Bouncing back across the miles with Jacobs

Created by VERCIDA for Jacobs

 

Karen McCormack’s career has taken her around the world, and she has returned to work on more than one occasion – she is now working as a project manager for Jacobs after a 13-year hiatus. In this article, Karen shares how engaging with returners’ programmes and finding a supportive employer can support a return to work after a career break.

 

I studied agricultural and food engineering at University College Dublin and my first job was with a major oil service company. I was lucky enough to work in Italy, Scotland, Ireland, Norway and Paris. I also took an unexpected career break (during which I went travelling) when the oil price crashed and I was put on ‘suspended employment’ until the work picked up again. 

After completing a master’s in environmental engineering, I found myself on another career break. It was more difficult to find work in the water industry than I thought. At the time, the English water companies were coming to the end of an investment phase. I subsequently moved from London to Aberdeen, where I worked for an engineering consultancy firm for around five years. 

When I had my first son, I took eight months off before returning to a completely different role moving from a technical engineering role to a project management role. With a small baby and a husband who was travelling frequently, I felt like I was doing two jobs very badly. When I was at work, I was worried about my son and when I was at home, I kept thinking about my work to-do list. I resigned in June 2009 to become a full-time stay-at-home mum. I had my second son in 2010 and it was an immense privilege to have the opportunity to dedicate that time to my children. I had always wanted to return to my engineering career but the longer I stayed at home the more remote the prospect of returning to work became. My professional confidence had plummeted and the barriers to returning to the workplace seemed insurmountable. 

 

 

Despite my fear, in October 2020 I started my journey back to work, taking small but determined steps to rebuild my professional confidence. I undertook a few return-to-work training courses, which covered a range of skills, such as communication and stress management, as well as learning how working environments had changed. In March 2022, I was delighted to join Jacobs via a STEM Returners returnship. I’m currently a project engineer with the water and environment process team. Jacobs has been really supportive of my return to work after such a long break. Everyone has been so welcoming; I work with a great team and I have an almost perfect work-life balance. It makes such a big difference to your wellbeing when you’re happy at work.

My next step is to become a chartered engineer and I’m confident that Jacobs will support me in achieving this goal. My older son finishes school next year and we’d quite like to move out of the UK so, looking ahead, I’m interested in exploring opportunities with Jacobs in different countries. There are so many options as the company has offices across the globe.

I want to encourage other people to engage with returners’ programmes in the same way that I did. It can be terrifying to go back to work after a long break, but if you take small steps, you can inspire yourself. If you’re thinking about going back to work after a career break, my advice is to just go for it!

 

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