SAHM Seeks Career, YourOnRamp to the Rescue!
In the spring of 2005, I began my search for an OnRamp. I had worked for 15 years in corporate finance and was Managing Director at GATX before taking 4 years off to stay home with my four children. I had a great resume, active network and glowing recommendations, but a four-year gap in my resume coupled with my need to work part-time made the job search frustrating and impossible. There were very few resources online and I knew I wasn’t alone in my struggle. I had so many talented friends and colleagues sitting on the sidelines craving a flexible career that I knew there had to be a way to harness and empower this lost talent. My job search was complete. I partnered up with a preschool Mom, Millie Froeb, an HBS grad passionate about helping women navigate their career transitions. We wrote a business plan, sent our husbands away with our kids for spring break, built a team and in 2007 launched YourOnRamp, an online community, career resource and job board for women in career transition.
Fast-forward to 2009, with the economy tanking, many women are looking for ways to relaunch their careers, but many don’t know where to begin. YourOnRamp helps women gain the confidence they need to get back in. We help with everything from networking to resume writing to finding the best career resources online. Yes, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are key tools to finding your next career and we help you learn how to use them.
So how do 2 moms with 7 kids, 2 husbands and piles of laundry run and grow a national website? We take our own advice and leverage our social networks...Catherine has become a Twitter addict and social media junkie and Millie is permanently attached to her iPhone, as for the laundry, it's still there...#WFM
Partner your way to the top! Women are true collaborators. We are building our businesses not with piles of money (although that would be nice) but instead through partnerships. While we may compete on one aspect, the power of partnering enables us to grow together. The Internet empowered us to create our businesses and to give women a voice and choice in how they manage their careers. The OnRamp space will continue to explode and those of us that are open to partnering will end up on top.
Comments
was downsized in Jan. 2007 and took a year off to 'explore' my options and figure out what I wanted to put all of my experience and passion into as a new career. Being very entrepreneurial I wanted to start a business. So after doing research & taking classes, I started a business, built a web site, started neworking and launched in Oct. 08. Bad timing! So far, it's not been a success but I'm glad for the experience. I may be going back to corporate life for awhile- thanks for all your help!
youronramp has been very helpful in my career search. the job postings are unique and interesting and i consistently read the articles and career coach updates. you have a great site!
YourOnRamp is a wonderful site. There are many great job postings, articles, and letters. I highly recommend looking at YourOnRamp to help your job search and to find some great, interesting jobs.
I first connected with MyOnRamp at a women's business conference in San Francisco. As a divorced mother of two re-entering the workplace, I have found this an invaluable resource on many levels, not the least of which has been the reassurance that my crazy lifestyle is not so unique. There is a solidarity and spirit of support in this group that has buoyed my challenged soul many a time! Keep going! You are needed, and appreciated.
Youronramp has some terrific advice and I'm glad to know that I'm not the only woman in midlife figuring out what I want to do now. Could you add some more opportunities for those of us who do not live on one coast or the other?
I was downsized in Jan. 2007 and took a year off to 'explore' my options and figure out what I wanted to put all of my experience and passion into as a new career. Being very entrepreneaural I wanted to start a business. So after doing research & taking classes, I started a business, built a web site, started neworking and launched in Oct. 08. Bad timing! So far, it's not been a success but I'm glad for the experience. I may be going back to corporate life for awhile- thanks for all your help!