Is the jobs market really so dire or am I missing a trick somewhere?

[GetSmart]

Here's the rant.....I used to work for large multi-national in a decent career (sales role) prior to having kids. Decided, and was very fortunate, to take redundancy and have a a few years break to raise the children, thinking I would think of a new venture, or get into a new line of work when the children are a bit older. That time is now! I can't believe how dire the situation is. Unless you want to sell make-up, or books (and there's nothing wrong with that by the way, it's just not me), or have a few quid to start something of your own up (which we don't have following a break), there are ZERO jobs that even remotely suit the hours needed when you've a family.

I've now also found that I'm actually not qualified to do any other role as they all want experience. Sales isn't a career for returning women to the workplace.
Is it just me? What's everyone elses experience?
It's a shocking situation as there's tonnes of talent amongst the Mum community thats just going to waste, which is a very sorry state of affairs.
Come on employers and seriously embrace the flexible working please.

Where are you all in terms of counties? I wonder if it's a regional thing?

I'm in the south east.

I think this must be partly geographical as the organisation I work for has had a few well paid part time jobs going lately and hardly any applicants!

Thinkfast, I think the latter half of your post hits the nail on the head! Employees are reluctant to take on candidates who do not have prior experience of that role. The competition is fierce out there and those with more recent experience are considered first.

I think the moral of the story is not to take time out unless you are certain you can pick up your career again or you are able retrain in a new field.

I've had a bit of good news. It's not a job but it's a financial vote of confidence that will help me train to move from my current semi-skilled job into a niche professional role. Not the same organisation but the roles are connected. It's a step.

I'm not there yet and it has taken two years to get this far. I was drawn to a NHS role that was tenuously linked to something I did while teaching. Got that job hoping it would lead somewhere. It hasn't but has given me some very useful transferable skills. I have done a lot of shadowing rather than voluntary work and got involved with professional bodies on both sides.

Keep plugging away.

I agree with stealthbanana to bite the bullet if you can and take a fulltime role with potential for part time later. The reality is that plum part time roles go to existing employees usually because their employers have to (flexible working) or want to keep them. The few part time roles that are advertised will probably pay peanuts unless you have specialist skills as the employee can exact a deep discount because so many will apply for it particularly if it is not skilled.

Ideally start ft in the area you had experience before you left your career. That way, it makes sense to an employer why you apply (same field but with outdated skills) and avoid sounding over-qualified, as you would if you applied for an unrelated admin role which they expect you to be either difficult to manager or use as a stepping stone to something else.

I agree that even for an admin role - I hire for compliance roles - we can find people with relevant experience. And they are full time roles.

The key is that an employer is not going to shape a job to suit your need for part time initially but may be prepared to once they know you and you have value to them.

Work for yourself doesn't have to mean flogging craft stuff or MLM aloe vera shite.

If you're organised, literate and have a good general standard of education, then you could easily sign up with a couple of websites and start freelancing. People per Hour is the biggest one. Lots of companies want blogs or articles written for their websites and will pay you a decent rate if you can produce decent work. It can take a while to get going and get established but it really is very flexible.

I've been freelancing for a few years, I don't work full time or anything like it, probably do on average 8 to 10 hours a week. Just done my earnings for the year and it's around £10k, with zero outlay except a laptop (which I already had) and WiFi connection, which everyone has. Should I need to scale things up in the future I probably could.