In January last year I returned to software engineering after a seven year career interlude. I'd lived in Cambodia for a year, worked for a few non-profits, completed a Masters degree in the humanities and spent 18 months as an at-home parent.

Even though it's becoming more common for people to take an intentional break from their career, I still felt a sense of trepidation about how difficult it would be to return. As one year turned into two, then three, four and suddenly seven, I wondered if I had left it too late to break back into my previous field.

But through some combination of luck, privilege, hard work and a favourable industry, I've transitioned back to software engineering. And these are a few things I found helpful along the way.

Learn to tell your story

Start by working out how to frame your career break and communicate what you can contribute to an organisation.

At first it might seem like your time away isn't relevant. But the things we do in life are not abruptly distinct. They run into each other like the rhythms and melodies that make up an overall musical composition. So think of the time away as an interlude rather than a break and find the themes that will connect it to your career.

You may have had new experiences and opportunities that differentiate what you bring to an organisation. I undertook a speaking internship delivering talks to a number of different audiences over a year. This kind of focused practice in presenting is less common amongst software engineers, and it was something useful I could bring.

If you've led teams in a volunteer context, you might bring skills in organising and coaching people. If you've spent time in a different industry, you may have observed alternative practices that can provide valuable insights to be applied as you return.

Find what's transferable from your experience and integrate it into the story you tell.

Stay connected with your field

One of the things I found most beneficial was staying connected with software development throughout my break.

I continued to work on some projects on the side. It only averaged out to about four hours/week, but it was enough to keep my hand in things. As they were commercial projects delivered to customers, they gave me something substantial to talk about when interviewing.

It was also worth following some relevant blogs, particularly those that aggregate other sources of information. Hacker News and ThoughtWorks' tech radar were also good for monitoring industry conversations and technology trends.

Realistically, not everyone who takes a break will have the time, opportunity or inclination to do all this. If so, allow yourself a little bit more lead time when returning to reconnect.

Don't rule yourself out preemptively

When I was looking for a position, I almost didn't apply at the company where I first started back. The job ad said they were 'pretty sure' that you already had a GitHub account with some cool projects and more reputation points and badges on Stack Overflow than the average developer. I wasn't even on LinkedIn.

But it's important not to rule yourself out when you don't feel like you meet all the expectations of a job ad. Few, if any, candidates meet all the listed criteria. Job ads are part position description, part marketing to illustrate the culture of the company and to promote it as a place for top talent.

Instead, look for what's behind the concrete criteria and work out other ways of demonstrating that. It's worth being creative and taking a shot at the jobs you really want first.

Optimise for recruitment filters

With an unusual gap on your resume, your application might be filtered out early in the process. You'll want to optimise for the recruitment filters being used and think broadly about how best to navigate them.

For software engineers, the early screens are often some kind of take-home programming assignment or technical test. This can work to your advantage since you at least get the chance to demonstrate a baseline level of technical skill. There are lots of sites for practicing programming challenges, and a subscription to Safari Books is an invaluable resource for quickly getting up to speed across a range of technical topics.

So optimise your time around the activities that will help you through those early filters. Combine this with some extra effort in framing your cover letter and resume, and it might be enough to give you a chance to sit down at an interview.

Dive into conversations

After returning from a break, you’re still trying to gauge what you do and don’t know. At first I was hesitant to speak up in technical discussions. I would furiously immerse myself in books and articles in the evenings, trying to become fluent in the latest terminology before jumping in.

But I realised this wasn’t as important as I thought.

Things do change in industries over time, but the core principles and practices shift more slowly. Your previous experience will still be valuable, and your impact will be limited more by a reluctance to participate and make mistakes than by gaps in your knowledge.

So dive into conversations. Ask questions. Make it acceptable to say 'I don't know' if it isn't already. Someone else will be thinking the same thing. Challenge approaches and suggest alternatives. You'll learn and become fluent more quickly, and you'll help elicit and clarify the rationale behind the decisions being made.

Celebrate and start the next experiment

After a while you'll start to feel comfortable again. You'll regain your confidence and start contributing as an effective member of your team. So take a breather and celebrate. You took a break to do something important to you, and you made it back.

But keep an eye out for when you start getting too comfortable.

If you want to keep growing, embrace discomfort again and continue challenging yourself. Take on more responsibility for a project, speak or write in public, mentor a less experienced team member, advocate change within your organisation, seek out new experiences, keep learning.

There's no prewritten script to follow once you've returned. So let the pathway emerge as a series of experiments, each one offering new learnings and insights to be taken into the next.