Elizabeth left her job on Wall Street after the birth of her second son and spent seven years volunteering at a non-profit. She has since channelled her passion for doing good into a career in corporate social responsibility at Oracle.

“My resume shows multiple volunteering experiences from leadership teams, to founding a school committee,” she says. “These experiences show up first on my resume, not at the end. I treat them like a job, owning the break in my career.”

She’s also been deeply involved in designing our Career Relaunch program. “I think I have a unique perspective that’s adding a lot of value to our long term goals. It feels empowering to be leveraging my volunteering experience—it means I can earn a salary doing what I love.”

Oracle values relaunchers’ hard-earned talents. “Creativity, flexibility, time management,” she lists. “The hard skills you can teach, the soft skills are the jewels that returners bring with them. These can’t be taught—they’re developed and honed over time.”

After a 19-year career break, Dawn wondered if she’d ever re-find her place in the fast-paced tech industry. Then she found our relaunch program.

“During the program we were introduced to some amazing women who had returned to Oracle after an extended career break,” she shares. “It was really encouraging to hear about their careers and what it was like to work for Oracle.”

Now a data center technician at Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Dawn’s excited to learn the systems and technologies that will allow her—and our customers—to really thrive. “There’s a real sense of teamwork at Oracle,” she shares. “The customer is the top priority so it’s all about gaining the right skills to make sure their issues are successfully resolved.”

Her advice for others considering a career relaunch: “Sometimes as women we can get too comfortable and only see ourselves in defined roles. Don’t overlook any opportunity,” she cautions. “Honestly, just go for it: Apply for a role even if your skillset doesn’t directly match the requirements, because attitude is just as important as experience.”

Renae’s journey is typical of other military spouses—career restarts and employment challenges that result from frequent moving. She overcame these obstacles as one of the first military spouses hired into Oracle’s Veteran Internship Program, and is just as passionate about helping others tap into their resiliency.

Now a full-time technical program manager at Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Renae continues to advocate for military spouses and the amazing qualities they bring to the workplace. “So many of us are unemployed or underemployed, and yet the only thing that sets us apart from our peers is the careers of our spouses. We possess hopes and dreams, the ability to start over repeatedly, and a drive to create our own success,” she adds.

Ranae’s experience as a relauncher has taught her the importance of knowing her worth. “Many times, we take jobs just to take jobs and not really to advance at the rate that we should. Especially as a military spouse, and sometimes just as women, this is the norm. Knowing your worth gives you the confidence to stand up for what you deserve to ultimately create a happier you.”