Step-by-step guide on how to create a resume that best showcases your skills and talents as a stay-at-home mom.

Perhaps one of the most common questions of career-savvy moms who are considering becoming a stay at home moms is: “If I stay home, how will I explain the gaps in employment on my resume when I do decide to return to work?”

And, there are many answers to this question. For many jobs, an explanation in a cover letter will suffice. For other jobs, a more detailed explanation in one’s resume, along with a strong cover letter, may prove necessary. Some employers even ask you to write a short composition or essay to present yourself. In this case, women prefer to hire a writer for an essay to cope with this task or just proofread it. It can guarantee you get a job.

This article is intended for the mom planning to return to work. It offers a step-by-step guide on how to effectively create a resume that will showcase the real and very worthy tasks and experiences that you performed as a stay-at-home mom.

Let’s begin!

Steps to Get Started With Creating Your Stay-at-Home Mom Resume

Step 1: Brainstorm for the “nuts” and “bolts” of your resume.

Now, before writing your resume, it is recommended that you sit down at a computer or with a notepad and pen to have a resume-brainstorming session. In this session, you will be coming up with the “meat” or substance” of your stay-at-home mom experience.

In one section, labeled “Volunteer Opportunities,” you should write down any volunteer opportunities that you participated in during your tenure. Of course, if you did not volunteer for anything during your time, skip this section.

In another section, labeled “Paid Work,” write down any seasonal, temporary, or freelance work that you performed, including the dates that the work was performed and responsibilities. And, again, if no paid work was performed, skip this section.

In a third section, write down all your responsibilities as a stay-at-home mom. (This may be your only and most extensive section. And, that’s OK!) Perhaps you coordinated play dates, planned meals, or managed schedules. All of these things are very real and very important tasks that translate very easily to traditional “work” tasks.

Now is not the time to be bashful. Give yourself credit for all that you have done in your home with your family and outside of your home in your community.

Step 2. Determine which tasks, jobs, and types of experiences (volunteer, paid work) translate best to the job for which you are applying.

Eliminate those items that you think do little to showcase your skill set for the job at hand.

If you are applying for a job in teaching or daycare, you may, for instance, want to emphasize your childcare, teaching, and, potentially, management responsibilities during your time.

If you are applying for a job in writing, you may, for instance, want to emphasize some paid work that you once performed as a freelance writer or a volunteer experience in writing for your church’s newsletter.

If you are applying for a non-profit, you may, for instance, want to emphasize relevant volunteer experiences.

Step 3. Review your experiences to determine the type of resume that you need to get the job.

The three main types of resumes are the Combination resume, the Functional resume, and the Chronological resume.

For most moms who are re-entering the workplace after several years, most experts advise against using a Chronological resume. (Since this type of resume is not advised for moms, this article will focus on the Combination and Functional resumes.)

In place of this resume, most recommend that moms who have some alternative experiences (volunteer and/or paid work) create a Combination resume. This type of resume is a hybrid of the more traditional chronological resume (which lists skills in chronological order) and the functional resume (which focuses more on an applicant’s skills).

For moms with a minimal amount of alternative experience, and who have been out of the workforce for a considerable amount of years, a functional resume, while controversial to some, could be best. This format highlights skills and de-emphasizes work history.

Step 4. Get started writing your resume.

  • Creating a Stay-at-Home Mom Combination Resume

Using the combination resume, you should lead with a career summary (also called a qualifications summary or skills summary). This summary should emphasize how your skills/qualifications/previous experiences make you most qualified for the job.

After creating the career summary, create the Work History section. Working with what you have already written on your brainstorming sheet, go through each of the responsibilities listed in the job, and work on your experiences to best convey how the two correlate.

What you write here will become the bulleted list in your work experience section.

With a Combination resume, you will want to organize your experiences in reverse chronological order. If your work as a stay at home is most relevant to the job for which you are applying, it should be included first.

Note: If including your work as a stay-at-home mom on the resume, you need to list a job title. The job title you choose should be professional and should best capture your work. Some titles that have worked for others in the past are Homemaker, Family CEO, or Household Manager. When it comes to the title, don’t sell yourself short. The title, in this instance, is key to communicating how serious you take yourself and your work performed as a stay-at-home mom.

If your work in a particular volunteer position is most relevant to the job for which you are applying, it should go first. And, of course, if some paid work that you performed is most relevant, then it should go first.

In addition to the Career Summary and Work History section, some other sections that could be included on your resume are Education, Training, Languages, Affiliations, and Additional/Miscellaneous information.

  • Creating a Stay-at-Home Mom Functional Resume

Organize your past work experiences and experiences as a mom into skill categories that correspond to the job for which you are applying. For a secretarial position, for instance, the types could be Administrative Support, Customer Service, Management & Supervision, etc. Beneath these categories, you should create a bulleted list of qualifications.

Beneath the skill categories, you should include a brief Work History section with positions held, employment dates, and company names.

In addition to the Skill Categories and Work History sections, some other sections that could be included on your resume are Education, Training, Volunteer Experiences, etc.

Step 5. Try your resume out with potential employers.

if, after applying for some jobs, you find that you aren’t getting many callbacks, consider changing your format or gaining some more related volunteer experiences that could assist in creating a resume that supports your career goals.

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