A Timely and Supportive Solution for Women Returning to Work

Thursday 12 September 2024

By Laura Dowie, Director of Timely Careers, part of The WiB Group.

Misty mornings, leaves crunching underfoot, pumpkin spiced lattes from your local coffee chain – September sweeps in the start of Autumn and with it, a timely opportunity to look forward.

The school gates have reopened, much to the relief of parents and guardians, which in itself offers a chance to refocus on professional ambitions that have taken a backseat in recent months, or years. Ambitions that require commitment, yet the flexibility to still allow caring responsibilities to take priority. That’s where Timely Careers can support.

A social enterprise that supports, enables and empowers women to return to work through careers coaching, training and events, our team helps provide women with the confidence and the tools they often need when preparing to return to work.

For those juggling busy school schedules and caring for young families, we understand how challenging it can be to find flexible working arrangements that align with your career aspirations. With that, we strive to change the landscape of flexible working in Northern Ireland, not just for women, but for families, so that more employers recognise the value and impact that flexible working can bring.

It’s often when September strikes that the hustle and bustle of school runs and caring responsibilities all come into sharp focus – usually at 7:00am on a Monday morning before your caffeine-starved senses have had the chance to wake up.

Flexible working can address the time constraints and pressures parents face, and could mean something as simple as a 3 p.m. finish or working from home to better manage childcare commitments. A flexible arrangement can also mean staggered start and finish times, term-time, job share, compressed or reduced hours, or simply working from home.

On our platform, you will find a supportive community of ambitious women who are ready to return to work, along with dedicated resources and employability tools to help you update your professional portfolio, from career planners to CV builders to interview simulators. Our brand new AI-powered CV360 taps into the latest technology to rate and review your CV, providing feedback on how best to dot the Is and cross the Ts so that your application stands out for the right reasons.

Our resources and tools are designed to offer you comprehensive support so that you are not only prepared practically, but armed with unwavering confidence and resilience. We have a vast range of short video-led learning modules that focus on personal development in areas such as communication, creativity, decision making, motivation at work, performance management, personal branding, networking and so much more. .
Along with monthly events, all Timely Careers’ coaching and learning content is free to access upon sign-up. Simply pop in some details on the types of career you’re searching for, and you’ll be set up on the platform in the time it takes to make a cup of coffee.

It’s about career opportunities catered to a talented workforce that sit outside the confines of the outdated 9-to-5 model. For those seeking to change careers or perhaps re-enter the workforce after an extended break.
Looking to the season ahead, autumn will see a range of free-to-attend Timely events starting with ‘Speak With Impact’ on 19th September. This session is designed to equip Timely candidates with the communication skills needed to deliver a speech, presentation or interview with impact and confidence.

From in-person to online, also on the calendar is a LinkedIn ‘How-To’, where we’ll talk you through how to get the most out of the Internet’s go-to business platform on 2nd October.

This is a just a preview of what’s to come from Timely Careers in the months ahead. Every day we’re helping people access the tools, the resources and ultimately the jobs that put flexibility first so more and more women can contribute to building a more inclusive economy.

Make this a September to remember. A time for Timely. Armed with a can-do attitude and maybe even a pumpkin spiced latte, if that’s your thing. We’d love to have you on board.

Get in touch with us: info@timelycareers.com

Thursday 12 September 2024