


Interview With Carol Fishman Cohen
Carol is CEO and co-founder of iRelaunch, a comprehensive career reentry resource for employers, individuals, universities and professional associations.Carol has been on a dual mission for nearly 15 years: to elevate the profile and champion the success of professionals returning to the workforce after a career break, and to educate and support employers that engage with return-to-work talent. Her goal is to normalize the career path that includes a career break and document successful transitions back into the workforce, so that employers understand the value proposition that returning professionals provide. Carol speaks and consults globally about career reentry strategy and is frequently quoted on the topic in the national press.
Carol is the co-author of career reentry strategy book Back on the Career Track and a returning professional herself. Carol’s return to work at Bain Capital after 11 years out of the full-time workforce is documented in a Harvard Business School case study. Carol has connected with thousands of professionals who have successfully returned to work after a hiatus, and has engaged with hundreds of hiring managers to understand their perspectives on hiring people returning from career break.
iRelaunch’s flagship event, the annual iRelaunch Return-to-Work Conference in New York City, is the leading external source of candidates for the major Wall Street reentry internship programs and is the largest and longest-running dedicated career reentry event in the United States. Carol has been tracking career reentry programs of all types since 2008 and writes a series of articles for Harvard Business Review on the theme “The 40-Year-Old Intern.” Carol originated and co-leads the Society of Women Engineers/iRelaunch STEM Reentry Task Force, an initiative to increase the pipeline of female engineers via reentry internship programs at STEM sector companies.