Wishlist

In the U.S. and many other countries, it is not possible to get an internship if you are not a student. A re-entry internship is something we wish existed in the U.S.! A lot of re-entry tech workers would be happy to work for intern wages temporarily, in order to update skills and quickly return to a tech career. Interestingly, there are many scholarship programs for women to get STEM degrees, but then when women do the common thing of taking time off with young children, there isn't any program to help re-entry to STEM fields. This affects everyone, because when tech re-entrants can't find jobs, money spent on their education is less productive. The U.S. has visa programs for international technical workers because there aren't enough qualified U.S. workers in STEM fields... but with a short re-entry internship, U.S. workers could become highly qualified again. (The Daphne Jackson program in the  United Kingdom is a good model. It helps professionals in STEM fields to re-enter their careers after at least a 2-year break, through paid fellowships that include research and retraining. However, it is limited to residents of the U.K.) Perhaps someone will read this, and get inspired to create a re-entry internship for tech careers in the United States.  

2. Part-time jobs in technical fields

Part-time jobs in technical fields ensure skills don't become stale, and that workers can take part-time off from a tech job to do things like raise children. Right now part-time engineering and computer science jobs are hard to find. Many people are currently forced to fully remove themselves from the technical workforce, if they make the decision to spend more time raising a family or pursuing some other goal. If part-time jobs were more of an option in tech careers, re-entry to fulltime status would not require going back to school, studying, or spending time on unpaid projects in order to update skills. We know of highly-trained engineers who would prefer to work part-time while spending more time raising small children, whose education and experience are lost to the U.S. job market because part-time options don't exist in their field. The U.S. has visa programs for international technical workers because there aren't enough qualified U.S. workers in STEM fields... but if part-time tech jobs were an option, more of these jobs would be filled by U.S. workers.   

3. Jobs sites with 'Re-Entrant' category

Current jobs websites do not have a 'Re-Entrant' category, although most have 'New Graduate', 'Intern (current students only)', and 'Experienced Professional' categories. It would be great for Microsoft Careers, Dice.com, IBM Careers, etc. to add a 'Re-Entrant' category, for experienced professionals who have been out of the field for awhile. This category might start with a lower pay and include an expectation of ramping-up time at the start, yet be appropriate to utilize the much more extended skillset of the re-entrant compared to a standard intern or new graduate. A 'Re-Entrant' category might include a planned review 4-6 months after starting, to increase pay according to the revived skillset.

4. Suggestions from Mind the Gap: Women in STEM Career Breaks

The article Mind the Gap: Women in STEM Career Breaks has an extensive set of suggestions including career development workshops and networking opportunities for people in breaks, as well as systemic changes such as reduced fees for society membership and conferences, changes in the way resumés are reviewed, and in the design and implementation of maternity and child care leave policies. The title specifies women, since a STEM career break for family is common with women, but their suggestions would work for men, too.