A. Dear Tracy
There is a website called www.justparttime.co.uk you could try, although when I did a very wide search on its site just now, nothing came up. Give it a try though. Try the local papers as often local government jobs and others are advertised here and they can be part time or flexi time. Jobs at schools are sometimes part time and often are term time too. Try www.schoolvacancies.co.uk which will highlight jobs in your area. Talking of your area, have you thought that small to medium companies might jump at your services part time, particularly as this would save them paying a full timer. How about making a list of local companies and writing to them directly offering your PA talents and the fact you would be value for money.

I hope this helps
Best of luck
Helen

A. Firstly, please don’t feel embarrassed at not working in the conventional sense. Judging from the ages of your children - across the spectrum from toddler to pre-schooler to teenager - it looks like you have had your work cut out for many years. All those skills administered as a full time mum, such as organising, planning, budgeting, and negotiating, are distinctly transferrable to the work place , so make a list of these skills along with how and when you use them. Try and draw on non-home stuff too such as being a member of the school PTA committee, or helping out at one of the kids’ clubs, to demonstrate ability and experience.
When filling in application forms it is important to remember to still apply if you can only meet 60-70% of the requirements. So many women hold off applying until they can meet 80% of the job spec or more, while men often apply if they can meet only 30% of the job! Highlight the key words in the job spec/job advert and make sure you match these in your application form or cover letter. So for example, if a job requires strong organisational skills, make sure you say you have them and provide a couple of examples. Use bullet points to fill in the form as recruiters are really busy and need to see quickly that you are right for the job. No life stories!
As for confidence : try this exercise: Put some quiet time aside to remember a number of specific occasions when you have been at your best , really flying, what is know as being in full flow. It might be organising a special event, winning a race or helping the kids read. Cast your mind back to this event, how would you look to the fly on the wall whilst carrying out this activity? Happy? Confident? In control? Also ask yourself, which skills and other resources was I drawing on to make this happen? I promise you , you’ll feel great after doing this exercise because you’ll have a firmly imprinted image of yourself doing it in your mind - and that image is still the person you are today with the same skill set and personality . I hope this helpds.

A. Hello there : you could try the jobs website just part time.co.uk (www.justparttime.co.uk) but when I looked for PA jobs for you I couldn’t see any. It might be worth keeping an eye on the site for future roles. Also try places where flexible working is more common , such as local government, education and the public sector in general . Try www.jobsgopublic.com for a thorough job site covering these sectors. Additionally, I’m a strong believer in writing directly to organisations and inquiring about work. Focus is the key here: so if you can only travel for half an hour each way, then make a list of all the businesses withing that commutable distance (www.yell.com is useful for this), and contact them with your CV and a well-targeted letter introducing yourself and your key skills Sounds outlandish? Don’t you believe it, companies are cutting back on agency spend so welcome direct approaches, 25% of jobs are found this way, and it’s almost the only way I have ever found work.
Good luck
Helen