Putting Yourself Out There...

As a single mum, we struggle between the balance of working to provide for our family and spending time with our children. Most of us have to work from when our babes are a few weeks or months old, but some have the luxury of having a partner for those first few years and there isn't the need to work to pay the bills, just care for and enjoy the innocence of our beautiful children. But when they go off to school, and you don't have a partner to provide your every day costs for you anymore, you need to get yourself back in the work force. So what do you do?

Put yourself out there! Get your resume in order, show your future employers that you are different, have unique skills and are the best person for every job. Don't be afraid that you haven't been in the workforce for a few years. Every job needs to be 'trained' in one way or another, so you will soon get the hang of what's needed once you get in there.

Put down all the skills that make you a great mum - highly organised, being part of the kindergarten committee, friendly personality (as I'm sure you've made a whole new group of friends since you became a mum), able to stick to routines and deadlines, skilled at social media (as I'm sure when your child's taking a nap you've been Facebooking it or Twittering it!), easily able to adapt to changing situations, and I'm sure there is more that you can show a potential employer.

How about your covering letter? How are you going to stand out from the crowd? Well it all depends on what type of job you're going for... if' it's an office job, you may want to make it conservative but fresh, however if it's a reception job, make your letter bubbly and friendly to reflect your personality. Same goes for a retail job - show your personality in your covering letter, show your smile and vivaciousness in your words, the very vivaciousness that will make people want to talk with you in their store.

Here's a useful list of what makes a good resume: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/resume-writing-tips/ It covers everything from individualising your resume for different companies, formatting your resume, using power words and listing achievements.

I guess for most of us, the worrying concern is the huge gap in the years between jobs that you hid away changing nappies all day. But if you can market yourself properly, re-interating what skills you can bring to the employer rather than your experience, you will shine and be noticed. Go on, believe in yourself and make it happen.