long time self employed, now looking for part-time employed .. help!

lucypilates

My situation is that for the last 15 years or so, i've had to be extremely flexible to manage bringing up my daughter and also subsequently managing some rental properties that my late dad left me while my stepmum was still alive and entitled to some of the income. These properties were some distance away and required varied levels of commitment from me (refurbishment, legal issues etc) that meant i wasn't able to commit to regular employed work.  So in that time, I created work for myself with little self employed businesses (pilates teacher, paint your own pottery). 

Now my stepmum has passed away and I'm released from this responsibility and I''m looking for some part-time retail work for  a specific supermarket that's near to me. 

I applied for one role with them and they didn't even ask me for interview. No feedback to the actual reason but I'm sure it's because my cv states all these 'businesses' i've created and they must think I'm too 'feral' for employment ... 

How can I accurately include the above situation in my CV to show that I am keen to work in a team environment now and I won't be bored.

Thanks

Brie

Perhaps you are applying to the wrong level of job?  If they see you as too entrepreneurial and you're applying to work on the tills they might think you won't be happy in that job.  Some times it's ok to leave things off or give less detail.  If you state that you've been a carer and self employed pilates instructor and are looking to supplement this with working weekend or awkward shifts they may be very happy to talk to you. 

Alternatively give them all the info and go for low to mid management roles? 

edited to add: have you tried going in an talking to those working on the customer service desk to get an opinion from them??  

Marcon

lucypilates said:

My situation is that for the last 15 years or so, i've had to be extremely flexible to manage bringing up my daughter and also subsequently managing some rental properties that my late dad left me while my stepmum was still alive and entitled to some of the income. These properties were some distance away and required varied levels of commitment from me (refurbishment, legal issues etc) that meant i wasn't able to commit to regular employed work.  So in that time, I created work for myself with little self employed businesses (pilates teacher, paint your own pottery). 

Now my stepmum has passed away and I'm released from this responsibility and I''m looking for some part-time retail work for  a specific supermarket that's near to me. 

I applied for one role with them and they didn't even ask me for interview. No feedback to the actual reason but I'm sure it's because my cv states all these 'businesses' i've created and they must think I'm too 'feral' for employment ... 

I can understand why you might reach that conclusion, but it's just as likely - possibly more so - that like all businesses, they are inundated with applications the whole time. If they are actually advertising vacancies, you've got nothing to lose by going in and (as Brie has suggested) seeing if you can find someone to 'chat' to and mention you are looking for part time work. If this is a small supermarket, you've got a sporting chance of that working. If it's a branch of a huge chain, possibly less so - especially if your application was made online and was 'assessed'(!) using AI.

lucypilates said:

How can I accurately include the above situation in my CV to show that I am keen to work in a team environment now and I won't be bored.

Thanks

I don't think you can say you won't be bored - virtually all jobs offer opportunities for boredom at one time or another. A potential employer certainly won't want chapter and verse along the lines of your post here - I'm assuming what you currently have in your cv is no more than a few paragraphs. Even so, see if you can keep your work history even briefer - something along the lines of no longer having caring responsibilities and being free to pursue a job which will enable you to work outside the home with other people - which should help send the right messages to those looking for someone stable and reliable. 

lucypilates

Appreciate the comments above - I've had a friend go over my CV and as it's been so long since i last did a CV, the emphasis has certainly changed from a historical list of jobs to more of a highlighting of relevant skills etc .... so I will focus on that with my new draft. appreciate the comments and feedback.