How to find a job without having references and after being a stay at home mum for 11 years

[mylifeisamessrightnow]

Hello. I would appreciate some advice.

I have been a SAHM for 11 years. I was young when I had my first child ( gave birth at 18) my eldest is now 11 and my youngest is 1. I have other children too but don’t want to describe too much on here so will give the basics. My husband works full time and has done for all his adult working life but isn’t on a high salary and it just pays the bills. I want or should I say NEED to find paid employment as soon as possible because I need the money as money is tight but I have no references as I’ve not been employed for 11 years. Also I would Have to work around my husbands job which would be very difficult because of the way his hours are. How can I get around all these obstacles? I feel like I’m trapped. I have no family to help look after my children whilst I work. Volunteer work sounds good in paper but I need to be paid as like I said money is really tight and I need to increase our household income ASAP. And I also need to do something away from the Home as being at home drives me insane. Anyone have any good advice?

If you have no work history, do you have any one who could give you a personal reference. This needs to be someone who knows you (not a relative) and can vouch for your good character? If you need to work around childcare and your husband's hours - possibly retail - twilight shifts, without knowing what your husbands work pattern it's a bit difficult to advise further. If you can't find paid employment quickly some voluntary work in the meantime would give you something to put on your CV. Good luck!

Could you do a couple of hours voluntary work on a saturday when your husband is off for a charity shop or volunteer at a food bank or something for a few months to get a reference ? Or as others have said someone who knows you - do you help at kids school PTA or anything like that - anyone there who could give you a character reference?

I don't normally advise 0 hour contracts, but I think this may be your best bet for now if you need to work around your husband's shifts. There are lots of care jobs that offer these types of contracts (sometimes termed 'sessional') allowing you to pick between day, weekend, overnight hours etc.

These types of roles usually offer training on the job so you don't need to have formal qualifications to get into the role.

My friend is on such a contract with Enable and last week offered to work 40 hours as her kids were away with relatives. This week she's only wanting to do 5. She just lets her manager know a week in advance. You say your husband's wages cover the bills, so on the off chance you got 0 hours one week - you'd still be able to pay the bills.

I'd definitely not recommend these types of contract to people who rely on the money to pay the necessities - just those in need of topping up the family's main income.

As above, work on getting character references from people who are not relatives. With your eldest being 11, have you ever volunteered at the school or playgroup? Would staff there be able to provide some sort of reference?

Hi! I was a sahm like you for 18 years, DH was made redundant at the beginning of the year and things were getting tricky financially. so back in Jun I saw an ad for a job that looked interesting l, applied and got it. It came up in the interview that I wouldn't have recent employer references so I just offered them personal references as many as they wanted and in the end they approached two. I got the job, and its all good. Don't lose hope, there are employers out there prepared to take a chance. Good luck!