what’s a CV?

Tahlia is 43 and now that her children are grown up enough to look after themselves she is enthusiastic and excited about returning to work and being able to build up a nest egg.

Putting the kids through school cost Tahlia and her husband a lot more money than they had expected.

"We have very little saved for our retirement," explains Tahlia, "so I'm eager to get back to work, make some money and start a savings plan to make up for lost time."

"I don't mind what type of work I do -- which is a great plus in my favor," says Tahlia, "but I'm having a lot of trouble finding work."

For starters, Tahlia had no idea that she would need a resume or a CV -- a
curriculum vitae -- in order to apply for a job. She thought only school leavers, starting their first job, needed to carry around a portfolio of their qualifications and references.

"The last time I worked, nobody needed a resume," says Tahlia, "and it infuriates me that I have to document my life on paper in order to apply for an ordinary old job."

Her problem is made worse by the fact that she has only done voluntary work in the past twenty years -- most of which was associated with various stages of her children's development.

Tahlia has the same problem as school-leavers -- most of whom have never worked, not even in a voluntary capacity -- and because Tahlia does have work experience in a voluntary capacity her resume is really not going to be much different from that of somebody who has been in paid employment for the past twenty years.

When Tahlia sat down to document her skills and the various community organizations she had worked for in a voluntary capacity over the past twenty years, the list was formidable.

"There was nothing that I hadn't done, or didn't have the capacity to do," laughs Tahlia. "But employers aren't interested in what anybody did twenty years ago, let alone five years ago, so my main objective is to concentrate on skills and voluntary work experience of the past two years."

Unfortunately, Tahlia hadn't done much voluntary work in the past two years, so she wracked her brains about other things she had done and realized that she had helped a lot of people with their taxation returns.

"From what I've read in the job ads," says Tahlia, "knowledge of accountancy and being able to understand complicated tax laws are skills that are in high demand, so I needed to stretch them out to the max."

"I gained earth science qualifications after I left school," confides Tahlia, "but such qualifications are far too old to be valid in today's world."

"I know that lots of how-to-get-a-job books say that even old qualifications have some value in that people who have applied themselves to gaining a qualification are seen as dedicated, organized and literate," says Tahlia, "but I don't think that's relevant advice for return to work moms."

"After I gain some work experience I hope to use my qualifications in a more professional resume in order to get a position more in keeping with my worth," confides Tahlia, "but until then I'm concentrating on finding a job -- any job -- and for this I just need a basic resume."

"The basic resume is just for basic unskilled jobs," explains Tahlia. "In it, I'm accentuating my people skills and mentioning my accountancy skills as icing. I don't expect to get a job as an accountancy clerk straight off, but I might get a foot in the door of an accountancy firm as a receptionist or administration assistant."

No matter what sort of job Tahlia gets -- in a shop, factory or office -- she appreciates that her ability to get along with people is paramount because she will inevitably be the first point of contact with customers. Most entry level, low paying jobs, are going to be in the customer service field.

"I gear my basic resume to whatever type of job I'm applying for," explains Tahlia. "For instance, if it is a customer service representative position, then I put telephone and communication skills at the top of the list and accentuate them. If it is a factory position, then I accentuate my manual dexterity and even my stamina!"

"If it's general office work, then I put typing right at the top of my skills list and fudge my typing speed," laughs Tahlia. "I can't type more than 35 wpm but most people are slow at typing when they first return to work and employers should understand that. Nobody is going to notice my slow typing and with daily practice I'll probably end up doing 100 wpm!"

Once Tahlia got her basic resume typed and started applying for jobs, she was thrilled to pieces!

"I had wasted so much time fumbling around looking for jobs without knowing what I was doing," sighs Tahlia. "It really makes a difference when you can call yourself a well-organized job seeker!"

She's a great communicator and has a good attitude and she should have little difficulty finding a basic job.

"It may not be the type of job that I want to do for the next twenty years of my working life," laughs Tahlia, "but it will be a start, paying money and that, after all, is my basic motivating factor for getting back to work."

"Money, money, money! I want tons of it for our retirement."

the workplace ogre

Jin and her husband, Rick, were both out of work and she was thrilled to find another job before their money ran out -  until she discovered, among other things, that she has to work with a really nasty and abusive co-worker. A real ogre!

