Job Hunting After Staying Home with the Kids

I'm back at job hunting again, after a big pitch last summer to get a teaching job with no results. What's different this time? I finally got my Statement of Eligibility last October, well after all the teaching positions for the prior year had been filled. I got my alternative teaching training via the America Board for Certification of Teaching Excellence (ABCTE for short). It is a viable alternative to a second college degree in education for those who wish to pursue a second career. My first career was in banking/human resources. About the time child number one came, the bank was going through its second merger and my job was going to be sent out of area to Charlotte, NC. I took (really asked for) the buyout and have stayed at home with the now two kids for the past eight years.

During this time I have not been skill-idle (new word). I have been very much active on the internet and working from home doing telephone sales and service, a little pit of project work and an off/on stint as a substitute teacher. I have been very active in the lives of the children by volunteering and advocating for a great public education for my gifted one (no doubt soon to be two).

The schools are starting hire again and it is with trepidation that I look at getting back into full-time work. It is something I would not actually choose to do. I would love to continue to work part-time and look after and advocate for the children. I believe this is my true calling, especially given the special needs my children have. But my better half lost his high paying corporate job some time ago and our finances seem to dictate my return to the world of work. He is working but didn't get a new job that was equal to or better than the last one, so there is something of a deficit.