Comeback is a complete return-to-work kit for women (and any returner) coming back after caregiving, relocation, health or study. It turns the gap into evidence, the search into a project and the family logistics into numbers you can decide with.
Comeback: The Return-to-Work Kit · Bodhih Pro Kits · 42 by Bodhih Training, trainers to 2,000+ companies since 2008.
Treat it as a project. Write a short, unapologetic break statement, list your skills from paid and unpaid work with evidence, read current adverts and refresh only what they ask for, reconnect with former colleagues, practise a 30-second gap answer and plan care and costs before you start. The Comeback kit from Bodhih Training gives you the tools for each step.
Want the full free guide first? Read How to Return to Work After a Career Break: A 7-Step Plan.
You have done a great deal in the last few years and none of it is on paper. Every advert that says 'recent experience' makes the gap feel wider.
The tools have changed, the vocabulary has changed and the other candidates seem younger. You have withdrawn from at least one application the night before.
Messaging a colleague you last spoke to in 2019 feels like begging. So you apply cold, to strangers and filters, where a gap counts against you most.
After care, travel and help, is it even worth it? The question gets asked at the kitchen table, worked out on the back of an envelope, and usually set against your salary alone.
Imagine a Monday morning three weeks from now. The 8-Week Comeback Sprint has put a 45-minute session in your calendar, and today's says: enter ten skills, three from unpaid work. As you fill in the Skills inventory, the Action column quietly sorts them into what to lead with and what to refresh, and the fog of 'I'm out of date' becomes two lines with deadlines.
Now picture the evening you send your first re-introduction message. You pick a script, change four words so it sounds like you and press send before you can talk yourself out of it. When you log it on the Network sheet, the follow-up date appears on its own. By the time the reply arrives, kinder than you feared, you already have your four questions ready.
Picture the interview. Four minutes in, the gap question comes, and you notice that you are not dreading it. Then, during, now. Thirty seconds, then you stop. The interviewer nods and asks about the fundraising appeal you ran, because you put it on the page.
And imagine the kitchen table on the Sunday after the offer. You open the Net Income Lab, and as you type the numbers for full-time, hybrid and a four-day week, the ranks appear. The conversation changes from 'is it worth it?' to 'which version works best for us?', and the household handover planner is already half filled in.
The e-book shows you how. The tools make it happen. Here is exactly what you download.
The guide: methods, worked examples, scripts and exercises
Nine linked sheets for your whole return: skills inventory with a what-to-do-next formula, refresh plan, target employers, network follow-ups, a Net Income Lab that ranks work scenarios after care costs, an Offer Scorecard, 90-day plan, wins log and a live dashboard.
A two-page hybrid resume layout that leads with your profession, shows recent activity and gives the career break one clear, unapologetic entry. Reads cleanly in screening software.
Twenty short, unapologetic break statements sorted by reason (children, eldercare, relocation, health, study, redundancy and mixed), each in a spoken and a written version you can edit.
Fifteen editable messages for reconnecting after years away: former colleagues and managers, dormant contacts, strangers at target employers, alumni, recruiters, follow-ups, referrals and thank-yous.
A preparation sheet, a formal flexible working request letter and 18 spoken scripts for hours, hybrid working, phased starts, pay after a break, counters and what to say if the answer is no.
Three fillable pages: the three-column reframe, your break statement in three beats and a first skills sweep across paid work, unpaid work, learning and side projects.
Your 30-second gap answer, answers to the hard follow-ups and eight STAR stories (at least two from your break), with a practice log.
List every recurring household task including the invisible thinking, hand tasks over whole, plan three layers of care and map the new week, with a Sunday review.
A three-page plan for learn, contribute and own: manager questions, people to meet, deliverables, boundaries, a guilt check and 30, 60 and 90-day reviews.
One-page interview card: the 30-second three-beat answer, versions for six kinds of break, the hard follow-ups and what never to say.
A dated starting list of returner programmes and communities in India, the UK and the US, search phrases for any country, the five routes back and questions to ask before you commit.
A fridge-door card: the four kinds of proof to collect, a five-rung action ladder, a three-step routine for wobbly evenings and a pre-interview ritual.
Forty short weekday sessions over eight weeks (story, skills, market, paper, people, pipeline, interviews, home) that drop into Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar.
Each chapter opens with a real situation, gives you a method and ends with something to do today, using the tools in your kit.
Turn the white space into a chapter with content, using the three-column reframe and a two-sentence break statement.
Build confidence the way it is really built: an evidence file, a ladder of small actions and a wins log.
Find twenty or more skills across paid work, unpaid work, learning and side projects, and rate each for confidence and demand.
Read ten adverts before buying a course, then refresh vocabulary, everyday tools, AI habits and two or three core skills.
Compare five routes back, with real programme examples from India, the UK and the US, and build a target list.
Lay out a hybrid resume and LinkedIn profile that name the break, date it and surround it with recent activity.
Reconnect with warm, dormant and new contacts using scripts that ask for a view, not a job, and follow up without feeling like a pest.
Answer the gap question in thirty seconds, tell stories from your break, price the role at today's market rate and ask for flexibility.
Run the honest sum on care costs, plan care in three layers and hand over household tasks whole, thinking included.
Learn, contribute, own: a three-phase plan with manager questions, boundaries and a calm way to handle guilt.
Every outcome is practised with a worked example and a tool, not just described.