"I want to quit this job immediately, and find another job while my self-esteem is still high," explains Jan, "but Rick urged me to stick it out."

"If you are forced to spend eight hours with a person, day in day out," says Jin, "you want that person to be civil. I put up with years of abuse from my brothers and sisters because I was the baby of the family, and I’m not going to put up with this sort of behavior from co-workers. I couldn’t quit my family, but I can quit this lousy job - but I'm torn between my feelings and what Rick wants!"

"It's often only when you actually start a job and get to know everyone that you realize there’s a problem," says Jin. "Like most job applicants, I wasn’t given an opportunity to meet my prospective co-workers at the interview stage, but even if I had been given that opportunity they would probably have been on their best behavior."

"My interview was conducted solely via the HR Department," says Jin, "and I’m now wise to what this means."

 It means a veritable ogre is waiting for you!"

"There is no clause in my work contract upholding my right to a safe, harmonious working environment," says Jin. "Nevertheless, I feel that the company still has a duty of care to provide such for me."

"I am being constantly harassed, abused and belittled by a co-worker and I feel that my employer is in breach of some sort of duty towards me under occupational health and safety compliance laws."

"I’m not going to bother lodging an official complaint," says Jin. "Complaining got me nowhere as a kid, and it won’t get me anywhere at work either. In fact, it will make matters worse. It will become part of my work history and will jeopardize my future career."

"When employment gurus and all the ‘how to’ books out there maintain that the only acceptable reason for resigning a job is a desire to expand one's horizons, having achieved all one is capable of doing in one's present job and being regretful that one must leave such a wonderful job with a wonderful boss, manager and co-workers, people like me are too scared to complain and as a consequence bullying continues to flourish in workplaces."

"My co-workers are fully aware of what is going on," says Jin, "but just like people do not want to interfere in marital difficulties, people do not want to get involved in workplace difficulties either."

"They expect me to deal with it without complaining. That’s the culture to which I is expected to conform. And, having no support from my husband makes my situation even more miserable."

"There are always other factors involved in the decision to quit besides an abusive or hostile workplace," says Jin, "but it’s generally accepted that conflict with a boss, manager or co-worker underlies most resignations. I could put up with it - I think - from a boss or manager because they are not in my face all the time, but this ogre sits right next to me and I can't get away from her."

Read more of Jin's story:

marriage, a supportive partnership

don't rock the boat!

Alahna is a quietly spoken married women of 45 who believes that women are better at job survival than men are because we tend not to rock the boat so much.

"We're great people pleasers," laughs Alahna. "We just don't rock boats."

"These traits don't necessarily lead to success -- in fact they are more likely to keep us down in the ranks rather than propel us up the ladder of success," explains Alahna, "and that's a sore point with me because my husband is partially disabled and isn't bringing in very much money."

"Most of the breadwinning falls upon me," says Alahna, "so it's important that I keep my job -- and save enough to send the kids to college -- and that's why I smile rather than scowl and defer rather than argue the point over anything."

"Basically," says Alahna "female job survivors like me are simply concerned about keeping our jobs, and we will do whatever it takes to remain employed."

"Unlike most men, female job survivors don't take charge of their careers and don't take risks -- we can't afford to do so."

"Our job security needs are paramount," explains Alahna. "We are primarily interested in surviving in our jobs and we aren't interested in climbing corporate ladders."

"Most women are quite happy to stay at the bottom of the employment ladder all of their lives," sighs Alahna. "It's nice and safe down there, but not necessarily less stressful."

Alahna believes that money -- to most women workers -- is merely a means to an end. It isn't a judgment on their personal worth.

"We don't judge ourselves by the amount of money we earn -- as most men do -- and we don’t kick up a fuss if we don't get regular pay raises, " explains Alahna. "On the contrary, we're more likely to take a pay cut than jeopardize our jobs!"

"Put it this way, we are more likely to do whatever it takes in order to keep our jobs and secure a future income."

"That's why there are more unemployed men out there than unemployed women!" laughs Alahna. "Men tend to have far more pride than women."

