What to put on a CV after 8 years as a SAHM

[folieadeux29]

I got married and had children young so my CV is going to look very sparse. I had a few Saturday jobs before I got married and after I had my 2 children I had a couple of temporary jobs until I had my 3rd then just stayed at home none of them were in the same field. My youngest is now 8 so I am now looking for permanent employment.
I have been volunteering since last February so have that to include, but what qualities and experiences as a SAHM would be suitable to put on my CV?

Thanks :)

CrispyFB Here is another site that offers IT professionals on a voluntary basis to charities.

www.it4communities.org.uk/it4c/home/volunteerRegistrationView.do

Posted without pasting.

DH is having the same issue as he has been the sahp for the last 2.5 years and worries employers will think he's just been unemployed doing nothing all day. So I'll advise him to put on his CV that his gap in employment is due to being at home with a child.

Lemis - look at vision2learn. They offer free training and one of the short courses is IT skills covering MS Office.

Lemisscared

You have lots of skills and experience, though it is a bit of a jumble.

Put a paragraph at the top about what you do and what you want to do. EG:

Science graduate with administrative skills is seeking permanent part time role....

xxx date to present
DH building company name
Assist family business with administration, tax returns, bookkeeping and invoicing. This role is part time and fits in with school hours.

Then work backwards with your employment using the same format.

You can go to an employment agency, they will test you on word, excel etc and will tell you what you need to brush up on. Adecco has an excellent testing system and can also send you online training to do. They will also give you advise about your cv and how best to get a job in your local area. Though do have at least a draft of your cv with you when you go in.

Lots of local schools and colleges will run adult computing classes too, either free or at very reasonable costs.

I have known some health charities want admin staff who have scientific backgrounds so they will have an understanding of the work they are doing. Worth looking out for those jobs.

Yes, companies do consider being a treasurer a valuable skill and deff worth putting on your cv.

lem I have been in a similar situation as you, with a PhD and overqualified for the jobs I was applying for. I had a lot of stress related health issues and was trying to get back to work at low stress/responsibility jobs after some time out of the workplace.

You must have quite a bit of experience of word, excel etc. from your PhD studies and thesis, so make sure it is mentioned as part of your experience gained during that. Most job descriptions will ask for X qualification or equivalent so you just need to make sure that you show you have the experience, you don't necessarily need the actual qualification so don't be put off just because of that.

I found that being up front about my mental health problems meant no interviews, so I stopped putting it on applications or mentioning it at interviews. It now only comes up at occ health once I have been offered the job, and it has not been a problem since.

If your experience is very mixed I would suggest shortening your CV and making it skills based. So say the job asks for organisational skills then you can illustrate that with voluntary work and parenting. But leave them wanting to know more rather than making along cv out of not a lot of full-time experience.

a long not along

ability to never drink a hot drink nor pee alone lol

Ability to tune out monotonous noise, this concludes the word "Mummy" and all variations.

I've just written mine for the first time in about ten years after a four year gap. I didn't bother with any description of being a parent at home but I had a lot of volunteer work and gained a qualification. Almost all of this could've been done around the children without childcare and the role that did need childcare is very minor on my CV. Most have been unadvertised roles where I approached them so you don't have to restricted to typical volunteer jobs. I got a call from an agency after posting online which was a shock.

Have a look at what's on offer locally, I'm going to a CV course next month which is free. It may be rubbish but there are other similar courses which arent too expensive if it doesn't help.

Lem - if you like the number crunching I recommend doing AAT which can lead into accounts, as low or as high as you like if you carry on to chartered. Give it a Google and if you want more info feel free to PM me. I've been doing it around the childcare and self studying which is cheapest, I'm just starting the charted stuff now which seems most in demand on job sites. I've a teeny bit of voluntary experience so your bookkeeping and tax returns should help if you do consider accounts work.

Thanks guys - calico you are right, it is all a bit of a jumble, now being able to produce a genetic fingerprint from a tarantula sounds impressive, but it doesn't have much transferable skills

I may well approach the agencies - i have always found them a bit hit and miss but maybe i'm approaching the wrong ones.

mewling, i have the skills, just no peice of paper that seem to be required for the entry level jobs.

All good advice.

Also - look at the person spec of the job you are applying for and adapt your CV accordingly. If for example they say e.g. it's essential you have Excel skills, then make sure your spreadsheet creating prowess is listed somewhere obvious (like in the skills section and in the job history explaining how you improved the systems used or something).

If next week you go for a job as a dog walker, let's say, and they say it's desitable that you have experience of caring for dogs, then suddenly your Excel skills may not be relevant or of any interest to the employer but the fact that you looked after your neighbours pitbulls comes into its own.

So, you may end up with several versions of your CV as you apply for different things. One with the pitbulls the rest without.

Crispy could you contribute to some open source projects as your "volunteering"? There's plenty out there in various languages, that could help ease you back into it?

Thanks CalicoBlue

scissy - that's an excellent point, I don't know why I hadn't thought of that myself! Perhaps because in my former career I never had much interaction with open source due to the nature of my employers and my roles.

Anyway I've been using enough open source stuff recently with my home projects, I'm sure I could add value to other people's projects too. If I just feel confident enough to hit submit! It's funny, I'm much less afraid of a boss finding fault in my code than some anonymous person on the Internet! But it would look excellent on a software developer CV and easily checkable unlike what I've written at home for personal use.

Crispy I think in your case is approach a few firms of the sort you want to work in, and offer them volunteering experience to brush up your skills. Elearning companies are crying out for people.

I am currently employed, but in my husband's business. I can't really ask him for a reference if I go for a new job at some point, can I?
I am find for one as I did work for 2.5 yrs post-children, but got made redundant, hence then taking easy option and working for husband. Soon will need to work more though so am going to be looking. My last full-time, permanant job finished in 2001!
I have been on PTA/class rep so have put them on CV too.

*Fine, not find

Just, if you can find other referees that's good. One of my children worked for me for a time and the same issue arose. They were also seconded to another company for 7 months though so were able to use that for a reference. You could certainly put the husband's company down if there is no one else and there may be someone else other than the husband himself to give the reference in his company which may look better. Although to be fair if anyone did ask for a reference for any of my children I would be fair, not biased.

I'd second what PerpendicularVincenzo wrote (If he'd put the time management/health and safety/paying bills stuff he wouldn't have got a look in. That's not to say that they aren't useful skills, but every parent has them whether they work or not. Ditto the 'full time mum' - every mum is one of those.)

Remember that the person reading your CV and choosing who to shortlist may well be a parent (and/or a mumsnetter). They'll likely know what sort of skills parenting will have given you so beware of gilding the lily.