People who measure before and after improve faster and can show it. AssessAll, our sister assessment platform, has AI-graded assessments that pair with this kit. Take one now, work through the kit, then re-take it.
The words you use about your break set the tone for everything that follows: how you write the resume, how you answer the interviewer, how much you ask for. If you privately believe the break is a hole, you will apologise for it, and an apology invites doubt. If you believe it is a chapter with its own content, you will describe it plainly and move on, and the listener will usually follow you. This is not positive thinking. It is accuracy. "Nothing really" was simply untrue. Sarah had coordinated five professionals around her son's education plan, chaired a parent group, and fought and won a funding appeal that required a forty-page evidence file. A hole does not produce a forty-page evidence file.
| Free templates and typical advice | This kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | A resume template and a pep talk | A method: story, evidence, skills, market, search, home, first 90 days |
| Confidence | Affirmations and 'believe in yourself' | An evidence file, an action ladder and a wins log you can read before interviews |
| Unpaid work | Ignored, or dressed up with silly titles | Translated into plain work language with proof, and rated for market demand |
| Money | A blank budget sheet in one currency | A Net Income Lab that ranks scenarios after care and work costs in any currency, plus an Offer Scorecard |
| Home | Not mentioned | A household handover planner, three-layer care plan and a script for the conversation |
| Where to look | US-only assumptions | Verified programme examples from India, the UK and the US, and search phrases for anywhere |
Bodhih Training has designed and delivered corporate programmes since 2008. Bodhih Pro Kits package what works in those workshops into a guide plus the exact tools we use, so you can apply it the same day without a facilitator in the room.
Name, email and country. UPI, card or netbanking in India; international cards everywhere else. No account to create.
Your download page opens at once, with every file and a one-click ZIP. A permanent link lands in your inbox too.
Start with the quick-start chapter, then the main spreadsheet or planner. Most buyers use something from the kit the same day.
As you download Comeback, pick one small thing to do today. Whether you start with the three-column reframe tonight or let the sprint calendar nudge you on Monday morning, you will have begun, and each small recorded step makes the next one easier.
Personal licence for the buyer's own use (and use with your own team or clients where the kit says so). Please don't share or resell the files. Team and company licences: solutions@bodhih.com.
Change direction with a 90-day plan.
Scripts and planners for raises and offers.
250+ AI-graded assessments to measure skills and earn verified credentials.
Individual development plans that start from evidence and stay yours.
Run this topic as a live workshop for your team, in person or online.
Book a vetted coach for career, leadership or communication. Pay per session.
Certification pathways in Applied AI, Workplace English and management.
It is written for women returning to paid work after a break for caregiving, relocation, health or study, and it works for any returner. It suits breaks from about one year to fifteen or more, and both people going back to their old field and those changing direction.
Use three beats in about thirty seconds: why you stepped away, one or two things you did or learned with proof, and why you are ready for this role now. Then stop talking. The kit includes a one-page card with versions for six kinds of break and answers to the hard follow-up questions.
A returnship or returner programme is a paid, fixed-term placement for experienced people who have been out of work for a while, often with training and a route to a permanent role. The kit includes a dated cheat sheet with examples from India, the UK and the US, and search phrases that work in any country. Programmes change, so always check the official site.
Yes. Name it, date it, give it one or two lines of substance and surround it with recent activity. Hiding the gap makes recruiters suspicious, and apologising for it invites doubt. The resume template shows exactly where the break entry goes and gives five model entries.
Yes. The Net Income Lab uses plain numbers, so you type amounts in rupees, pounds, dollars, naira, shillings, dirhams or any other currency. The workbook opens in Excel and Google Sheets, and every sheet has sample rows and a Start here guide.
No. The kit is educational. Employment rights, flexible working rules, tax, benefits and childcare support differ by country and change often. The e-book gives you the questions to check with your local official sources, your employer's policy or a qualified professional, and the health-related passages are not medical advice.
Three AssessAll assessments pair well with this kit: Job Interview Readiness shows where your interview skills stand today, the Salary and Job Offer Negotiation Assessment with Spoken Counters lets you rehearse real counters, and What You'd Actually Like Doing helps if you are unsure which direction to return in. Take one before Week 7 of the sprint and again afterwards.
Once your refresh plan and 90-day plan are filled in, you can carry them into a Jobulary individual development plan, which turns what you learn into a measured plan with goals and review points. It is a useful next step after your first three months back.
Nobody can promise a timeline or a job. The sprint calendar is eight weeks of short weekday sessions, and many returners take longer, especially when changing field. The kit helps you make steady, visible progress each week.
Digital kits are non-refundable once downloaded, except for corrupted files that are not fixed within 3 working days, duplicate charges or failed delivery. If a file will not open, write to us and we will put it right.
₹799 including 18% GST for buyers in India, or $24 for buyers outside India. One-time payment, no subscription, with an automatic invoice.
Instantly. Your download page opens the moment payment succeeds, and a permanent download link is emailed to you. Download each file separately or everything in one ZIP.
Any of the usual tools: Excel or Google Sheets for spreadsheets, Word or Google Docs for templates, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Preview, Xodo or GoodNotes for the fillable PDFs, and Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar for the calendar plan.
Yes. Team and company licences, and workshops on this topic run by Bodhih Training, are available. Write to solutions@bodhih.com or call +91 99000 11601.
