I'm looking to return to work after a significant break and think I need some positive vibes so am interested in hearing others' stories.

My situation: worked in Comms middle management for 15 years, won the awards, got the t-shirt, went on mat leave after DD1, returned to a more junior position, got pregnant with DD2 and took a redundancy package rather than go back.

Since then, I've decided I want to change career to social research and am studying my Masters.

Now a single parent - now need work regardless of whether it's Comms or research but am slightly freaking out that employers will be put off by the fact that I've been out of the workforce for a while.

Hence, I need some positive stories from women who have taken a lengthy break. How did you get a job, was it in the same field, did you think outside the box and look at volunteer/internships first, did you network etc. etc.?