"Also," adds Alahna, "women are better job survivors because the social fabric of the workplace is far more important to them than it is for men."

"It is probably true to say that women tend to congregate at the lower levels because that's where most of the camaraderie happens."

"The higher up you travel, the less likely you are to enjoy the company of co-workers. It gets too competitive up there."

"Depending upon the industry you're working in," says Alahna, "being on the lower levels is sometimes more of a risk than being in middle-management."

"But typical low level women's jobs -- such as secretaries and clerks and process workers -- tend to be safe across the board," adds Alahna. "If you're happy down there, and have no designs to do better, then you're likely to survive in your job indefinitely."

"As women age, though, their job survival prospects tend to lessen in lower level jobs," explains Alahna, "and this is a very good reason why women should think ahead and develop some constructive and active job survival skills."

"A passive desire not to rock the boat is not going to be enough."

"A pretty face may help our job prospects when we're young, but we're going to need a lot more going for us when we get older and find ourselves in competition with women half our age for the low level jobs."

"Ultimately, though," sighs Alahna, "the ability to work harder -- in terms of output and longer hours -- for less pay than anyone else is the clincher."

"The whole idea of women's liberation is a joke, isn't it?"

supportive jobs

Patience, 43, is a single mom of two children who turned down a job offer paying a lot more than she's earning now because she places far more value on the support she receives at her present job and believes work is about job survival not job suicide.

"Sure, ask any mom why she's out there working rather than staying home to look after her children," says Patience, "and the bottom line is always money. I work for money to support my kids just like everyone else, but when you're a single mom you've got to do an amazing balancing job. You know, weigh up what's important and what's not, and I knew pretty quickly that I needed a supportive workplace more than I needed more money."

"Without the incentive of money, there would be no 'personal satisfaction', 'status', 'identity' or any of the other reasons we wish to put forward as reasons why we put our children into the care of others and go out to work," says Patience, "and while some single moms work to pay for luxuries to augment a private income, most of us just work to earn money to pay the bills and feed the family."

"I feel sorry for single moms who work primarily for the most money they can get because while understanding this emphasis on money -- some single mothers are in dire financial circumstances -- they often lose a lot more than they gain when they let money guide them."

"I don't earn much money where I work," says Patience, "so I can't afford little luxuries for my children, but I do work in a very supportive environment and when you've got a job like that you get down on your knees and thank God for your good fortune."

"My team is almost exclusively composed of single working moms like myself," confides Patience, "and that makes all the difference because we understand how tough things are taking care of children on our own and we look out for each other. When a kid is sick, there's no problem taking time off work. Someone always covers for us. That's the beauty of teamwork. Nobody's work is so important that a day or a week off work is going to make any difference."

Patience believes that in today's outsourcing economic climate we're lucky to have a job, so if a single mom is in a job that's basically supportive and amenable to her needs as a single working mother -- but is not paying what she thinks she's worth -- she would be very silly to give it up for a job offering better pay.

"I turned down the better paying job because you never know until you're in a job for a few months whether the company practices subtle discrimination against single working moms," explains Patience. "The last thing I need is the stress of finding myself in an unsupportive working environment and having to face another job-change down the line. That's not job survival -- it's job suicide,"

"Single working moms really need to get their priorities right," says Patience. "It may not be fair that you may be stuck in a job that does not pay you according to your worth, but when you have children and especially when it is an employer's market out there you have very little say in the matter."

"There are far too many people in the world looking for work, and there are simply not enough jobs available to employ them," explains Patience. "The laws of supply and demand operate perfectly these days to ensure that those who are willing to work for less monetary reward are the ones who remain in jobs or win those that are available. That's job survival for you."

"And the sad fact of this equation," says Patience," is that women -- especially single working moms -- are very often not paid what they are worth."

"Because of their situation -- in some cases being the sole provider for children -- single working moms have traditionally been offered and have accepted less pay than their male counterparts."

"Notwithstanding laws governing equal pay, some employers still discriminate and there's very little you can do about it."

"If the job is supportive of your parenting responsibilities, then it's wise to wear this discrimination with as much good grace as you can."

"A supportive workplace is worth far, far more than you can ever imagine," says Patience, "and in the case of a single working mothers the grass is never greener."