Worked 15 years in Information systems right from Software developer to Project Manager, got an opportunity to understand different phases of software cycle and the pressures on system deliverables but most importantly handling a team.
Each stage had a different challenge whether IT or Non IT companies. Things look greener the other side until one actually treads on it.
Giving up a professional career to look after my family was my decision and I think I am not all alone; a lot of women face such internal and external emotional battles.
"Sabbatical" is quite an alarming term in every women’s career wherein they don’t want to give up their career at any cost nor are they willing to take any break even during any personal crisis. The fear of being outdated in the Market or not getting better opportunities always lurks.
At a certain point when we think about restarting our careers, we realize the dilemma that the outside world is more skilled than us and we need to upgrade ourselves. We have so much experience and work ethic to offer but, unfortunately, very few companies value that.
But times have drastically changed now, thanks to the global technological changes in the market wherein Women now have the second Career options in various segments.
Women these days are more inclined to switch to careers that offers Flexibility to work from home, balance their Personal and Professional life in an efficient manner. Women nowadays often opt choosing the right type of Career Switch which enables smoother personal transitions.
Lot of Startups and existing companies have now opened their doors for Women. Second career options are enabling women empowerment in various sectors.
One of them which I recently encountered is MindChamp, co- founded by Sneha Krishnan and Manasi Kashikar.
MindChamp courses for kids of different age groups is based on Fun and Structured activity based learning. It aims to bridge an important gap - Why Logical Thinking, Sequential thinking , Creativity and Analytical thinking is necessary outside the classroom, giving power to our children who love to learn more about technology than we do in our daily routine but in a structured way.
MindChamp empowers Women from different domains of IT industry and the Educational sector who have taken a break from their career. They provide micro-franchises to women who have taken a sabbatical and curate them, enabling the women to turn into a Edupreneur.
So many women have benefitted from this right now and so many will in future.These women not only get to utilise their previous work experience but even get a sense of passion to look forward to again.
I interviewed a lot of such women from the team. Below is an excerpt from Chidambara Singh, one of the MindChamp Educator associated:
"MindChamp is an excellent platform to give women enough challenges to be there in the mainstream while taking care of their family and kids. If we talk about career goals, it's much more satisfying than any corporate job I am sure, and if satisfaction is there other challenges don't matter much. It gives me enough recognition when I walk across a group of kids in my society or kid's school premises. Mothers do pour in WhatsApp messages to thank that the kids learnt so much in MindChamp classes and are always excited to come back for next class.
On the content front, I do get opportunity to learn new skills which are so contemporary yet following the basics of computer science. It's exciting to teach the concepts of logical ability and push the creativity of a child using computer science"
I, myself have been associated with them for few months now and realise the flexibility it provides me where I can handle the work life balance perfectly well. I use my experience to help them with the content writing and business development. It gives me the freedom to work again while not compromising on my other priorities of life.
MindChamp's philosophy: Promoting code literacy among school students through improved pedagogy!