Survive This Economy: Brushing Up Your Job Skills To Re-Enter The Workforce

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A lot of stay-at-home moms who are trying to survive this economy are jumping back into the work force, but it can be a challenge.

Just ask Sinora Wright. The suburban mother of four is working to increase her chances of being hired.

CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker explains on how it help in your job search too.

Updating her computer skills is an important step in preparing Wright for the job market. The stay-at-home mom has been out of the job market for seven years.

When she worked as a paralegal, Wright was very familiar with Microsoft Word, Excel and other programs, but now she needs a refresher course.

She has signed up for an online program at the Manpower Inc. employment agency, which doesn't charge job seekers for such classes.

"It's just like riding a bike," Manpower counselor Sherida Thompson said. "It can have an introduction to project management, Windows, web, and the cloud, so this is all skills sets."

Those are the types of skills employers are looking for.

"That is incredible to prospective employers, because that shows that initiative; that you not only know it, but you're also just sprucing up the skills a bit," Thompson said.

Manpower offers its online training to all its clients for free.

There are similar resources offered by the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services' WIA Bridge Training Program locations, WIA Workforce Center locations, WIA Workforce Center for Business locations, Customized Training and Placement Service locations, and Contextualized Literacy for the Workplace Program locations.

"I think that that it's great that I can actually look at a job description and see that I don't have the certain skills that they're asking for and I can go and get trained on them through manpower," Wright said. "I think that was just phenomenal.

The best part is that Wright and other moms can do the online training at home.