Florence Matthews Women's CenterGreater Cleveland

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Career Comeback Toolkit

You stepped away for a parent, a child, a divorce, a diagnosis. You are not starting over — you are coming back with more than you left with. This page helps you say so: name what you bring, say it in thirty seconds, put it on paper, and go talk to people. Everything you type stays in this browser and is never sent anywhere.

1
Name what you bringTick the skills you can tell a story about — the unpaid ones count.
 2
Say it in 30 secondsYour cocktail version, your elevator version, your written version.
 3
Put it on paperBuild the résumé, run the checkup, print or save as Word.
 4
Go talk to peopleScripts that get a yes, a weekly plan, and where to go in Cleveland.

Running a group instead? Three workshop slide decks are at the bottom of the page.

1 · Name what you bring

Tick the things you have actually done. Then prove one.

Every skill below is one women here have done for free — for a parent, a child, a church, a block club — and then been told it "doesn't count." It counts. Pick three to six you could tell a two-minute story about.

Your picks: 0 (three to six is the sweet spot)

For each one, write one time you did it. Where, for whom, what happened. One or two lines — this becomes your proof in the pitch and a bullet on the résumé.

2 · Say it in 30 seconds

Your cocktail conversation and your elevator speech.

Same facts, two rooms. The cocktail version is warm and ends with a question. The elevator version is tighter and ends with an ask. The written version goes at the top of your LinkedIn profile and your résumé.

Fill in six things

Not "out of the workforce." Say what you actually did: raising three kids, running the household and the PTA treasury, caring for a parent, finishing a certificate.

Pick them in step 1 and they appear here.

Your proofs from step 1 are listed under the box — click one to use it.

🍷 Cocktail version warm, ends with a question

🛗 Elevator version tight, ends with an ask

✍️ Written version LinkedIn "About" and résumé summary

How to say it so it lands

3 · Put it on paper

Build the résumé, then let the checkup find what a recruiter would.

Fill in the left, watch it build on the right. Add a one-line career-break entry where the gap falls — a named gap is a fact; an unexplained one is a question. Then print it, save it as a PDF, or download it as a Word file to keep editing.

Who and how to reach you

Experience most recent first — paid, unpaid, and the break

The rest

Saved automatically in this browser as you type.

🔎 Checkup what a recruiter notices in the first ten seconds

Know this before you apply

4 · Go talk to people

Your network did not disappear. It went quiet.

Most jobs are filled through people who knew someone. Here is what to say, who to say it to, how many a week, and where to go in Greater Cleveland.

Scripts that get a yes

Fill in who you are writing to and the scripts rewrite themselves. Your name, your field and your strongest skill come from steps 1 and 2.

This week

Three messages, one real conversation, one room, one thank-you. Tap + as you go. Resets every Monday.

People I have talked to

NameHow we know each otherDateNext step

Seven questions for a twenty-minute coffee

    Where to go in Greater Cleveland

    Free help with the résumé, free rooms to walk into, and the job clubs that meet every week. Each one was checked on the date shown; call before you drive.

    5 · For facilitators

    Three workshops, ready to run.

    PowerPoint decks that teach exactly what this page does, with the exercises built in. Open them, put the Center's name and the date on slide one, and go.

    How a session runs

    Ten minutes of why, twenty minutes of doing, twenty minutes of saying it out loud to one other woman, ten minutes of what you will do this week. Nobody leaves with only notes; everyone leaves with a sentence, a bullet, or a sent message. Bring this page up on the screen for the builders.

    Read the originals

    This page is built on these free guides — the government's, the universities', and the returners' own.

    '; var blob=new Blob(["",html],{type:"application/msword"}); var a=document.createElement("a"); a.href=URL.createObjectURL(blob); a.download=((m.name||"resume").replace(/[^A-Za-z0-9]+/g,"-")||"resume")+"-resume.doc"; document.body.appendChild(a); a.click(); setTimeout(function(){URL.revokeObjectURL(a.href);a.remove()},500); }); $("clearResume").addEventListener("click",function(){ if(!confirm("Clear the résumé fields? Your skills and pitch stay.")) return; S.resume=R={jobs:[]}; save(); RF.forEach(function(p){$(p[0]).value=""}); renderJobs(); renderResume(); }); /* ───────── 4. networking ───────── */ $("truths").innerHTML=C.networking.truths.map(function(t,i){ return '
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    '; }).join('') +'

    ● free help with the résumé and the search   ● networking groups and events   ● weekly job clubs

    ':'

    The local list is being checked.

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    '; }).join(''); renderProofs(); renderPitch(); renderJobs(); renderResume(); renderScripts(); renderWeekly(); renderLog(); if(location.hash){ var t=document.querySelector(location.hash); if(t) setTimeout(function(){t.scrollIntoView()},50); } })();