As a stay at home mother (SAHM), you have taken care of your children, your husband, and your household. You have created your own schedule, watched your children grow, taken care of meals, run errands, made daytime appointments, met friends for lunch, gotten the kids to daytime or afterschool activities, etc. If you or your child was sick or if your kids had a school holiday, it was no problem. You didn’t have to take time off work, call in sick, find a daycare, or answer to anyone else for your time or schedule.

Now, whether out of necessity or personal desire, you are planning to rejoin the work force. This decision will definitely have a major impact on your household. However, the most crucial aspect of going back to work after a multiple year absence is the gap in work history and knowledge. In today’s society, especially in some industries and with technological advances being what they are, things can change in a heartbeat, let alone over the course of several years.

Regardless of how many years of experience you have, or the number of degrees or accreditations that filled your resume when you first became a SAHM, you will be hard pressed to cover up the gap in your employment history. You also have to contend with the fact that most employers are more likely to hire someone with less experience if they have little to no gap. So, if you don’t have a contact or connection that is ready and willing to hire you right up, or if you aren’t planning on going into retail, how do you overcome your lacking resume?

One thing you must do is determine what industry or type of job you want. Are you going to return from whence you came, or would you like to try something new? If you are considering a new career path, there are some websites that offer free online career assessments, as well as assistance in finding a job.

Once you’ve figured out what job industry you are interested in, you should educate yourself. The Internet is a great resource in finding information on almost every subject imaginable. You can start by going to your search engine of choice and input the name of the type of job you are looking for. Then explore the plethora of sites that result from your search. Be sure to check out the salary range for that type of position in your area. This way you not only know what to expect, but it will aide you in negotiating a reasonable salary.

If you are looking into a technical industry, or one that requires knowledge of specific software or computer programs, consider purchasing the most recent version of said software, if possible, and doing the tutorials. An alternative to investing in costly software is to check out teacherclick.com. This website offers free software tutorials on office, graphics, and web development applications. Additionally, it can connect you to free tutorials and manuals for 30 different programs, including C++, Illustrator, Linux, ASP, Matlab, Coreldraw, and PHP. Once you have completed a tutorial, you can add that you have basic knowledge of that software or program to your resume.

Once you have decided on a career path and have educated yourself on the current industry and software, the next step is actually finding a job. The Internet offers many generic job board websites that you can check out, such as Monster, Yahoo Hotjobs, CareerBuilder and Craigslist. There are also industry specific websites including those for event planners, hospitality jobs, jobs in healthcare, and jobs in education. Keep in mind that several thousands of people apply for jobs listed on online job boards everyday; you are competing against all those people for every job you apply for.

There are also more effective ways of searching for a job. You can go old school and hit the pavement, going from business to business, dropping off your resume, and filling out applications. This is very time-consuming, gas-guzzling, and doesn’t guarantee you’ll get hired any quicker. Another option is to let your resume and job skills do the talking, and someone else do the job hunting for you. There are several different headhunters and temporary agencies to choose from. Keep in mind that temporary agencies not only do job placement for short-term jobs, but also temp-to-hire and permanent positions. Either of these two choices will make your job search much easier.

Looking for a job can be very tiring, frustrating, and affect your self-confidence, especially if your motivation is out of necessity and you are not seeing quick enough results. Remember that you, your time, and your skills are very valuable. If you can help it, don’t settle for just anything. The right job is out there. Keep your chin up, get prepared, excercise all your options, and keep at it; you will find what you are looking for.