Anonymous wrote:I hate to say it but data analysis experience from even 5 years ago (and it sounds like yours is much longer) is obsolete. You are essentially staring from scratch.

That will be for the hiring company to determine when decide whether or not to hire her. If they decide she has the skills needed for the job and hire her, then her salary will be whatever the market rate is for that job.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d expect a salary commensurate with 8 years of experience. I’d target 100K, but it will vary based on industry and role. If you approach this from a place of fear and diminished worth, then you will get less pay. But, as a mom, your time is now more valuable than ever.

For the record, a man would NEVER go into this scenario thinking he should make anything less than 100K. And he’d get it.

You can’t be serious. A man who took 8 years away from work to raise kids would be judged more negatively than a woman.

That judgment may not legally translate into paying two people with the same 8 years of work experience and same skill set different base salaries for the same job.

Equal pay for equal work means they pay you for the job you will be doing same as everyone else doing the same work. If they hire you it is because you are qualified to do that job. There is no 'discount' for them becuase of your career path.

Don't discount yourself.

Anonymous wrote:How quickly do you need to return to the workforce? Is it immediate or “in the near future”?

If the latter, see if you can complete a certificate program in your field (or a related field) while you job hunt. For example, https://www.nvcc.edu/academics/programs/data-analytics.html

You will probably spend $5,000 to complete this, but:

1) it gives you access to internships
2) it reboots your resume

This won’t hide the fact that you took time off (which I don’t think is a horrible thing), but it gives you something “new” on your resume and shows that your skills are current.

It also buys you a year to re-enter the workforce if you go to school full time. The job market is bad right now. But if you happen to find a job before you finish this certificate, you can just slow down the progression: maybe only take one class per semester.

I am not the OP, but I am trying to gain technical skills to help me remain in the tech industry. I always see people on reddit saying that certificates are useless and that empoloyers don't consider them a factor in hiring someone. Can you please expand on why a certificate like this would be useful?

Anonymous wrote:I think you need to take the long view. You've got to find a job and get someone to take a chance on you, and that first job isn't going to pay much. BUT I would plan on staying a year or two, updating my resume, and actively searching again, and then, with a job already, I think you'd be at $80k again, so at least where you left off, and maybe even higher.

So don't focus too much on the actual salary of the first job. Think about opportunity. Will this open doors for you, in or out of the company? Then great - might be $60k for a year or two, but that's no problem as long as you can move back up quickly. Getting your foot back in the door is going to be the hard part.

I have BTDT and agree with the above. The hardest part was getting my foot in the door and for the first couple of years I did not make much money.

What sucked most about it was the the other new hires at the first job (contractor) were right out of college and didn’t have kids or many personal responsibilities and could work overtime for free to try to suck up and get ahead, but I could not.

It got better when I got a Fed job and was able to work my way up without unpaid overtime.

Also, are you sure this is worth it? How old are your kids?
I was able to just barely make this work when I just had my youngest in daycare and not a day sooner.

Anonymous wrote:I’d expect a salary commensurate with 8 years of experience. I’d target 100K, but it will vary based on industry and role. If you approach this from a place of fear and diminished worth, then you will get less pay. But, as a mom, your time is now more valuable than ever.

For the record, a man would NEVER go into this scenario thinking he should make anything less than 100K. And he’d get it.

You can’t be serious. A man who took 8 years away from work to raise kids would be judged more negatively than a woman.

Anonymous wrote:I left a career of years working as a data analyst to become a SAHM. Due to Covid, a big move, and more kids, I ended up staying longer than I planned. I did some small part-time things (teaching, tutoring) here and there but now I need to find full-time, reasonably-paying work-- in this market. I am further out than DC proper but still in the broader DMV, so I'm impacted by the federal government's troubles.

I was wondering - what is a reasonable pay to expect or ask for? I have a floor lower than which I can't go because it is less than childcare. Now, I've been out of the workforce six years, and I made $80K in an corporate strategy role. Adjusted for inflation this would approach $100K but I'm not expecting that. However, is $80K even reasonable to expect, or should I be expecting to be making $50-60K - which is what I made in my first job ever out of college over 15 years ago? Thank you for your help and advice.

You need a foot in, move to a better paying job after a year or two.

