This past October 30 at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., over 150 people attended the Career Relaunch Forum for mid-career professionals on career break looking to return to work. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney joined several other firms and organizations in sponsoring the event, which was produced by career reentry programming company iRelaunch. iRelaunch was founded by Carol Fishman Cohen (r) and Vivian Steir Rabin (l); co-authors of career reentry strategy book Back on the Career Track.

In this week’s guest posting for the Women Financial Advisors Forum, Cohen and Rabin present some of the day’s highlights:

We kicked off the event by presenting our "7 Steps to Relaunch Success" career reentry strategy, some relaunch success stories, and discussing why relaunchers form an excellent talent pool. Relaunchers tend to have fewer maternity leaves and spousal relocations, as well as a more mature perspective. They have an energy and enthusiasm about returning to work precisely because of their previous absence from the workforce.

Panelists offered insights into the work re-entry process and the Financial Advisor’s job, including:

--When deciding what type of work to pursue, begin by evaluating previous paid and volunteer experiences. Most important, divide your responsibilities into components and identify the aspects you enjoyed and were best at. With that information, you can start brainstorming about new career paths.

--Make sure you’re really ready to return to work. Otherwise, your uncertainty will probably come through during your interview. Communicating a sense of confidence and determination is essential to making a good impression. At the same time, you should convey the feeling that you not only can't wait to return to work, but are more than capable of doing the job.

--Be flexible about the title and compensation. If you don’t get exactly what you want initially, that’s okay. More senior titles and higher compensation will come in due time.

--Remember that the Financial Advisor job is primarily a sales role. For that reason, former teachers, salespeople, and investment bankers have skills that are particularly suited to the job.

--An interest in markets is essential; experience in structuring financial products is not. At Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, creating and structuring financial products is a separate role in the organization.

Throughout the day there was ample opportunity to speak with corporate sponsor representatives about positions at their firms and their interest in relaunchers. Equally important, relaunchers got to meet each other! Some of the best resources for job market intelligence while going through the relaunch process can be found by talking to other relaunchers. One of our goals for the Career Relaunch Forum is to enable those connections.

iRelaunch will be bringing the Career Relaunch Forum to several locations around the country in 2010 (to be announced). To find out where, click here to join iRelaunch (it’s free!) so you can receive their e-newsletter, including dates of upcoming Forums, as well as tips, news and other information of interest to those seeking to return to the workforce.

-------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. The authors, their company and/or publication are neither employees of nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. By providing this third party publication, link to a third party web site or online publication or article, we are not implying an affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement, approval, investigation, verification or monitoring by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney of any information contained in the publication. In no event shall Morgan Stanley Smith Barney be responsible for the information contained on any third party web site or your use of or inability to use such site. You should also be aware of the terms and conditions of the third party web site and the site's privacy policy. The opinions expressed by the authors are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.