No real career before kids - now what?

[Anonymous]

I am looking for advice as to where to begin with my job search. My main issue is that I really didn't have much of a career before getting married, then moved right into caring for my kids, and now that they are in school full time I have nothing to "go back" to. Yes I volunteered at my kids' schools, and at one point had a job in the school office doing admin work, but now I want to find out what I'm good at and ideally work it into a job. I find many of these posts are about women who are lawyers (must be a DC thing) but I don't have that kind of career background - I feel like I am starting out fresh, with just a liberal arts degree, and I'm at a loss as to where to start. Am I really only qualified to do administrative work? I can't imagine doing that as a career. Anyone ever in this position and find a path?

[Anonymous]

Are you looking for a career or a job? Are you looking for income, because a career may or may not be lucrative. For example, writing can be a career, but isn't lucrative (unless you're Nora Roberts).

[Anonymous]

My cousin is similar and she is working on her certification to become an insurance agent. We had a neighbor growing up who was an insurance agent and she worked from home and seemed very relaxed.

[Anonymous]

Become a real estate agent.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP. I'm in the exact same boat as you. I don't really have to work for money though. I would like some sort of work but have no idea how to go about finding the right match for me. Have you tried volunteering with a company? I am thinking of getting a career counselor to help me.

[Anonymous]

Yes, you are only currently qualified to perform admin work. Or you can work retail.

But that doesn't mean it had to be your job. You can either go somewhere as an admin and try to work in the field and see if you like the office and atmosphere and then work your way up, or you can go get a certification in something as other people are suggesting, too see if you like it and be more marketable. My Mom never worked full-time before kids, started an Associate's when I was 1, got a job, and then worked for 10 years on weekends to get a bachelor's degree. Yes, it was the '80s, but it's still possible. It's a lot of work, though.

[Anonymous]

I didn't really have a career before kids either. I wrote technical manuals for a DoD contractor for about 4 years. Then took 10 years off. I went back as an admin at a government agency just to get my foot in the door, now I'm an analyst in a field I like. It's kind of easing yourself in.

[Anonymous]

Op, you need to figure out what you want to be that is possible with/without a degree in that field. Even if you need a degree, you just have to be in it for the long haul. To reinvent yourself in a competitive field, you stack your resume with experiences related to that field.

Say you want to be a librarian, but have a 2 or 4-yr degree in something unrelated. You volunteer at various libraries, you take free/online classes in various library topics, and you seek out basic library jobs. But, while you're working towards that, you get your Master in Library Science. You might not have to before you get the job you want, but you keep adding to your resume.

Just take any field, find out how to volunteer in that field, take free/online classes in that field, and take a low paying job in that field. Just keep adding to the resume, keep meeting people and let your charm get you a job.