39% women want to 'reskill' before re-joining office

A new survey has revealed why women would like to take up reskilling courses to increase their chances of getting a job after a break.

JobsForHer -- an online platform that helps women get back to their careers after a break -- recently conducted a survey to understand what women really want when they get back to work.

The survey conducted in partnership with Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's SP Jain Institute Of Management And Research revealed that women would like to reskill and/or update their skills before going back to work.

JobsForHer polled 408 women from India who were on a career break and asked them two questions:

• Which path would they prefer to take to get back to work?
• What is their reason for choosing to reskill?

30.6% respondents chose to speak to a career counsellor while 15.2% wanted to apply to former organisations and 14.9% preferred to ask friends for recommendations.

39.3% of women said they would choose to upgrade their skills first.

40% said they would take up reskilling courses to increase their chances of getting a job.

30% said reskilling would help bridge the gap in their skills after a career break.

The reason of staying up-to-date in the industry garnered only 20% of responses, while that of showcasing new skills on their resumes received only 10% of responses.

Neha Bagaria, CEO and founder of JobsForHer, said, 'Learning and development is a strategic step that working professionals need for evolving career requirements and gives a person a competitive advantage against peers. And this is especially important for women on a career break. Today, the percentage of women in corporate India is at 30% at the entry-level, 10% at the mid-level, and 1% at the CXO-level."