Career prospects if you have not worked for several years

This morning, I was talking to a friend who has not worked for several years. She is over forty. She has not worked in one specific job area. She has bummed-around a bit between jobs.

We were discussing what she could do.

“There are pros and cons for you,” I suggested. “The downside is that, in almost any business at the moment, there are loads of unemployed people with lots of experience in that one specific business area looking for work. They have much more specific experience than you… Also, you are not computer literate. You don’t know Microsoft Word or spreadsheets or data storage systems. That’s a drawback…

“On the other hand,” I said, “the upside is actually your age. If you were a 30 year-old who had not worked for several years, they’d think you were flighty and unreliable and a risk. But, because you are of ‘a certain age’ they will look on you as being more reliable and responsible, just returning to full-time work after taking some years off.”

“But the trouble,” she told me, “is that I don’t really like people. I’ve become very bitter and I would like to go round shooting a lot of people.”

“You could consider the police as a career,” I suggested. “You have the perfect psychological profile and, although I don’t recommend shooting people, it would be an option.”

My friend is still considering her options.