place—for wherever you want to go next.'

This site offers conference, on-line learning, resources, and success stories, among other materials.

2. Career break for child raising

A description of the author's career break, some concrete steps to take if you would like a break, and some suggestions for individuals and institutions. Some good resources are in the reference list.

Robinson took eight years off, in order to start a three-child family, just after earning her Ph.D. The most interesting part of this article is her description of restarting her career, charting her own course, and eventually becoming a research professor at Oxford after this break. The article has perceptive things to say about mentoring, role modeling, and climate as well.

'The top characteristic that resulted in job interviews for middle-aged women seeking an entry level job was vocational or computer training, according to the study in the Journal of Career Development (JCD), published by SAGE.'

See the posting for a link to the report on the study.

"To land a position with an 'alternative' schedule, you'll need a clear concept of the type of work and schedule you can manage. Plus, you'll want to aim for a salary that makes the cost (and stress) of going back to work worthwhile. Once you've clarified those big-picture items, you're ready to start your job search, negotiate a salary, and arrange a flextime schedule that works for you and your prospective boss. Here's how to get started ..."

'I [Andrew Hopkins (Head of AAT Science, Australian Astronomical Observatory)] have mentored women who have dealt successfully with the issue of winning proposals after taking family leave. My basic advice boils down to:

  1. Count how much of your time has been "research active" (i.e., equivalent full time research), and
  2. Present your productivity relative to the time you've *actually* had for doing research. ...'

3. Post-retirement employment

Links to: 50 Jobs for a Second Career

This extensive listing covers all kinds of jobs. Finding one that would be appropriate for an astronomer would be a long shot, but it might be worth checking out. Or ... maybe you'd like to try something different?

Here are the claimed benefits of membership in this site (quoted verbatim):

Access: certified age friendly employers Advocacy: be heard; there's power in our numbers to beat age bias Education: skills you can learn online Advice: exclusive guides, web seminars & actual human customer support Save: discounts negotiated for you by the #1 career site for age 50+ PLUS, receive a complimentary resume critique