How to re-enter the work force after a 12 year hiatus

[miss_thenorth]

Been crunching numbers lately, and it doesn't look we are getting ahead. We have a heavy mortgage payment, plus we have to fix our basement (water damage=mold that insurance won't cover) I'm just about as frugal as one can get, (= can't cut costs any more than I already am) so my next alternative is to get a job. Thing is that I haven't really worked for 12 years. I have previous secretarial/administrative experience, worked for childrens aid-but it was so long ago. All my volunteer work has been kid related.

I just got done updating my resume, and will send it out to different openings, but that is the easy part. What do I say in a cover letter, and how do I convince employers that they should hire me, since it has been so long since I have worked outside the home.

Hubby is still gone hunting, so we haven't discussed this, but I think it is the only option. The basement needs to be fixed.

Has anyone gone through the"re-entering the work force" thing? Does anyone have any advice on how to go about this?

 

[Cassandra]

Do y'all have Temp agencies? I got a couple of great jobs by starting through a temp agency.

In my experience, rather than having a "job interview" with you, the agency people sat down with me and went through a list of skills that I had or didn't have. Some of them they tested me for. (I took a typing test and an administrative skills test that tested for alphebetizing, spelling, that kind of thing.)

I went to one after not being able to find a job after about 4 months. They called me a few hours after I left with my first assignment that started the next day.

The agency I signed with had a six week period that I had to work for them which means the company where I was working paid my salary to the temp agency for at least six weeks. The agency would keep part of my salary during that time. Then after six weeks, the company could hire me if they wanted to.

I ended up keeping that first job for two years. Then I quit there and went back to the temp agency. They got me another job within a few days which I kept for over two years as well.

I think of all the possible skill sets, administrative/clerical people have the best results with temp agencies. So if you have some in your area, I would check them out.

I am the type of person who doesn't like to talk about myself (especially bragging like at an interview. It seems so undignified! LOL) Anyway, I prefer it when people can just see me do a darn good job and want to hire me than to try to explain to them why they should hire me. So, temp agencies were a perfect solution for me.

Cassandra

 

[patandchickens]

And sometimes a job thru a temp agency can turn into a 'real' job -- my sister did the temping thing after bailing from grad school, some years ago, and wound up getting hired on permanently in one of the positions she temped at, with excellent pay to boot.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[Cassandra]

And sometimes a job thru a temp agency can turn into a 'real' job -- my sister did the temping thing after bailing from grad school, some years ago, and wound up getting hired on permanently in one of the positions she temped at, with excellent pay to boot.

Good luck,

Pat

Pat, Yeah! That's what I meant! I sort of stumbled around the explanatioin and gave up. LOL

I was under a sort of contract that said the company where I was working couldn't hire me to work for them for six weeks. But after the six weeks was up, they took me right on. So that I wasn't working for the temp agency anymore.

I swear it wasn't as hard when they explained it to me!

Cassandra

 

[miss_thenorth]

I guess I will look into the temp agencies tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[Wildsky]

I guess I will look into the temp agencies tomorrow. Thanks!

It can be frustrating so be prepared.

I have done the temp agency thing and it drove me NUTS - I finally just gave up all their little jobs and got one first hand myself.

All depends on the contracts and such they have - some companies WON"T hire you after coming in as a temp - because the agency will slap a big finders fee on you. (kinda unfair) so you end up being a temp forever and floating around without the benefits of working for a company.

It all depends on the agency, the type of job etc.. I know when I was out looking there were a few of the larger companies who had stopped using temp agencies to get staff and were direct hiring.
Some temp agencies charge the company a nice pretty penny per person they get in.

 

[Wildsky]

If there are larger companies close to you - look them up on the internet 9 times out of 10 they have the job openings listed on their own website.

Try HOTJOBS.com as well.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I think the good thing about a temp agency for me would be just to get current work on my resume. I will still try going directly to the source, but I never even thought about a temp agency.

The thing with going directly to the source for a job means that I would have to compete with ppl who have a good resume/up to date job skills.


Then I would have to try to convince them to hire me-if I even get an interview.

I realize this will be a bit of a challenge, with frustration going hand in hand with it.

I don't need benefits--hubby's got about the best out there, so for me that's not even a concern. And if I only work through the winter--that is fine by me too. We just need a little boost until we can ge the basement fixed.

Hubby's plane will have to wait

 

[Cassandra]

Also, you can get sample resume and cover letters on the internet. That is how I wrote mine. By studying examples and changing them up to suite my style.

And don't be discouraged. It can't be all that rare for people (especially women) to re-enter the job market after having been out a while. Hopefully, anyone looking at your resume for a long time will just assume you've been out raising kids or something and whatever your story is, you can explain it in your interview if they ask.

Have you been home-making in the meantime or what? I'm trying to come up with ideas for your cover letter & resume. It's all in the presentation, you know.

Cassandra

 

[miss_thenorth]

Also, you can get sample resume and cover letters on the internet. That is how I wrote mine. By studying examples and changing them up to suite my style.

And don't be discouraged. It can't be all that rare for people (especially women) to re-enter the job market after having been out a while. Hopefully, anyone looking at your resume for a long time will just assume you've been out raising kids or something and whatever your story is, you can explain it in your interview if they ask.

Have you been home-making in the meantime or what? I'm trying to come up with ideas for your cover letter & resume. It's all in the presentation, you know.

Cassandra

My resume has my college and highschool info, my last three jobs that I had before kids, (and one briefly while my kids were young). (administrative and CAS.) I stopped working to raise my kids, but I have volunteered for 8 years, --all child care-related and board of directors for an Early years centre--(not full time or anything)but that is on my resume also. Now I have stay at home mom and hobby farmer as my current status.