“They say that when an opportunity knocks on your door, be willing to take a chance, because you never know how perfect something could turn out to be. SAP’s initiative “Back to work” was my golden opportunity and a blessing in disguise. I am an MBA graduate with specialization in marketing, and worked for close to 8 years before I took a career break for my new born.
During my career break of 3 years, I studied for Project Management Professional (PMP®) course and started looking for jobs. I got a pretty convincing offer from an Indian IT firm through some old professional ties, and just then I came to know of SAP’s “Back to Work” program. In the numerous job opportunities I was offered, I went with my gut and joined SAP without much expectations. And within a few months I realized that this decision was so much better for my long-term career. Global SAP has an initiative called “Back to Work” and even before their training program could finish, SAP helped me look for internal openings. I am currently working for SAP India as a Program Manager and got back to a full-time employment with the help of this initiative.
Like every career woman who took a maternity break, it would be a lie if I would say that there were never times when I did not regret my career break. There were some low days and there were some happy days. However, I was very clear that I will get back to work when my child would be about 2-2.5 years of age. I could achieve this and hence have no regrets now.If you are on a career break, make it a “time-bound” break and not an unspecified one. If you are looking for jobs, my strong suggestion would be to start reaching out to old allies or professional references without any hitch. You never know who has a relevant opening for you in their teams.”
Please note: The views, opinions and beliefs expressed by the authors in the articles on the blog are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect those of Lean In India.