My cv is very empty after being sahm. Would volunteering at scouts be a way to start progress in to more references?

[Wupity]

my kids all went to cubs and scouts but I didn’t volunteer as had too much else going on. Now my kids are at secondary school I am feeling pretty isolated and not sure how to build my connections to the community and build references for getting a job again one day .

also I think I would enjoy it as nice to be around little ones again

I recruit and Scouts or charity shop experience wouldn't make any difference at all. Relevant skills courses would.

For what sector?

If you want to teach maths could a teaching degree help you? You get a bursary of I think £30k for the year plus student loans and maths teachers are as rare as hens teeth these days. I know your degree is engineering but they offer knowledge enhancement courses to top up your core knowledge . These normally run in the summer so you could literally apply now, get accepted into the Pgce course and do the KE in the next few months and then start the course in September

Girlguiding have this document on how to add Guide volunteering to your CV, which will be pretty similar for Scout volunteers https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/globalassets/docs-and-resources/growing-and-promoting-guiding/guiding-on-your-cv.pdf

I would love to try maths teaching but I am worried about the amount of time involved I think it would be quite full on training.

jyst emailed local library for volunteering opportunities there

It could be part of your long term plan if it’s something you might like. You could volunteer in schools too.

See if you like the environment.

You could look at TA jobs.

With an engineering degree if you are interested in teaching then working as a TA will let you know whether you like working in schools.

There are agencies for TAs.

A few months volunteering won't make much difference unless it is very relevant. You may also find it disheartening unless you're very lucky with your charity/community group.

I'd say choose jobs to apply for that you may actually want. Work very carefully on your CV, highlighting skills and achievements.

A good thing to mention that you have done informal volunteering, being emergency help for other working mothers ie , lifts and childcare when it's been urgently needed. Shows lots of good qualities including flexibility, reliability and good at working with others!

I have a couple of friends who walked into jobs after 5 and 12 years of happy SAHM!

best of luck

Civil engineering.

If someone’s been out of the sector for awhile what would you recommend?

I think that volunteering can be a first step to boost confidence then aim to get more relevant experience. Volunteering for people related roles is useful.

A lot of the big engineering consultancies are keen to employ ‘women returners’ as there’s an issue with retaining women at the moment. If you worked for an Aecom/Atkins/Arup before (or even if you didn’t!) I’d get in touch with the HR depts to see if they run refresher courses. The biggest change since you last worked will be the use of BIM, so it might be worth you doing a year-long course at a college to upskill on this.

I answered in my post. I'd find relevant skills courses a bonus but wouldn't be impressed at Scouts or volunteering.

Oh I didn’t know women returners was a thing. Found some good websites on this and a few possible opportunities