Re-Entering the workforce after being a stay at home mom

[svk]

My wife is looking to find a job after taking 3 years off to start a family.

She has good work experience. Her previous 3 jobs were: working as a records clerk for a large law firm, working in the billing office/cs office for a major utlility company, and working for an independent financial advisor as the office manager. (ending in May of 2005). She has been working from home for the last year as a weight loss coach but wants something with more opportunity and stability.

She has applied for over 200 jobs in our area without a single call back for an interview. Her resume is properly prepared and is sent with a professional cover letter.

Is the 3 year gap such a huge black hole that nobody will take a second look at her? Do we need to add something to her resume about the gap in employment?

Thanks in advance!

[Pauloz]

svk

This kind of lack of response isn't at all unusual, and nor is three years' gap. There are fully qualified people who've only been out of work for a few months not getting interviews on a regular basis, around the world. The job application process is anything but an exact science, and the fact is that selection is often very arbitrary, as well as not being particularly efficient. The high volumes of applications thanks to the recession aren't helping much, either.

Tell your wife not to get too upset. The different nature of her various jobs could confuse screeners, because they won't see a clear career track and all the dots joined like they're trained to do. This is a purely bureaucratic process, everything runs on rails, keywords and checklists. No use of intelligence is involved. If they're told to hire a can of baked beans, that's what they'll be looking for. This level of diversity often causes some difficulties, we see it on the site regularly.

It's likely to be more productive if you target obviously relevant positions based on her prior experience. She does have some very positive experience which would be high value to employers in those areas, and I think that's what you should be targeting.

Her skill set is advanced admin, with office management experience. She also speaks the language for financial practices, which is often invaluable, because of the huge learning curve in that area. Not everybody has this experience, so that would cut down the numbers factor drastically when making applications.

Records, I know for a fact, because I've done that sort of work myself, is a potentially frustrating area. There are lots of potential applicants. Specializing in legal records, however, is a plus, because of the requirements of the position. Again, not everybody can do that work. I think she should stick to targeting jobs where she can show direct experience in the field, because she doesn't have to spell it all out to the people screening applications.

Updating the resume and filling in the gap:

Suggest also checking out part timers, as a second string. These are useful to build up a more recent set of entries in the resume.

Networking is another option, if you know anyone with their ears to the ground. Most jobs are filled without advertisement, and getting in first is the real job getting mechanism.

Another possibility, maybe: Use either a temp agency or a recruiter, and build up some more recent work experience so even the dumbest application screener can see the skill sets and recent experience. That'll give some more choices and possibilities down the track.

The 3 year gap is not that huge of a deal if it is adressed in the cover letter.

My question would be of the 200 resumes that have been sent out how many has your wife made a follow up call to?

The cover letter that is being sent out is it cookie cutter or tailored specifically to the position being applied for? Remember that the cover letter is the very first impression to the employer on why they want to review your resume and ultimately call you in for an interview. If your wife is using a very general cover letter and not speaking to specific qualifications for the position the employer is seeking that will also hurt you.

[mikeyj]

Hi there ,

hope its going well. Here is a site i recommend you look into (and its not mine).

www.a-new-career-direction.com

The author has some inspiration and advice that i think might be useful for you.

[OlaPK]

She may want to do some relevant voluntary work perhaps for just one day a week, just to add something to her CV, alternatively she can pursue some cheap relevant courses just to polish her CV up a bit more, and provoke interest, positive she will get something if she doesn't give up