Career Advice & News Center

Relaunching a career can take some work, whether one returns from a posting as a business manager overseas or as a full-time new mom.

Phoebe Peabody told the Boston Globe that she is currently dedicated to her 13-month-old son, marking achievements like the infant’s first several words. She had recently been working at a private wealth management firm, and is developing a plan to get back into the field as Asher grows older.

Several schools have established programs that allow older alumni to receive career counseling advice in order to get jobs after a period outside of the workplace, something that can be difficult for finance managers and other professionals, according to the newspaper. That may be changing, however, as more companies recognize the value of offering re-entry programs and flex-time options for mothers who recently grew their families.

The prospects for mothers may actually be better than those who have been away from the U.S., working on foreign assignments as business managers. According to University of Iowa management professor Maria Kraimer, the lack of facetime and interaction involved with increasing international placements can hurt job prospects, according to ReliablePlant.com.

"Our findings indicate that repatriates who completed two or more international assignments were eight times more likely to perceive that they were demoted when they returned home, compared to those who completed only one international assignment," Kraimer added, according to the website. More high-ranking jobs in U.S. companies are found stateside, and the magic number for international experience tends to be one assignment, and then returning home to continue up the domestic organizational chart.