'I wish someone had told me': The crucial lesson Michala learned from a career break

For a long time, Michala Dening thought she knew how her life would go. 

The Sydney-based mum was an executive at international advertising agencies who had scaled the corporate ladder with relative ease.

"I was quite ambitious," Michala said. 

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"I was climbing the ladder to the point of running a global office out of Los Angeles". 

Michala decided to step back from her work after having three young children in two years. 

She was embracing the joy – and chaos – that comes with being a new mum and found she could no longer work the same hours.

"Once I had my [youngest] daughter, I just couldn't face getting back into a full-time job," she said. 

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Michala is not alone in struggling to return to her old work after having children.  

For many women, returning to the job they had before kids somehow no longer makes sense when their whole life – their whole sense of self – has changed so fundamentally. 

Added to this is the day-to-day reality that comes with juggling work and family. 

At the University of Sydney's inaugural gender equality at work lecture, Minister for Women Katy Gallagher said many women still find it "hard if not impossible to juggle work and care responsibilities".

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"[Government should] send that strong signal that taking time out of paid work to care for children is a normal part of working life," she said.

Michala initially took 12 months of maternity leave. But, for a variety of reasons, these 12 months soon stretched out into a lengthy period where she was outside of the paid workforce or working part-time. 

"[In my old job] it was never nine to five, it was always nine to seven, 8:30 [or] 10 pm  … [depending] on what was required by the clients," she said. 

"So I knew I wanted to pivot but had no idea what I would pivot to … I wish someone had told me earlier that advertising and business wasn't a great career with kids". 

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Her desire for greater flexibility after having children is felt by many other young parents. 

Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) CEO Mary Wooldridge said flexible working conditions are of key importance, especially for women. 

"Workplace flexibility is an important enabler for particularly women, but for anyone who has parental and caring responsibilities to be able to balance those competing responsibilities between working and caring," she said. 

When Michala was ready to start working longer hours once more, she found she had lost confidence. It was at this time that a friend told her about a government-funded program called FW Jobs Academy. 

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Jobs Academy is a year-long, virtual program supporting women who are looking to return to work or are serious about upskilling and making a career change. 

Michala was immediately struck by the program's depth of content and emotional intelligence.

"The content was awesome … [it] was like a big warm hug," she said. 

Slowly, step by step, she worked at rebuilding her confidence and was soon ready to apply for jobs. 

"Because I'd been out of work for so long and even though … I was highly skilled and experienced, the confidence just goes, plummets," she said. 

Not long after joining FW Jobs Academy, Michala found a new job that was the perfect fit for her. Within five months, she had been promoted to HR manager.

Michala, like many women who have had a lengthy career break, had the skills to be an asset to any company. She just needed a little help rebuilding her confidence along the way. 

Jobs Academy is a FW initiative supported by government funding. It's a free, fully virtual program designed to boost women's workforce participation and economic security. Find out more about FW Jobs Academy here.

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