Hollywood has told us that we need to lie to have a career reinvention. And I pray that we are not listening! Yet, I know that we have a hard time being what we can not see. The first time I wrote about reinvention, I was excited that Hollywood was telling the story of a mid-career woman who wanted to realize her second act in the C-Suite. Only to be dismayed that the protagonist lied her way to the C-Suite of a beauty brand.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time.
There is currently a popular series called Younger that tells the story of a 40-something woman and empty nester that wants to realize her dream of working in fashion. She gets her “dream” job but only after lying about her age. I have to admit that I don’t watch the show, so I don’t know how this eventually turns out for her, but my point of mentioning it is to fight against the message that women in their 40’s have to lie to reimage how they make a living.
This is a critical time for women. The delicate fabric that has held together family, career, and our personal lives are coming apart at the seams. The pandemic has led to more women leaving the workforce, creating what experts call a ‘shecession’ (a recession that has affected more women than men leading to a sharp decline in the gains women have made) the effects that may last far after the pandemic.
How to re-engage women in the prime of their career has been the topic of panel discussions and think pieces. Solutions include embracing flexible work post-pandemic to providing returnships which are company-sponsored programs that allow women who have been out of work for a year or more to reenter the workforce, in some cases in an entirely different field their previous position.
All a good start, but all this effort will be moot if women don’t have the confidence to define how they make a living, contribute to their families and fulfill their purpose. Truth be told, (all the pun intended!) every aspect of our life and work experience is more than enough to reimage our career goals without the need to fudge our birth certificate or resume.
Let’s help Hollywood reimage the stories of women empowerment by changing false narratives around these three elements instrumental to career reinvention:
EXPERIENCE
Long overdue, but we have to normalize that experience can be a good enough teacher! Women should be encouraged and not ashamed to express all of their working years and how they can use those skills to transfer to another field. It’s crazy that you are anxious to add years of experience to your resume at the beginning of your career, only to be 20 years in, and look for ways to shave off years to conceal your age!
EDUCATION
If we go back to the movie example, she lies after being turned down for an internal promotion because she didn’t have a degree. I appreciate higher education, but learning theory will never take the place of real-world experience. I’m also an advocate of niche training and coaching, which can be industry-or skill-specific in a compressed time frame. Training programs such as General Assembly and Coursera allow women to fit professional development into their lives without the burden of student loan debt and juggling time constraints.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
It’s no secret that I’m an advocate of women using their talents and gifts outside of the confines of a corporate office. Although entrepreneurship may not be the right path for everyone, many women can benefit from having it as an option and greater access to funding and resources that will make it easier to go this route. Bank of America Institute for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Cornell and IFundWomen are two great resources for enterprising women with a desire to start their own business.
As we collectively heal and the world opens up, economic recovery has to include supporting women so that they can navigate work/life balance in a way like never before. And that’s no lie!
