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Been Out Of Work For Three Years & I Want Back In – But How?

May 15, 2009 by sparktalk 

“J.T. & Dale Talk Jobs” is the largest nationally syndicated career advice column in the US & can be found at JTandDale.com.

Dear J.T. & Dale: I took the past three years off to spend time with my children. Now that the kids are of an age where they would rather NOT spend time with me, I’m ready to get back to work. I know my resume screams “She’s been sitting on her butt for three years.” Should my cover letter explain my situation, or would that throw me in the “no” pile even faster? Help! — Gail

J.T.: Two reactions: First, you haven’t been sitting on your butt! Raising children is a job, and one to be proud of. Discuss in your cover letter what you’ve learned in those three years and how it is going to make you a better employee. Second, getting back into the work force takes branding. You need to define who you are and what you have to offer employers. You can find branding help at www.youronramp.com, a Web site designed for moms returning to the work force, and at our site, www.jtanddale.com.

Dale: You’re obviously a realist, Gail — a witty and charming one. So, it won’t come as a shock to you to hear that you’re going to be a long shot for landing interviews. Everyone is a long shot when employers routinely get hundreds of resumes for any given job. So ask yourself: “Why me? Why should someone pick my resume out of the pile and call me?” Well, I’d call you for your wit and charm. Hey, you’re a long shot anyway, so why not have some fun in your cover letter? Or, if you have some specialties, give them prominence in both your cover letter and resume. (Everyone seems enchanted by the word “branding,” but I think it’s easier to think in terms of “specialties.”) Finally — and here’s where being a realist is going to be useful — you may have to admit that your resume isn’t special and isn’t going to be plucked out of a pile. When that happens, don’t despair; just quit sending resumes. Instead, start networking and find a job before it’s open — that is, before the pile has a chance to form.

jt-dale-logo

Jeanine “J.T.” Tanner O’Donnell is a professional development specialist and founder of CAREEREALISM.com. Dale Dauten’s latest book is “(Great) Employees Only: How Gifted Bosses Hire and De-Hire Their Way to Success” (John Wiley & Sons).

Please visit them at jtanddale.com, where you can send questions via e-mail, or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10019.

© 2009 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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Comments

  • Gail,

    You may also want to check out the career reentry strategy book Back on the Career Track: A Guide for Stay-at-Home Moms Who Want to Return to Work (Hachette Business Plus) and the tools and resources on www.iRelaunch.com. (I'm the co-author/co-founder.)

    To elaborate on some of the advice above, as part of JT's point about branding, I would recommend a complete career assessment first - Back on the Career Track has a Job Building Blocks worksheet to help you do that (and there are also excellent resources for career assessment out there such as Career Leader, but they can be expensive). You need to determine whether your skills and interests have changed or have not changed during your career break.

    If you already know for sure that you want to return to the same type of job that you left, then as Dale pointed out, you really do want to make networking the main part of your job search strategy. "Relaunchers," as we call people who are returning to the workforce after a career break, rarely have success sending out resumes on line and even a well written cover letter will usually not get you in the door. The networking piece is key. Ideally a potential lead's first point of contact with you will be personal and the resume will be second.

    So my answer to your question would be to use a chronological resume to describe your work and volunteer history. Include a "Career Break Experience" section to capture volunteer work, classes, or other hard to categorize experiences you think might be relevant for your next job. If it is directly relevant, lead with the Career Break Experience section. If it is not, lead with your old work experience. Yes you need to mention your career break in your cover letter, but don't dwell on it. Then network like crazy and use your career break to your advantage - tell your potential employer you can't wait to get back to work precisely because you've been away from it.

    Good luck with your relaunch!

    Carol Fishman Cohen
    Co-author, Back on the Career Track
    Co-founder, www.iRelaunch.com
  • Gail,

    You may also want to check out the career reentry strategy book Back on the Career Track: A Guide for Stay-at-Home Moms Who Want to Return to Work (Hachette Business Plus) and the tools and resources on www.iRelaunch.com. (I'm the co-author/co-founder.)

    To elaborate on some of the advice above, as part of JT's point about branding, I would recommend a complete career assessment first - Back on the Career Track has a Job Building Blocks worksheet to help you do that (and there are also excellent resources for career assessment out there such as Career Leader, but they can be expensive). You need to determine whether your skills and interests have changed or have not changed during your career break.

    If you already know for sure that you want to return to the same type of job that you left, then as Dale pointed out, you really do want to make networking the main part of your job search strategy. "Relaunchers," as we call people who are returning to the workforce after a career break, rarely have success sending out resumes on line and even a well written cover letter will usually not get you in the door. The networking piece is key. Ideally a potential lead's first point of contact with you will be personal and the resume will be second.

    Networking can take many forms - see these two blog posts my co-author and I wrote for some details on it. http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/networking-... and http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/get-out-of-...

    So my answer to your question would be to use a chronological resume to describe your work and volunteer history. Include a "Career Break Experience" section to capture volunteer work, classes, or other hard to categorize experiences you think might be relevant for your next job. If it is directly relevant, lead with the Career Break Experience section. If it is not, lead with your old work experience. Yes you need to mention your career break in your cover letter, but don't dwell on it. Here is an excellent blog post from my co-author Vivian Steir Rabin on how relaunchers should address their resume gap in a cover letter : http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/none/what-to-do-.... Then network like crazy and use your career break to your advantage - tell your potential employer you can't wait to get back to work precisely because you've been away from it.

    Good luck with your relaunch!

    Carol Fishman Cohen
    Co-author, Back on the Career Track
    Co-founder, www.iRelaunch.com
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