Try making a simple entry on your resume with the year range and title it either "Stay at home parent" or "Caregiver for elderly family member".

Hi Nischelle,

I read in the thread you are looking for night hours and have security experience. So, My two suggestions would be to apply at Hospitals and airports. They both operate 24/7 and are always in need of security. If you would rather move away from security, they also both have many other jobs to cover overnight hours.

Just a thought! Letha

yea im in the same boat 4 years without a steady job lost my hohse and my family allen rasch at gg allenrasch@gmail.com

Overhaul your resume to feature your skill set, experience and education. Skip the dates. Have your contact info, a summary of what you can do and then list your skill sets in a number of environments (or company names) as bullet points. If the Interviewer asks when's the last time you worked or asks about gaps, just tell them the truth. Hopefully by this point, you don't have those responsibilities to such a degree that it prevents you from working.

Just a thought, so take this with a grain of salt ( or toss if it doesn't apply). From your answers below, it appears that you have applied for warehouse-type jobs. But your narrative about what you have done for the past few years indicate experience working with people. So here is my thought: perhaps you are applying for the wrong jobs. Try applying for jobs where compassion, patience, drive, resilience, and multi-tasking is important. Perhaps as a receptionist, a customer service rep, or a program assistant for a non-profit agency? No doubt that when you find the right match, you will be able to bring all of your life experiences to the table and shine because of it. One final thought: don't make your stay-at-home work an issue. Look at it from a positive light. When asked, simply say something like, "I was fortunate to have the resources and support to allow me to focus on taking care of my family for the past five years. In the meantime, I worked part-time for (non-profit, church, community group) as a (teacher, recruiter, event organizer). As a _________ I became a better ___________ (whatever skills you bring to the table). Now that Bobby is in Junior High and I don't have to be home early, I am ready to put the focus back on my career.
This does two things. It reassures the interviewer that you have handled your crisis and are now ready to work, and they don't have to be concerned that you have too much going on to focus. It also turns the conversation back to what's really important -the skills you bring to the job that are essential to the position.

Mrs. White: While you are waiting in the process of hiring, enhance the qualities you already have by building further your skills. You may even decide in a new career arena. I see you are good in catching errors, may be becoming a Medical Chart Reviewer can support this quality, they need individuals that are detail oriented and with time management skills. Also the post office is hiring in many different states and you already have experience. There are institutions that need drivers and courier services employees. If you are a keyer and like also numbers, becoming a medical transcriptionist at home or working in an Insurance Company may be another possibility. There are short courses you can complete in the waiting process on line that will add to your current resume. There are career agencies and nonprofit organizations that offer help in keeping your skills up to date. I have recommended before GCF learnfree.org where you can learn for free all computer applications. They have supporting teachers on line and the last time I checked the site they had many innovations. You may be able to contact them to find out about career services in your area. Sometimes visualizing in paper what you already have will help you to further your goals. Sit in a peaceful environment and write your name in the center of a paper, then think about your interests, your short term goals and what you already have in order to achieve them, set an avenue for each of them, like a walking path, thinking what else you could do to get there. Be specific. Place your plan in a visible place where you are reminded each day, make it pretty if you want to be more encouraging, like a mural, may be price yourself with little gifts as you move forward, such as going to a movie, a special dinner out with your family or a friend, a sweet dessert, anything that keeps you motivated. Share your project with your husband or best friend, sometimes a second set of eyes sees more in the light of the day that you can possibly see in yourself. Ask them to resurface your qualities and as well ask for ideas to support your goals. Having next to you another person that wants to move further in life’s courier can become your career body and you can be accountable to each other about your progress. Evaluate every so often your progress and adjust your goals as you achieve them. It can be a lot of fun, an experience to share and further know yourself and how talented you are. Be encouraged and proactive, do not sit and wait, you will feel so much better and naturally you will see career opportunities opening when you least expected. Thank you for your kind words as well. Again all the best for 2016, keep in your mind that is going to be a great year of success. And remind your children to tell you how much they love their mother if they don’t do it often enough, nothing more encouraging that your own child’s support.

Mrs. White: Being a mother and a loving family member towards those who needed you the most cannot possibly be the bulk of any gap, that was the most important and lasting job you have ever accomplished and with the most valuable lasting consequences. When you are a mother, you are a counselor, a teacher, a cook, the cleaning lady, a fashionista, an entrepreneur, a creative story teller, a sports mom, a director of an orchestra in the household realm, a finance manager. When you are taking care of a sickly elderly, you are a nurse, a supporter, a motivator, an advocate of patient’s rights, the cohesion between generations, the builder of memories within a family. When you are a wife you are the other’s best half, a refuge after a long day of work, a friend, a confidant, a motivator, a lover, an implementer of dreams and hopes. A coach and a builder. And more likely you have developed extraordinary qualities like patience, kindness, time management, and self-control. Ask your family to write your references and added to your Resume as the most impressive and important part of your life. You can get a new job, but getting a new family I do not recommended to anyone, so anything that you did to keep your family as your number-one-goal was the best decision you ever made. Post office is hiring in many different States; I am certain you will not have a problem. Present yourself with confidence, and truly belief that what you have accomplished has more value than any job you could have done. All the best for 2016!

Hi Nischelle,

You do not indicate the time frame for the gap, 6 months, a year or more?

However, I have found that if you stick to telling the exact truth in a very direct and simple way, hiring managers will not count a gap against you.

I would probably account for the gap in the following manner.

" I was very fortunate to be able to take time to care for and enjoy time with my family and I'm now ready to give my new employer 110% of my focus."

Make a section soft skills: caregiver to elderly and sick relatives