We can forget the workplace in a long break, and start to doubt ourselves, feeling incompetent and insecure. It is crucial to get our groove back, even if by reminding ourselves of our past accomplishments, quality of work, and other positive thoughts.

Revisiting the past successes can help get back our confidence, as can reconnecting with people we knew in our previous ‘work’ life, who remember us as the professional we once were.

The year of ‘no work’ may have been challenging and there may have been certain skills that we used to cope up with the new problems, like discipline, time management and daily planning.

We must identify these skills and understand that we may have become better at many things and have increased our resilience.

• The recruiting department can find out any discrimination against employees who have had an irregular career path, and they need to be sensitized about the same.
• Job descriptions have 50 different, unrealistic requirements and many prospective candidates, especially women, do not even apply as they consider themselves unworthy. Reducing the number of requirements can help.
• The pandemic has also made it normal to have a career gap, which can be a silver lining.