s/o SAHM to full time work - how do you land the job

[Ummto4]

This year all chidren are at school.

 

I'm ready to prepare myself for working outside of home.

 

For those who used to be a SAHM and  is now working,

a. what job do you do ?

b. can you support your family with that job if you have to ?

c. how do you land your job ?

 

Thanks

Dian

Edited July 15, 2016 by Ummto4

[mommyoffive]

Following along

 

 

What did you do before kids?

 

Do you have a degree?

 

Can you start by just subbing? 

[G5052]

What do you want to do? Who is hiring in your area?

 

I live in a very expensive area, so many of the homeschooling moms I know re-entered the workforce, even if just part-time. Some go into retail (usually easy to find a job), or find work in areas they were in before homeschooling.

[Ummto4]

Following along

My answers in italics

 

What did you do before kids? I quit working when my first child was four. (10 years ago). I used to be a researcher (medical science).

 

Do you have a degree? phD - reproductive endocrinology. Obtained before kids.

 

Can you start by just subbing? may be - but I'm not sure I want to teach. Actually ... I don't know what I'd like to do.

 

Edited July 15, 2016 by Ummto4

[Ummto4]

What do you want to do? Who is hiring in your area?

 

I live in a very expensive area, so many of the homeschooling moms I know re-entered the workforce, even if just part-time. Some go into retail (usually easy to find a job), or find work in areas they were in before homeschooling.

 

I did medical research (have a phD). I don't know whether I can go back to research though. Not sure if I want to.

 

Problem is, I don't know what I want to do.

 

- I may like tutoring, but I want to work when children are at school, not after they go back from school.

- NOt sure I want teaching day in day out. The only experience I have with teaching classes is teaching weekend/religious school for this past 7 years. Also I dic a lot of curriculum development and am in leadership position --> I quite enjoy this role, much more than teaching.

- NOt sure if I want to go back to research.

 

Edited July 15, 2016 by Ummto4

[Garga]

What parts of your job did you like best?

 

For example: I worked for a health insurance company. First, I was one of the people who paid the claims. Next, I was promoted to be one of the people who corrected any mistakes that other people made paying the claims. Lastly, I was promoted to be the trainer, teaching everyone else how to pay the claims.

 

But what did I like best about work?

 

What I liked best was constantly rearranging my desk and decorating it. And I also greatly enjoyed writing the training materials, which was really just a small part of the job.

 

I also used to write a blog and I loved that.

 

A Facebook friend (someone I haven't seen in person in 20 years) read my blog and thought my writing was so good she asked me to work 2 or 3 hours a week helping her with her test prep company. She would give her students sample essays to write, preparing for standardized tests, and I would give them feedback. It was pretty fulfilling, but because of a weird tax thing, I had to quit (too long to go into now.)

 

Well, the tax thing was voted down, so now I could work again, but I don't want to assess the essays anymore.

 

And within a week of me realizing that the two things I actually liked about work were decorating and writing, another friend contacted me. He used to read my blog and knew I used to write training materials. A company he helped found needed someone to write up little articles for a newsletter. Maybe 8 hours a week.

 

I have written up 3 articles for them and am waiting to hear back if they like my work. If they hire me I'll be thrilled because someone will be giving me money for stuff I already adore doing (writing.). This all happened last week.

 

My advice: take a good hard look at what you did like about your job. Don't think of big picture stuff like, "Research," but the little things. Like decorating your desk or the writing of the materials.

 

Then see where that leads you.

 

ETA: if the writing gig hadn't fallen into my lap, and if I was looking for a job, I would try to find a job decorating something or writing. Or would get some sort of education in those things so I could do them.

Edited July 15, 2016 by Garga

[G5052]

I'd try some things to see if you like them. It doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing approach, especially if you start part-time.

 

When I was working full-time, it was a downtown, 60-70 hour a week job with a tough commute. No way I wanted that again.

 

So I tried some things and gradually figured it out. 

[Wheres Toto]

This year all chidren are at school.

 

I'm ready to prepare myself for working outside of home.

 

For those who used to be a SAHM and  is now working,

a. what job do you do ?

b. can you support your family with that job if you have to ?

c. how do you land your job ?

 

Thanks

Dian

 

I returned to work three years ago after 8 years home, and just quit again this past March.  I'm thinking about finding something very part time or work from home to keep from having another big gap.

 

a)  I have about 20 years experience as an admin/10 as an executive admin.  I kept up all my computer skills using the software to plan school and do other things. 

b) I could and have supported myself in the past.   

c)  Many of my positions were found through agencies.  The most recent one - I had sent resumes out in April 2013 and got very little response.  Most said their clients weren't interested in the big gap in employment (not even for temp jobs which surprised me).  In July I suddenly got a call from one of those agencies that they wanted me to go to interview for a temp to perm position.  They called on a Tuesday, I interviewed Wednesday and started work Thursday.  It was sudden to say the least.  After two weeks I was offered the position permanently. 

 

I did work a couple of retail jobs while I was home right before landing that job.  I didn't put them on my resume.  Around here retail jobs are very easy to get, usually they pay $9-$10/hour.

 

ETA:  I have a BA in Business Admin/Marketing and an AAS in Biology.   I also have all the coursework except my senior field experience for elementary education.  I could substitute teach pretty easily.

Edited July 15, 2016 by Where's Toto?

[DawnM]

Well, mine is easy.  I have a few degrees (MAs and a BA) in educational fields.  I worked full time for 17 years before I became a SAHM.  I am going back into education.  Since I have 17 years of experience, I am going in at a decent pay rate since those years never expire toward the salary scale.

 

I could support us, if necessary.  It wouldn't be lucrative, but it would pay the bills.  The job I just got gives a $10K bonus every year too (inner city grant program) which helps.

 

I am working for a variety of reasons, but one is to pay for my kids' colleges.

[Jenny in Florida]

A.

I juggle one primary part-time job with two smaller ones. In my primary gig (24 hours a week), I'm a technology trainer at the main branch of our county library system. I teach classes, mostly for adults, in Microsoft Office and basic computer skills and such. There's more to the job description, but that's the core of it.

 

On the side(s), I work a few hours a week at one of those strip mall tutoring centers teaching reading/study skills and some ACT/SAT prep and then also tutor online for 5 - 10 hours.

 

The long-term plan is to continue with the combination of part-time jobs for now, because it's beneficial for the rest of my family for me to have some flexibilty in my schedule, but then apply for a full-time trainer position when one becomes available a year or so from now. 

 

B.

As for whether I could support my family, I suppose that depends hugely on what you mean by "support." One of my kids is an adult and already on her own; the other is in college. Even if I gave up the two smaller part-time jobs and transitioned to full time at the library, I could not come close to replacing my husband's income. However, if something catastropic happened, we could scrape by for a while by cutting everything to the bone. If I were a single person, I could live on what I make. It wouldn't be luxurious or even as comfy as what I'm used to now, but I could make it if I had to.

 

C.

I started tip-toeing back into paid work in the last year my son was home. He was dual enrolled and needed very little of my time and attention beyond driving him around and helping him manage his schedule. So, I took the online tutoring job. The following summer, when he was heading off to college, I rewrote my resume to highlight the year of recent part-time work and got the job at the tutoring center. I had been watching the postings on the library website for quite a while, since I always knew I would like to work for an education-focused institution. I applied a few times before I finally got called for an interview this spring.