Job search tools

You could approach your previous employer, for your old job or a different one. That employer knows your skills and experience, and you have done work in exactly the area they operate in. You also have (hopefully) good relationships with your ex-colleagues there. Going back to your old employer might be the way to re-enter your tech field.  

Who Can Act as a Reference for a Re-Entrant?

Although it may have been years since you last worked in a tech job, you can still have great references. References from non-technical work are fine, since the referrer can attest to your strong work ethic, organization, leadership, teamwork, and project management. References from volunteer work (coworkers, managers, or clients there) are great for the same reasons, and wanting references can be a good reason to start doing some volunteer work. If you go back to school (even for one class), your teacher could be an excellent reference - wanting teacher references is another reason to make sure to do well in the class and to talk to your teacher. Your contacts from career networking could be great references, especially from people you worked on a project with (for instance, on a programming project or setting up a website).You might be able to contact previous employers, colleagues, managers from your old company for references. LinkedIn and Google searches could help you find them, or you might already have their contact information stored in your email contacts or phone contacts.

Social media

Use social media for help finding a job. For example, on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and  Meetup.com at some point mention you are looking for work, and the type of job you hope to get. Keep the comment positive and professional, and someone in your network may connect you to a job.

Start your own business, and create your own job. Good resources for information about starting your own business from the SBA.

Apply for a research grant

Create a research project proposal and submit it for grants. Places to look for grants include the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and this large compilation of links to grants for technical projects. If you get a grant, you create your own job. You might approach tech companies to partner with them on a grant proposal, and condition getting hired on getting the grant to work on the project.

Resume and cover letter writing

A functional resume may be the best option for re-entry workers. Functional resumes put skills and career highlights on top, followed by relevant job experience, education, publications. This order can help so the first things noticed are skills, not a timeline hole in the resume. Re-entry workers also need to make sure they use a currently accepted professional style for resumes in their field, since styles change over time. 

Volunteer jobs

Volunteer jobs can get recent tech work on the top of your resume, and can be an opportunity to modernize skills and network. Strategies to find volunteer jobs include:

Your previous employer

For instance, job fairs for people with security clearances, job fair search engines, location-specific job fairs such as this Chicago Job Fairs listing, virtual job fairs at GD, and a location-based job fair search engine. Google searches and pointers from the local municipal or state employment office can help you to find nearby job fairs. Networking 

Networking can greatly increase your chances of getting hired, partly by increasing your chances of finding out about job openings.

Online presence

Make an online presence, and make sure it is all a good reflection on you professionally. Do a search on yourself - hiring staff will, too.  Use a Google Alert to automatically be updated about content on the web - set one up to find info about yourself, a company or a technology.

Be prepared to answer THIS question

Prepare a brief response for a question about why you left the field, and why you are returning. Keep it positive, not too personal, and brief. Hopefully it was because you were enthusiastically exploring other areas, and now you are enthusiastically returning to a tech career. What do you like about working in your field, what specific aspects do you think are cool? Mention them. It is especially important for re-entry candidates to convey to interviewers that you like your field, because in the past you left it. Hiring managers want positive, fired-up workers. So, convey that you will be one!

Entrepreneurship

Most of the job search tools below are the same for re-entry and continuing tech workers. Targeted re-entry strategies include online job websites, resume format, entrepreneurship, grant-writing, and volunteering advice. Re-entry applicants have special challenges with online job websites, since their algorithms may automatically give a low rating to applicants without recent work history. 

Online job websites

Online job sites are now the norm for mid-sized and large tech companies, so strategies to make your online job application pass the automated applicant-sorting algorithm are important. Not having recent technical work experience can hurt the re-entry applicant, even with no human eyes ever taking a look at your resume. Listing recent technical volunteer work, personal technical projects, and technical classes will help your application to get a better rating from the automated systems.

Types of job websites:

Tips for efficient handling of all your online job profiles:

Career centers

Look for assistance at municipal, state, university, alumni, community college career centers. They may offer access to jobs listings, career networking, resume and cover letter-writing assistance, and other job-seeking assistance. University career centers often focused on students and recent grads (not alumni), and sometimes an alumni fee is required for limited services. Municipal and state career/employment centers are accommodating to all phases of career and to re-entry workers, but generally have less technical job listings.

Additional jobs listings

You may have access to job listings in the following places, if you join or visit them. Some have an online presence, as well as physical location or in-person meetings.

Job fairs