VOA常速英语:“回归计划”帮助全职妈妈重回工作岗位

Employees at the New York tech company AppNexus are a diverse bunch.So diverse in fact that some like Ellein Cheng do not have technology experience.“I was a full-time mom for four and a half years. I have two daughters: a five year and a two and a half year old.”When it came time to look for work, Cheng faced the hurdle many women returning to the workforce experience:explaining the gap in her resume.“They often get feedback from companies and recruiters and hiring managers that makes them believe that they’ll never be hired,that no one will ever overlook their gap.

Now “meet-career internships” or “returnships” as they are called are giving women and men a shot at entirely new careers regardless of their previous experience.

Path Forward was started inside a tech company and now works with other tech companies to coordinate paid,16-week assignments that can lead to full-time jobs. “What these companies of every size in the tech sector have in common is rapid growth,and also not enough talent to fulfill their needs.”

Returnships give the companies the chance to access more mature and professionally diverse talent pool.Participants get to try jobs they otherwise wouldn’t have known about.

A former teacher, Cheng thought related positions while being open to new ones, she now works as a product support specialist.“I saw them hiring for someone who is passionate about learning and teaching and I could really relate.I decided to just give it a shot and see what happen.”

In her role, she is actually spending quite a bit of time with our clients teaching them about our platform, helping address their issues.”

“We try to educate both the partners on how to think about those various skills and experiences and also women on how to present that in terms of businesses we’ll understand.”Cheng admits the career switch has been challenging but appreciates the opportunity to learn and grow.“The most important factor is I have two daughters now.And they grow up in a world that is changing so quickly with technology and I just want to be part of that.”

For this mom, that means taking the “Path Forward”, one step at a time.

Tina Trinh, VOA News, New York.