Feeling Uncertain

In USA, do we have Saturn ? Get the job first before you worry about saturn. Find suitable childcare which is close to home/work. Find a job with shortest feasible commute. If you continue to have irrational fears, go to a doctor and get suitable medicines. We are all on pills in America.
Astounding increase in antidepressant use by Americans - Harvard Health Blog

 

I was reading all your techniques for cooking with OPOS and how you manage without a smidgen of help from your husband. That is quite good. Very Clever. And only a confident girl can find the right solution like that. I was thinking that lucky boys would get a gift like you. Relax and think in layers into a cooker. Childcare is first layer. Solve that. While you are investigating options for that, find all the potential employers, and head hunters, within a comfortable commuting distance, and send them e-mails and resumes. Job hunt on. etc.. solve your issue in layers just like opos. And before you know it, you would have conquered your problem. Coming back into the workforce is like moving to a different place; it is difficult. But it can be done.
Good luck.

 

Good way of motivating and giving hope.

 

Hey Harini !
Whats wrong with you lady !!
Cheer up.
Your experience is still with you. It has not gone anywhere.
New things have come, no doubt, but the core work is pretty much the same.
Devs are still punching in lines of code, testers are still raising defects, DBA's are still handling scripts and support guys are still taking calls.

If you are a dev on .Net side then its the same CLR, CLS and garbage collection
Relax, I got a job after 3 + years.
I picked and chose to work on support and testing because Dev demands lot of learning and with 2 kids, I better use that time for them rather than "oh no i need to update" . Well there are women who can handle both , learning new tech and teaching kids their stuff, I cannot.

Its not easy to get back but its not impossible.
Choose what role/work suits you and the LO and prepare your CV and articulate your experience in such a way that your target job is what you have been doing all your life.
Study everyday - at least one topic and look who is knocking on the doors, windows and ventilators - its confidence - your long lost confidence.
Open the door , go for the interview - and come back with Offer Letter. Easy Done.

But first, sip a hot coffee and SMILE.

 

If you are scared, its good. You care for a new start.
If you are too relaxed, It is never good.

A healthy presence of fear and uncertainty is ok. It will push you to take an action- even if it is a small action.
Once you take your first small action towards your goal, pat yourself. take a break.
come back again, start on the next step. Try not to give yourself a set time limit. I did that and I was in a world of pain because my body was not supporting my ambitions. I took break from work for health reasons, and I know the feeling. You plan, you prep, you make sure to be present for interviews, at times long long interviews, longer waiting times.. and you keep doing the same thing over and over again. at times, the doors do not open. at times, the wrong doors open. So it is ok to feel uncertain. It means, you are onto something. Just do not let it stagnate you.

You are already handling home and a baby. That is the toughest job- needs all your soft and dare I say hard skills . Just brush up ur tech skills. Get on you tube, get coding interview books on amazon, get on udemy/ coursera. Learn something new every time you get a chance. Just do not stress yourself with the notion that you must know everything before you start. No one knows. People learn more than 60% things on the job on an average anyway. So why fuss about it? and criticism will happen even if you are best at your work. Someone or the other will always find a way to criticize us. It is a competitive world so they have to criticize. If they don't, you will get recognition at work and that will somehow damage the critics. So do not let potential criticism stop you- let alone bring you down before you start.

Also, do not let anyone ( especially recruiters/ hiring managers) judge your competency just because you took a small break. Do not let be anyone be the judge of how much you are demanding in terms of pay/ flexible schedule. You are worth those demands, if you bring the value to the potential employer. And until some one realizes your worth, do not wait just for a job. Take up volunteering ( easier said than done though) in your field of interest, write articles, blog, or start your own consulting ( not sure what your work visa situation is). But work towards working for yourself eventually. Job market is just one way to earn a living, not necessarily the best way. Working for yourself is always the best thing.

So know that there are ladies like you who have taken a break at some point or the other or will take a break in the future. It certainly never determines the path for them. It might change their direction a bit.

Good luck!