I haven't worked for two years - realistically what are my chances....

[bubblymummy]

I used to be an exec assistant but haven't worked for two years. Now I'm a mum what are my chances of getting something decent part time. I've been applying left right and centre and not a positive noise from anyone!

I note last week on the news that mothers returning to work were the most discriminiated against.

Has anyone out there had similar experiences and any advice would be welcome as I'm going wrong somewhere!!!

i too feel that new mothers and mothers in particular are discriminated against at work - it shouldn't be like that because employers are wasting an awful lot of skills because they can't see past what they think of as an awkward situation.

i can't offer any concrete advice sorry but bump for you

It might be a bit harder to convince people your skills are still relevent and up to date, but not impossible. Plenty of Mums do return to work.

Depending on the type of work sometimes you might need to do a bit of re-training to keep up to date, or a bit of voluntary work to get up to date references etc.

Try hooking up with some temping agencies and doing temp work for a while, then apply for the full-time posts in 6 months time. That way you build up your cv and no company has to take the 'Risk' of taking you on as you'll already have shown you can do the work-life balance thing. Could that work as a way forward?

Message withdrawn

I was in similar situation a while ago, I was returning to work after 9 years.

I applied allover and even applied for jobs I didn't think I stood a chance with, but, the outcome is I got 2 interviews (both part-time) and got offered both jobs, one of which is one I never thought I would get with the NHS, I've just finished my first week and love it.

Just wanted to give you hope, you can and will get another job

Got nothing to offer here. But just wanted to say this thread interests me a lot so thanks for bringing it up. I too would be interested to hear what others have to say.

I too had a fairly high-earning/dynamic job pre DD and pre moving to UK. That was 5 years ago. Now I worry that I will be faced with the usual 'mothers discrimination' but also the 'you haven't enough UK working experience' line when I am ready to work again. I have to say, I miss working!

I've just employed someone who has been out of paid employment for a bit more than 2 years.
She was dead bright, clear and spot on about what the job was about - had read the JD and researched the company. She had also kept her hand in in her area of work by reading, going to occasional conferences, and doing a tiny amount of regular volunteering - which had kept her awareness up to date. She was the best candidate for the job. Also, I felt she really was interested in the job, and as she has 2 children, i could see she wanted the p/t job. Other people i suspected wanted the job, any job, as a stepping stone to the next and would be off like a shot.