The rise of the midlife 'returnship': How adult internships are propelling women back to work

Sad, frustrating but true: women still find it harder to reach the boardroom than men. It’s not so much a glass ceiling, as a concrete one, as women who have reached a senior level but then taken time off – to have children, care for elderly parents or live abroad – find it almost impossible to get back to work. 

But there is hope in the  form of the returnship, a paid programme of two to 12 weeks, intended to ease the transition. First introduced by Goldman Sachs in 2008, returnships have since trickled over here from the US, with scores of informal versions now on offer, including free online courses from the Open University.

And a  fortnight ago, an All Party Parliamentary Group for Women and Work launched  a report calling for more employers to offer returnships. 

‘Without these schemes, employers fear these women won’t be committed and may assume their skills have vanished,’ says Julianne Miles, co-founder of networking organisation Women Returners. ‘It’s a real waste of talent and experience.’ So we asked three ‘returners’ how they really felt when plunging back into work.

Jacqueline Scott  45, business manager, O2

Profession:Telecoms

Length of break: 10 years  (2006-2016)

Reason for break: To recover from burnout and have children

Returnship: O2 Career Returners,  Slough (11 weeks)

I had two reactions from the mothers at the school gate when I announced I was returning to work. Some looked at me in horror, others wistfully. But even though I was also nervous, I was ready.

Before taking a break, I’d spent 13 years completely focused on my career in telecommunications, rising to head of a department at Kcom in London. My life was all about work. On an average day, I’d take phone calls at home from the Sydney or Asia teams at 6am, be in the office by 8am. I rarely arrived home before 8.30pm.  By the time I left, in 2006, I was almost burnt out.

I posted my CV on a recruitment website but as soon as employers discovered the 10-year gap, they lost interest

Even so, quitting felt like jumping off a cliff. It took me a long time to adjust, even after having my two children, now aged six and eight. I didn’t consider returning to my old career until last year, when my children were settled in school. In January, I posted my CV on a recruitment website but as soon as employers discovered the 10-year gap, they lost interest.

It wasn’t until I did an 11-week returnship that I finally got offered a job. I was thrilled – but returning to the workplace was admittedly a culture shock.  I had to teach myself to concentrate for hours at a time, and there was the challenge of juggling a career with a family.  

My husband, Richard, runs his own property business, and was always very involved with the children but he’s even more so now, so I’m quite calm about spending less time with them.  At work  I thought my colleagues would be younger but actually most of them are juggling family and career like me, so we have lots in common.

One of the main surprises – other than getting to grips with new technology, which wasn’t as tough as I’d envisaged – was the change in the dress code. Before my break everyone wore suits but now the men are in jeans and the women wear bright, patterned dresses.

The biggest change, though, is a more personal one. After having children, I started to think more about what matters to me. I want a career but I also want a social life and a family,  so I’ve had to reinvent myself  in the office in some ways. I’m more tolerant and have more perspective, but I’m also more direct with people, plus I value my job more than I did, even though it’s no longer my sole focus. Then there’s the salary, which I appreciate more than ever before.

Today my job is one or two levels beneath my previous role but that doesn’t worry me as that will change in time and I didn’t want to manage a team straight away. I see how far some of my peers have gone and often wonder where I might have been had I stayed, but I also know it’s never too late.  My manager is a grandmother, so there’s still time.

Jenny Turner 41, group account director, TeamSpirit

Profession: Advertising

Length of break: 10 years  (2005-2015)

Reason for break: To move abroad

Returnship: Golin & F1 Back2BusinessShip, London (six weeks)

I massively underestimated how hard it would be to return to work. I thought employers would welcome me back with open arms but, instead, they saw me as a risk. It was confusing  as I used to be the typical ad agency girl, slogging away until 3am then flying to Prague or Edinburgh for a shoot the next morning.

I had assumed that I’d pick up where I left off. But it proved impossible.  I emailed old colleagues, who all said how great it was to hear from me, but no one offered me any work. Potential employers kept saying, ‘We’re a bit concerned about your lack of digital experience.’

Before the programme I’d felt undervalued, having had so many knockbacks, but it gave me a new confidence

I don’t regret taking that time off – my husband Andy and I had been determined to experience a new culture and a different way of life, so we’d moved to a village in France, run a horseriding school and started an events company. But it was also frustrating as I knew I had the skills to return to advertising.

I’d previously been in a senior position, so I had no intention of going back to the drawing board.  A friend told me about a returnship programme and  I thought I’d give it a go – it lasted six weeks and involved coaching and talks.

Advice from two of the women changed everything. The first, Sarah Bennison, chief marketing officer at Nationwide, taught us how to sell ourselves. The second, Bibi Hilton, managing director of PR company Golin, reassured me that everyone feels out of their comfort zone, so I wasn’t alone. 

Before the programme I’d felt undervalued, having had so many knockbacks, but it gave me a new confidence and I was offered a job at an ad agency soon after – and was given a promotion within months. 

I was convinced that the industry would be practically unrecognisable, but it is much the same, other than the fact I’m 20 years older than most of my colleagues. They all expect me to know how to do things because I have ‘life experience’. And reassuringly, I do. 

Bernadette Ballard 51, chief operating officer in compliance, Credit Suisse

Profession:Banking

Length of break: 16 years  (1999-2015)

Reason for break: To have children

Returnship: Credit Suisse Real Returns, London (10 weeks)

When I returned to banking I was convinced that people would say, ‘What’s this old relic doing here?’ I’d spent 16 years away, had two children (now aged 12 and 17), and I was 50 when I went back.  I got my job at Credit Suisse after a 10-week returnship there.

I was desperate to stay on afterwards, so I made myself known to as many people in senior management positions as I could, asking them about their roles. Returnships are as much about networking as they are about proving you can do a job.

Returnships are as much about networking as they are about proving you can do a job

It worked for me. I loved the buzz of the office, as I found having children and staying at home quite lonely. Going back,  I got to reconnect with former colleagues and friends.  

There are challenges, of course. These days I’m out of the house by 6.30am and usually return home at 8pm five days a week. I’d love to say I could juggle it all but it’s impossible,  so I have recruited a full-time nanny and housekeeper – something I’m not ashamed of in the slightest. It has taught my son to be more self-reliant and  remember his own sports kit! 

My children often say, ‘You used to be a helicopter mother, now you’re never here.’ I don’t regret taking that break to look after them though. If I’d stayed I’d be more senior but taking time out has allowed me to see them grow up and meant I’m closer to them than I would have been, something that no career could ever replace.  

For more information, visit  corp.womenreturners.com