Interview Tips After Out Of Work For 6 Years

Tips for Reentering the Job Market

Advice Seeker: Dear April,

I'm 38 and ready to go back to work after six years out to raise my children and get them into elementary school. Things have changed since I left, and I don't have a ton of old contacts to turn to. What can I do to expedite my search and not look naive in the job hunt?

Sincerely,

Savvy Job Seeker

April Masini's advice:

Dear Savvy Job Seeker,

For starters, your resume is going to need to be restructured, as compared to what it was when you left.

*The best way to structure a resume is to customize it to the job you want. If you're mass mailing resumes, then do something general, but if you really, really, really want a specific job, try to imagine what it is they want, what you have that they want, and how your resume can best show this.

*Education is not the first thing on your resume if you're going back to work after being a stay-at-home mom. It's not the same as when you were first out of college or graduate school, when your education was the reason you were recently unemployed.

*Be coy with dates. You're going to have a big gap between your last job and now, if you've been out of the job market for one to 12 years, raising kids. Don't hide that fact, but don't throw it up in their faces. You can put years without months. In fact you can put jobs out of order if you'd like to emphasize a particular asset. The idea with the resume is to get them to call you -- not reject you. Keep that in mind.

Next, think about getting your job skills up-to-date:

*Update your job skills by first, doing research. If you haven't been in the job market in over a decade, you're going to have to learn computer skills. If you're computer illiterate, put your nose to the grindstone and take a course or educate yourself. There is no way around it unless you want to serve up burgers at a fast food joint. And even then ...

*Talk to people in the field or the company you're interested in working at. Find out what's going on there. Ask questions -- don't try to sell yourself. Research is not sales.

*Call a career counselor or head hunter and find out from them what the low down is and what you would need to get back in the game.