None of the applications I have filled out over the past year had a place to put salary. I'd try to skip that question, if possible. If not, try putting flexible or a range.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Wish there were internships for people returning to the workforce.

Anyway, I'm not sure how to make a case in an online application that asks for "desired salary" for a job with a huge range, like $60-120k "commensurate with experience" - and the experience being 1-2 years in a rule that requires less questions with than I've done before. Is it too ambitious to put $80 as "desired salary"?

Usually jobs pay mid range or if you are new to the role/pivoting lower end of the range. If they ask and you need to put something (the system won't continue) for something like this I would put $70-$85K. You're essentially new to the work force and as someone said data science from 5 years ago isn't the same anymore, PLUS I know a bunch of data science people who were laid off recently, so you're competing with people who have more relevant experience. Maybe a company would pick you because you're on the lower end instead of someone on the higher end of the range. Then you work there 1- 2 years, learn and either get promoted or move in to a higher salary.

OR do a mix and see what sticks, do some mid range and some $90K-$100K and see what happens!

As someone else said look at certificates if you can afford it-there are some even cheaper online.

If you're interested in teaching apply to be a substitute or a long term sub (FMLA leave/can't fill post). Some school districts will help offset the cost the the masters of whatever you need to become a FT teacher, look into that. Many states you get an excellent pension and A health care, even if the salary isn't stellar. I pay an arm and a leg for a high deductible and in my state (not DMV) friends who work for the state have excellent healthcare with very little or no cost to their family. A friend of mine paid $0 to have 3 kids (all high risk pregnancies) because of her state employment health insurance.

Also, I read an article there are really limited special education teachers so you could look into that-but you would need to be in a district that supports it.

I would absolutely pursue teaching over anything data with AI!

Anonymous wrote:I’d expect a salary commensurate with 8 years of experience. I’d target 100K, but it will vary based on industry and role. If you approach this from a place of fear and diminished worth, then you will get less pay. But, as a mom, your time is now more valuable than ever.

For the record, a man would NEVER go into this scenario thinking he should make anything less than 100K. And he’d get it.

I agree that you probably can find a job that will pay your old salary or better BUT you have to be able to do the job.

Big employers have stopped asking for salary history because using it to set offers results in provably discriminatory outcomes. If you are interviewed by really good big employers, they will offer a market-based salary.

Look at Glassdoor.com, Payscale, etc. and learn what has changed since you were away. Take some training courses if you can find good values.

I’d target high 90s to 110. What languages do you know?

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the perspectives. There's a real option of trying to pursue and get into teaching, as that gets me time with my kids and I'm good at it; I started on that path but we had to leave that school and I couldn't teach there anymore, and the money just couldn't justify the choice.
So it seems like I should be taking whatever job I can find. Again I'm not totally new to the workforce - I had a decent career before I quit, and I did *something*, even though it wasn't a ton, in the interim...But yeah maybe in this market it's not enough.

Don't worry, once you get your foot in the door it will be easier to move into a better paid role.
When I returned to my career after SAHM and an entirely different career trajectory (15 years!), I had to start at the bottom again. But in 6 months I jumped into a better offer and landed where I left off 15 years before. It was upward from there but you have to be strategic about those later moves. I don't know how old you are nor what profession but there may be plateau. So study the career patterns of your colleagues and those of peers in other companies, think about how things will look on your resume and take a long view when it comes to accepting a role because you may not have the time to build up mutual loyalty with a firm, there may be a downturn where you are sacked, etc... Ageism doesn't play well with job hopping.

How quickly do you need to return to the workforce? Is it immediate or “in the near future”?

If the latter, see if you can complete a certificate program in your field (or a related field) while you job hunt. For example, https://www.nvcc.edu/academics/programs/data-analytics.html

You will probably spend $5,000 to complete this, but:

1) it gives you access to internships
2) it reboots your resume

This won’t hide the fact that you took time off (which I don’t think is a horrible thing), but it gives you something “new” on your resume and shows that your skills are current.

It also buys you a year to re-enter the workforce if you go to school full time. The job market is bad right now. But if you happen to find a job before you finish this certificate, you can just slow down the progression: maybe only take one class per semester.

Figure out the range of the job, and if you are willing to work for that, put that number in the “desired salary” box.