To ask what office skills i need to work after being SAHM for too long

[MeetMeAtTheMuseum]

Been a SAHM for 18 years.

Please let's not debate the rights and wrongs of being a SAHM - it wasn't entirely my decision. Life happens and it's led to many years of depression and loss of confidence.

Anyway, I'm late 50s now and need to return to work- for money and my sanity.

Please could you advise what basic office/IT skills are needed for an admin job. The NHS is quite a big employer round here but am happy to take anything.

TIA

In which case admin will be a walk in the park for you! You already have all the skills and more besides. Just make sure you can demonstrate the transferable nature of them. Good luck.

@MeetMeAtTheMuseum

That wasn't my question. I was asking about office skills. Please don't post negativity.

Chill out!

A good attitude will help

I would encourage you to look into returning to your original field in some description. At least then you have an advantage in terms of knowledge, skills base etc.

You are effectively starting from scratch and like others have said apprenticeships and temping agencies are a good place to start. But you do need to be realistic, if the choice is between you and someone who is 18 and therefore can be paid less, who do you think most employers will choose?

In all seriousness, communication skills and people skills are really important. Including being able to

• communicate clearly what is needed
• be able to bite your tongue when you don’t like how people react

So if you take this thread as a learning opportunity you didn’t spell out clearly to me as a reader that you wanted “no negativity” then you’ve been rather short with people who have not met your expectations. If you did that in the workplace you’d have conflict in no time and it will not end well for you as a new junior member of staff.

I genuinely don’t say this to annoy you but people often underestimate the importance of these skills, particularly in admin/support roles. This is a short book I have found helpful in the past amazon.co.uk/Winning-Without-Intimidation-Positive-Persuasion/dp/1890344117/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=winning+without+intimidation&qid=1620646872&sprefix=winning+without+intim&sr=8-1]]

Thanks for all the good wishes.

Those of you who are piling on ... stop cluttering up a useful thread and maybe look at your own attitudes.

In which case admin will be a walk in the park for you! You already have all the skills and more besides

I'm being as constructive as I can when I say: I'm sure OP could indeed do an admin job as long as she is willing and able to get up to speed with current office tech.

But in a market saturated with new bright grads who grew up with Teams and Google Suite and are desperate to get a foot in the door, and experienced admin who are newly redundant or need a change and have a proven recent track record of this stuff, OP is not going to get a look-in. No employer is going to opt for someone who has been out of the workforce for almost two decades in that scenario.

I think OP needs to choose a different angle, like a specific skills apprenticeship, because going out there for "admin jobs" is quite likely to be a hiding to nothing.

@MeetMeAtTheMuseum

Thanks for all the good wishes.

Those of you who are piling on ... stop cluttering up a useful thread and maybe look at your own attitudes.

I'm really surprised at how quickly you've turned to this sort of attitude in your posts. Everyone has actually been quite helpful.

Do you have any previous admin experience, OP? If not, maybe think about going into a teaching related field - I know you said you didn't want to go back to teaching but could you see yourself teaching in another area? Maybe adult education if you taught at primary level before?

@bunglebee - how did you find your apprenticeship?

@bunglebee

In which case admin will be a walk in the park for you! You already have all the skills and more besides

I'm being as constructive as I can when I say: I'm sure OP could indeed do an admin job as long as she is willing and able to get up to speed with current office tech.

But in a market saturated with new bright grads who grew up with Teams and Google Suite and are desperate to get a foot in the door, and experienced admin who are newly redundant or need a change and have a proven recent track record of this stuff, OP is not going to get a look-in. No employer is going to opt for someone who has been out of the workforce for almost two decades in that scenario.

I think OP needs to choose a different angle, like a specific skills apprenticeship, because going out there for "admin jobs" is quite likely to be a hiding to nothing.

It's not just the bright young things. She'll also be up against people of her own age who are still in that role with all the relevant skills plus years of experience.

I was already in role as an experienced hire and spotted an opportunity to re-/double-skill in a specific area and made a case for it, so it's not really analogous other than the fact there's no barrier to funding if you already have "higher" qualifications.

If you are looking to be employed as an apprentice you search for apprentice jobs just as you would non-apprentice ones e.g. here: platform.multiverse.io/apprenticeships . (That happens to be my provider who is great.) Look at the websites for large employers in your area and see what apprenticeship schemes they run.

Soft skills are vital. Almost everyone who applies will have the IT skills. Listening, taking on feedback. They won't be interested in managing other people for an entry level job but will be keen to know how you respond to being managed. They might even think you are overqualified for the job so you need to work out how to spin it to a positive and how you'll make it clear you don't see the job as a stepping stone to something else.

