Aisha spent four years caring for her mother and assumed she’d have to start lower. We rebuilt her story around what she’d run at home, and she returned at the level she left.
01
Where they started
Before her break, Aisha was a senior HR business partner at a national retailer. She stepped away for four years to care for her mother, managing her care, finances and a long list of appointments.
When she was ready to return, she planned to apply for roles two levels below her old one. She was sure nobody would take a chance on her otherwise.
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The gap turned out to be the most interesting part of my interview.
Aisha Rahman
02
What we worked on
We spent the first two sessions on confidence and on her story. Running a complicated care arrangement had involved budgets, contracts, difficult conversations and plenty of negotiation. We wrote it up in the same language she would have used for any project at work.
We then updated her CV, practised one clear sentence about her break, and drew up a shortlist of employers with a record of supporting returners.
03
What changed
Within a month of applying, Aisha had two offers. She accepted a Head of People role at a growing charity, a level above the job she left four years earlier.
She now runs a returners’ scheme of her own, so that the next person in her position doesn’t start by aiming lower.