"A career break is a positive life growth experience" with Rachel Tomkins

Career Returners

An early career in the military prepared Rachel well for the negotiations that lay ahead as a mum to 3 young boys! After 9 years at home with them, a little nudge from some former military friends encouraged Rachel to find her way back to work in 2015 through Tideway’s Returner Programme. As an integral part of Tideway's ground-breaking engineering project to clean up the Thames, Rachel found that the skills she’d developed before and during her career break served her very well back in the workplace. Five years on, and Rachel now heads up HSEQ, leading on health, safety, environment and quality assurance for Tideway.

Find out how Rachel adjusted to taking on a new role after a long break, how she feels about being back at work and how her career has gone from strength to strength. Karen and Anna will highlight some key takeaways and tips from Rachel’s story to help and inspire you with your own return to work.

"I think an important thing that I've learned is that it's okay to be just me. I was just myself in interviews and I had nothing to hide and it obviously paid off. I think just being authentic is key to going back into a career."

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3v9INYz

Follow on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/30rZZL6

For advice, support, opportunities and connection, see our Women Returners website: https://bit.ly/3eAhKQH