All things relating to modern "tech", such as Microsoft Word, Excel, as a minimum, email systems (plus attachments etc), creating PDF documents, online/computerised diary management, to do lists, use of databases, using Skype/Facetime/Teams or other online collaborative communication systems, online filing systems, scanning and sorting documents, etc.

Basically, think of how your admin job used to be when it was done by phone, fax, paper, filing cabinets, etc. Forget all that, and now think how you'd do it with just a keyboard and screen.

No, I really don't want to be in education in any shape or form.

Years ago, before depression got me down, I volunteered on adult literacy schemes/supporting refugees/ex offenders. It was very rewarding but I don't want to do it as a job.

Microsoft word and excel are the main ones. NHS tend to have their own systems for booking appointments etc.
Really emphasise transferable skills like conflict solving, communicating, multi-tasking etc!

Digital mums do free courses for updating skills and LinkedIn has lists of currently most sought after soft and hard skills, good luck

Highly recommend taking on temp roles.

I came back to the UK (aged 28) with zero UK work history after travelling/living overseas. I started temping as a way to built up my skills/experience. I'm now PA to an exec in one of the UK's top retail companies. Appreciate this has taken a long time (8 years to get to Office Manager) but my point it that it is doable despite the job market being as it is at present, but you do have to start at the bottom.

Good Luck !

If you're going for a basic admin level job you will need to learn to say "of course" to whatever dull, pointless job your manager thinks you need to do. Preferably with a smile.

I mention this because someone who's been a SAHM for years will have got used to setting their own agenda, managing their own time and only doing things if they see the value of them. It will be a huge culture change to adapt to this. The responses you've made to people who have tried to offer constructive criticism suggest that you will find this difficult. Perhaps you need to think about a different type of job?

Telephone answering, etiquette and listening skills. Don't end calls with "no problem" when the person on the other end thanks you. My colleagues do this and it grates every time.

Some great advice about temp work. That's a great way to build up some experience. Have you joined any 'i want to leave teaching' FB groups? I know you've been out a long time but there are lots of helpful tips on these groups about arguing transferable skills on applications.

Have you considered NTP? Or creating digital content for teachers (like twinkle resources) or education departments in charities? I know you said you don't want anything to do with education for a job but I think it's probably going to be easier to do something related, even for just a few months, to get recent work experience on your CV.

‘Basically, think of how your admin job used to be when it was done by phone, fax, paper, filing cabinets, etc. Forget all that, and now think how you'd do it with just a keyboard and screen.’

The OP has been a SAHM for 18 years. We had pdfs, Microsoft office and so on 18 years ago. Sure, IT changes all the time and she’ll need to watch some videos to brush up on the changes, but we are not talking about the 1970s.

Have you considered becoming a doctor's receptionist? You won't need much additional training

A thicker skin.

If you're going for a basic admin level job you will need to learn to say "of course" to whatever dull, pointless job your manager thinks you need to do

Maybe. But that doesn't mean I have to tolerate being patronised by randoms on the internet.

Constructive replies (of which there have thankfully been many) are much appreciated.

I got my current, part time, job a couple of years ago. It was the first I'd applied for after over 10 years as a SAHM. It's school based, support staff in an office.

I was running my own, very small, on line craft business and did some volunteering at the local Church. Both of those roles had helped me keep on top of Excel, Word and email. Both had meant I needed to be proficient in social media and dabble in marketing.

I made sure I matched both my past experience and my current skills very closely in the application. So I pulled out things I'd done in my pre-SAHM role and how I currently used that knowledge whilst a SAHM. For example, the role had a desirable rating for dealing with parents and children. I'd been a parent reader at primary school, had organised summer days of craft etc at the local church and in my previous role I'd done presentations on council run projects to youth groups, schools and communities in general. So I pulled that together as a 'I can do this because' statement.

The role needed marketing skills so I, again, pulled up how I market my small business, how I helped to market church run events and how I marketed community events in my previous (10 years plus ago) role. I also put things in the statement like ideas of how I could transfer those skills to this job - what I'd learned, how I'd proceed etc. The ideas may not actually work in the environment I'm now in but my manager said the fact that I'd thought about what I could actually bring into the job made the difference - it showed enthusiasm and pride in a job I didn't actually have yet.

So I'd say make sure your Microsoft Office skills are up to date, think about previous roles and what you learned in them but don't knock the things you have to do as a parent (stay at home or otherwise). The organisation, the negotiation, the teaching, the 'thinking outside the box' that we all do when we have a stroppy kid who doesn't want to get up and somewhere to be in 20 minutes. All that negotiation and tactics is invaluable when you have a worried patient who's getting in a state or someone who's been kept waiting who is kicking off (rightly or wrongly), if you want to get into the NHS.

And finally, yes the job market is tough. It was tough (but maybe not as much) a couple of years ago and school term time job are like gold dust. But as my DH said at the time, someone has to get that job and it may as well be you.

Good luck!