One of the biggest responsibilities that you’ll have in your life is being a parent. If you’ve been thinking of re-entering the workforce after being a stay-at-home parent, you’ll have to come up with ways to translate this experience in a way that potential employers can understand. Regardless of whether you’ve been a stay-at-home parent for a long or short period, there are effective ways to highlight what you’ve done, accomplished, and learned on your resume. While career breaks have not always favored full-time parents, there have been gradual shifts over the years. Surveys conducted by LinkedIn have found that career gaps are more common than they seem. In this article, I shall share a few simple tips that you can use to put stay-at-home parents on your resume effectively.
What you need to include in your resume
The resume that you’ll write as a stay-at-home parent will resemble the traditional resume to a large extent. You’ll need to focus on conveying a unique story. Choose an appropriate type of resume based on the elements you want to highlight. They could be your skills, work timeline, or a combination of the two. Remember to include the usual resume sections like the header, education, experience, and skills to name a few. If you don’t know where to start with resume writing, you should consider using the list of best resume writing services by Edureviewer to get the work done quickly and effectively. Plus, you’ll increase your chances of landing your dream job.
Some of the things that you should include in your document are:
- Relevant experience: Using the job description, you can easily determine how your relevant experience matches up with the position you are applying for. Consider using similar language when you are sharing your experiences with potential employees to gauge your abilities.
- Freelance work: Nowadays, most stay-at-home parents work remotely as freelancers when they have ample time. When you add relevant tasks to your resume for stay at home mom, you increase your chances of landing your dream job.
- Volunteer work: Stay-at-home parents may have little time to volunteer. Some of the responsibilities that you had as a volunteer might be relevant to the position that you are applying for. Therefore, volunteering can go a long way in proving that you have diverse experience.
Writing a Resume for Stay-at-home Parents
Here are a few pointers that you should use when writing a resume for stay at home parent:
1. Include contact information
The first part of your resume should have your full name, state of residence, phone number, and email address. Including this section will simplify the work of the hiring manager when they want to contact you and schedule an interview.
2. Identify important skills
You need to start by listing the skills that you’ve developed thanks to parenting tasks. And identify some transferable skills that will help you in the workplace such as communicating, problem-solving, and planning. Reviewing your job descriptions and noting the skills that have been recommended by the hiring manager will help you align your skillset and overall experience to the needs of the company.
3. Education
If you have any relevant academic certificates, you should add the education section to your resume. Potential employers will appreciate having these certificates especially if you’ve been schooling while parenting.
4. Work experience
It’s important to include any volunteer or freelance work that you’ve been doing as a stay-at-home parent. The experience that you have gained when you were reading essays and student research paper examples will help in highlighting the energy that you have invested into your professional and personal life.
Advice for stay-at-home parents entering the workforce
When you are starting your job search, your resume is not the only thing that has to be updated. Here are a few pointers that you should follow:
1. Figure out what you want
When you are moving back to the workforce, it doesn’t always mean that you’ll be employed full-time. Whether it’s part-time or full-time work, ensure that the organization promotes work-life balance. Take some time to reflect on what you require before starting your job search. Researching jobs that are flexible and in demand will help you have a fulfilling professional life.
2. Connect with others
One of the most powerful resources in the professional world is word of mouth. Think of the people in your network who’ll help you get new opportunities. They could be mentors, former managers, friends, or colleagues. You can also reach out to potential recruiters on reputable social media platforms such as LinkedIn when writing resumes for homemakers.
3. Improve your skills
If you’ve spent a considerable amount of time outside the workforce, consider reviewing your skills and strengthening them. Today, developing a new skill is easy thanks to technological advancement. There are lots of short programs online that you can enroll in today to develop your skills. They include business, marketing, and data science to name a few.
Conclusion
Writing a stay-at-home resume is not as difficult as it seems. By following the tips that we have shared in this article, you are going to have an easy time spotting your ideal job posts and landing your dream job.