One of the most common scenarios I have heard is one of the following:

“My husband has just lost his job and I need to find a job quick….” or

“My husband has just left me and I need to find a job fast…..”

“We can’t meet our mortgage repayments and so I need a job to make ends meet….”

What do you do if you haven’t worked for a while because you were raising a family, but then the situation changes and staying at home is a luxury that you can’t sustain?

Or you may be financially OK, but the kids are now all off to school and you would like to do something different. Earn some money to afford life’s little luxuries.

The problem is that you will need to showcase your skills on your resume to advantage, although your actual work experience may be light on.

What kinds of other activities can be listed on your resume in this case? One really great source is:

Volunteer work

The skills you have gained and used while undertaking volunteer work can been quite broad. Chairing meetings, taking minutes, negotiation skills, treasurer duties, coaching a team in a sport, taking registrations at sporting clubs, working in the canteen or canvassing skills for fundraising. All these skills have direct correlations to jobs. How so?

Chairing meetings = Management or Team leader

Taking minutes = PA/Secretary

Negotiation = Client liaison

Treasurer = Bookkeeping/Accounts

Coaching a team = Training or Supervisory role

Registrations at sport = Customer service

Working in a canteen = Retail

Canvassing= Sales/Telemarketing

In fact, if you put your mind to it, you can come up with more, have you been creative in this area? If you have, share with us what you did!