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Are You Ready to Reenter the Work Force?
Have you been out of the workforce for
a period of time and now are ready to re-enter? Don’t worry – it’s not
that uncommon these days! Here are some tips for preparing.
Holes In Your Resume
During an interview you may be asked about time lapses in your resume.
Don’t be too concerned. If you have been out staying home with children or
an elderly parent, a short quick answer will do. You can simply say,
"taking care of family" or "staying home with children" and leave it at that.
The interviewer should drop the subject right there. It is not relevant to
the job to ask any more. No big deal!
Interviewing Skills
Brush up on your interviewing skills. Have a friend ask you questions. Get
ready with the basic questions like, what are your strengths and weaknesses.
Many organizations are using the strategy of Behavioral Interviewing to determine
whether or not someone is a good fit. (see below)
Translate Activities Into Job Skills
Think about how your activities during your time away from the workforce
can translate into useful skills in the workplace. Have you been juggling
several activities? Then you have good organizational skills and can multitask.
How did you keep track of it all? Did you work with the PTA? Did you coordinate
a car pool or use a computer to keep stats for a softball league? All of
these things can translate into workplace skills that you can highlight in
an interview.
Have a Positive Attitude
Make sure that you have the right attitude! Know that you have the skills
and abilities that an organization would be lucky to have. Use eye contact
during the interview to show how confident you are.
Start Slowly
If you have some time before you really need to jump back in with both feet,
try some freelance work first. You can start slowly and on many ocassions,
work from home. You can also add the projects to your resume.
Update Your Resume
Don’t forget the activities that translate to the workplace – add them
under a "Skills" section.
Invest in a New Interview Suit
You don’t have to spend a lot of money. You’ll want to feel your best and
having a nice new suit that fits well and is up to date will help. Just find
something basic and fairly plain. Interview tip books always tell you to
stick with navy. I think that any basic color that makes you feel good is
fine. If you are interviewing with a more creative organization you can always
add a more colorful top underneath the jacket to add some personal flair.
Send That Resume!
Send your resumes to as many places as you can. If you are called for an
interview for a job that you are not particularly interested in, go anyway.
It will give you some practice for when you get the call for that job that
you REALLY want!
RELAX!
The right opportunity will come along.
Resources
Interview Tips
Freelance Jobs
Down With The Objective
About the Author
Kirsten Ross is mother of 2, Eric
and Daniel. She is a Human Resource Professional and Certified Personal Trainer
who is dedicated to helping women find more life balance. Visit her website
at http://www.womans-work.com to
find professional alternative work arrangement jobs and information or she
can be reached by e-mail at
Kross@Womans-Work.com
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