Searching for Employment After a Long Gap

SS

I have more questions than answers....

Did you volunteer at the school for your oldest child?
What did you do while you were a SAHM?
What did you do prior to being a SAHM?
Have you gone to your local employment office to see what they offer in way of help for resume preparation and what jobs are available right now?

What would grab my attention?
A resume with no spelling errors or grammatical errors.
Tell me what you did for the last ten years...
managed a home - to include accounts payable and receivable?
Volunteered on school PTA - acted at the PTA treasurer for one year.
Managed PTA database....

Tell me what you have done that relates to my business. That's the best you can do!!

What did you do before you stayed with your kids? Did you volunteer? Pretty much you want to put yourself out there as employable so it depends on where you are applying.

If you have done anything in the past decade that relates to what you want to do professionally, be sure to include it on your resume or cover letter. I recently went back to work as a contractor and the company requested a brief paragraph explaining my absence from the workforce. I stated that I had been raising my children while strengthening ties in my community through volunteer service. I wrote a little bit about some of my volunteer positions and how the skills (organization, communication etc) furthered my job skills. I also made indicated that I had kept in contact with colleagues and was up to date on the industry.

Good luck!

Find resources to help you build your marketing materials (resume, cover letter, interview preparation, LinkedIn profile). Check for your local workforce center, outplacement company, google "career coach", and search for the most help that you can afford.

The job search has changed from a decade ago. You will need guidance.

Check with you local community college. They may have resources that will be helpful to you--testing that may guide you in your job search, classes that will help you update your skills and write your resume or a job board that you can search. Put together a good resume and NETWORK! Talk to a lot of people you know and find out where they (or their family members) work - find out about what the companies do and if they have any openings. You could also sign up with a temporary agency and take a few assignments so you can build some current experience. You might even land a permanent job on one of your assignments. Good luck!