To ask how you get a bloody job 😐

With respect, OP, this is why being a SAHP isn’t ‘fortunate’ but a poor decision with longterm consequences for many, particularly those whose skills have gone out of date. @HcbSS is right.

Best wishes with the job hunt.

Not helpful for you but in case anyone else a bit younger is reading - you get jobs by not giving up employment in the first place. Huge gaps in your cv, lost and out of date skills and an ever changing market are not good news.

In your case OP it will be a case of being patient and accepting what you can get.

I'd advise retraining in some that is in demand such as social work then you'll never be out of a job and it's half-decent money:

What’s your dream job?
What are you interested in?

What kind of jobs are you applying for? Are you just sticking to hospitality. I would literally apply for everything I could to at least get something permanent rather than season. Once you have that you can continue to look but you will be more attractive to employers and will have more transferable skills.

Go into a pub and ask if they have any bar jobs. That's what I did - they offered me a trial shift, and I'm still here haha!

Your job centre could be a good place to start - even though you’re not out of work yet. Lots of employers offer guaranteed interviews and work placements to job centre customers and the work coaches can be well placed to support with accessing training etc too.

Lots of care work jobs near me, chronic shortage of carers. However you would have to be prepared to work shifts and the pay is rubbish.

I signed up for agencies and both times got the job. The first one was in a Building society and I was there 3 years. My manager asked for my help with interviews a lot and the majority of the time we’d agree on staff being 30+, one lady we took on was nearly 60. It was what the branch needed after the young ones left at a drop of a hat.
I now work as admin in a private school and have been there 7 years, term time only and I got this job through an agency too. I enjoy it, but most of all it works for us as a family. I earn more than NMW and get regular pay rises.
Good luck with your search 💐

Have you tried pharmacy? I'm a dispenser and there are always pharmacies desperate for staff. You don't need experience usually as you train and do the course while you work. Pop into the independent ones as they usually pay a bit better!

Lots of recruiters use AI to screen applications make sure you use the key words from the advert in your application, machines don't read between the lines.

Work on the STAR format for interviews and your body language etc

Lose weight, I am a similar size and unfortunately it is often a factor either consciously with doubts of your physical ability to do the job or concerns of potential health concerns or unconscious bias.

Train up, do you want to stay in that industry? If so get related qualifications, if you worked in management before did that come with professional qualifications? Do you have extra work related quals that are in date like food hygiene, H&S at Work, first aid, cocktail making, silver service waiting or whatever is relevant to your industry to put you a step above the rest.

Can you train cabin crew?

I went from working in hospitality to working for the local authority as an early years worker. Love working with 3-5 year olds.

Sometimes you need to get past the gatekeepers. I moved away from London and I struggled to get work in my profession. It was a shock to me that I couldn’t even get casual work because the agency/bank weren’t recruiting (I’m a v.well qualified nurse). I had a friend take me around a local hospital to meet the ward managers, they couldn’t believe I was trying to work there and couldn’t get in. It was only because of them that I got into the nurse bank.
once I got known to people through casual work I was able to look out for jobs at the right level and after 3 years they got pretty much to where I wanted to be.
good luck

Google jobs is a good place to find jobs, just type the job you’re looking for then add job it should then bring up a light blue band with a list of jobs local to you and where you can apply. Always apply directly if you can. Have a master copy of your cv but tweak it so it uses the key words from the job description which will get picked up if they’re using a computer to sort through cvs especially.

This. Indeed is good to see what’s available but once you see what is available go to the company website and apply direct.

If you’re often not hearing back after interviews, you need to look into your interview skills. It’s not uncommon to lack in that department after a long career break, and if you get rejections consistently, it’s definitely something to address. You need to look both at content (what you say) and delivery (how you say it) - there’s something in either or both of those that isn’t working. I work in the careers space - feel free to DM me for some (free) resources.

High rejection rates when applying online aren’t uncommon at all, unfortunately, and for the sorts of jobs you’re applying for you indeed might be losing out to those who are less qualified but seen as ‘easier’ or cheaper staff. With your prior experience, you can get a better job than what you’re targeting atm so second all the advice above re retraining. Your past experience will be more of a strength if you’re able to show up to date and relevant training and skills.

When looking for a job - especially if changing careers, you really want to try and get referrals as much as possible vs just applying online. Networking is what gets you a better job.

Ive spent the last 20 years working in hospitals and care settings and there has always been jobs going everywhere I've worked for both temporary and permanent care staff, with no previous experience required.

Would you consider care work? I'm sure you would be able to find somewhere if it was a job you were interested in.

shortage of female taxi drivers. The only one in our area is never available when I need a taxi but it doesn’t stop me trying in case I’m lucky.

I sympathise op. I have recently been looking for a new job after working p/t and looking after my children. I kept hearing on the news that there was a shortage of workers but this is not my experience. There were an insane amount of applicants for each position. I had 2 interviews and thankfully got a f/t job. One of the jobs was filled internally and they had over 100 applications for that one 😳.
My friend is also looking atm and is getting very despondent as she is not even getting to interview stage.
It doesn’t even seem easier for the kids, as my son applied for so many jobs before eventually landing a retail position.
Doing courses is a good idea, really selling yourself on your cv and making sure it stands out as much as possible. It’s not easy out there and retail is the worst as they are nearly all zero hours or very p/t and just add the hours as they need you, meaning they don’t have to pay when you are on leave etc 😡.
What about airport jobs? I noticed quite a few recently like check in staff etc.
I really hope that if we do get a labour government, they will get rid of zero hours contracts. Workers rights have been seriously eroded over the years.

I was in the same boat as you OP, nobody wanted a 40 year old woman who hadn't worked in 8 years, who was a size 20 and had a history of health issues. Then the pandemic happened and I stopped bothering to look for work. I went to art school and have a degree in illustration which I never really used but I started drawing again and took some online courses to learn more about modern techniques like photoshop for example and now I work freelance as an illustrator and I also teach adult art classes. I also lost a lot of weight which I think really boosted my confidence and it did also change how people seemed to treat me. It took me 4 years to get here though so it wasn't an overnight change and my husband supported me during that time which was a privileged position to be in.

If you have skills or interests you could perhaps use to become self employed or start your own business perhaps look into that?

This is the website re NHS jobs
www.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate/search