5 Resume Tips for Stay-at-Home Parents

5 Resume Tips for Stay-at-Home Parents5 Resume Tips for Stay-at-Home Parents5Many stay-at-home parents feel a bit insecure when they decide to re-enter the workforce. Its completely natural, especially with circulating news that parents are discriminated against. Rather than feel stressed about it, find that inner confidence and let it shine. Once you have your butt-kicking pants on, start plotting your next big move. The resume tips below for stay-at-home parents are sure to helpJenny Foss wrote an article titled Stay-at-Home Parent? How to Kill It on Your Comeback Resume to help parents make that first move back into the workforce. Weve included some of her advice and offered some of our own to help you make your first resume-based impression a great one5 Resume Tips for Stay-at-Home ParentsThe functional resume ditch itFrom the mouth of Elsa, let it go Sure, the functional resume is a great way to hide chronological gaps in employment, but is also a sure way to catch the attention of the recruiters, but not in a good way. Recruiters know the tricks all too well, and when they see your resume, theyll know youre trying to hide something. Rather than try to hide the years you were a stay-at-home parent, be honest about that time and use the typical reverse chronological resume format.Embrace the qualifications summary.For a typical professional who has never taken leave from the workforce, the qualifications summary may be a bit shorter because the resume is going to be focusing on the experience section. However, as a stay-at-home parent, the qualifications summary is a great place to put all those skills youve gained from staying home. (And, yes, youve gained a lot) Think of all the different projects and activities youve participated in over the years and compile a list of soft and hard skills. Just like that, youve got a nice list to market yourself.What experience? Youve got more than you knowTo fill the gaps on your resume, use every experience youve gain ed during that period of time. Did you work part-time or run a home-based business? What about volunteer activities or internships? Perhaps you were a freelancer once or twice? It all counts and can be listed on your resume. Pay or not, experience is experience use it.Write a killer cover letter.This is your place to shine and own it all. Rather than trying to hide the fact that you stayed home, briefly touch on it and then move on. Use the remainder of the cover letter to wow them with the things that you can do, the skills you have, and how you can use it all to contribute to the job and the overall company.Go digitalIf youve been out of the workforce for a while, a job search may seem a little foreign. Whereas at one time you could rely solely on your paper resume, you simply cant do that anymore. Move your professional documents and portfolio over to a digital format. The ease of it is immense and can save you a tremendous amount of time. Also, going digital makes it easy to get your information out to your network, which is where youll find a lot of support and leads.In addition to these tips, remember to take yourself seriously throughout the entire process. Dont mock your choice to be a stay-at-home parent as it leaves room for others to do the same or devalue your work. Feel confident in yourself, your skills, and your experiences. Employers will take notice if you show that you are confident about this next era in your professional life.Readers, have you made this transition? What resume tips for stay-at-home parents do you have to share? Let us know in the comment section below

How to Build Confidence at Work

How to Build Confidence at Work How to Build Confidence at WorkHow to Improve Yur Self-Confidence at WorkIncrease your self-confidence to reap the benefits at work.Do you fear the prospect of making a mistake at work? Perhaps youre worried about getting something wrong or upsetting a colleague with honest feedback. While its natural to feel this way, a lack of self-confidence could actually hold you back in the workplace and prevent you from reaching your full potential. After all, having insecurities at work can make it hard to focus on your development and future success. On the other hand, being confident in yourself and your abilities helps you to feel good, increases your job satisfaction, and builds up your all-around happiness in your role.So, if you want to improve your self-confidence at work, check out our advice below.Be kind to yourselfWere often our own toughest critic. But if youre constantly thinking negative thoughts about your abilities and success, it can be hard to improve. So dont put yourself down Cut out negative language about yourself, focus on all the great skills you have and milestones youve reached, and think about what you can do instead of saying I cant.Most importantly, remember that its perfectly OK to make mistakes. In fact, mistakes help us to learn and improve. Next time you have a slip-up, instead of criticizing yourself, think of it as a learning experience you can use to avoid this happening again in the future. Fake it till you make itFeeling truly confident can take time, so hold your head up high, smile, and fake it till you make it. The right attitude will go a long way towards helping you think more positively.Be sure to act like you know your stuff. Even if youre feeling slightly doubtful, remember that your knowledge has gotten you this far already and will get you further in the future. If you continue to tell yourself that youre confident, in time, it will help you genuinely feel more confident. Whats more, others will see this self-assurance in you and theyll believe in your abilities too.Evaluate your performanceSeeing visible improvements in your work will increase your confidence in your abilities, and a great way to recognize this is to evaluate your performance. If you know your strengths, you can utilize these in the future, and, likewise, you can work on your weaknesses to help you improve in your role.Every time you complete a task, ask yourself if there was a better way you could have done it. Think about how you could be more productive and get better results, and then write down the actions youll take next time.Boost your skill setLearning new skills can help you become better at your job whether its soft skills, such as working on your communication with colleagues or hard skills related to your role, such as data handling.When youre performing better, youll feel more confident about your abilities and find new ways to work. Through this, you should be less likely to make the s ame mistake twice and be able to advance your career.Challenge yourselfWhen you push yourself out of your comfort zone, it helps you to learn what youre capable of. Naturally, this isnt always easy. Its understandable that youd want to stick with what youre good at, but challenging yourself is important for learning new skills and improving your self-confidence.When you achieve this, youll feel much more self-assured and see that youre able to do more than you thought was possible. In the future, youll feel more confident in taking on new tasks and trying out new roles. As a result, youll be able to propel yourself forward in your career.Stay informedWhen you know your stuff, you can speak more confidently about it, so make sure youre on the ball with whats happening in your industry. To do this, keep on top of the latest trends by researching news and updates, which could help you to identify new ways of working, as well.Dont forget the information thats on your doorstep either. Qu estion senior colleagues about their expertise to help you expand your knowledge. Whats more, consider undertaking regular training and development courses to ensure that your information is up to date. If youre clued up, your colleagues will turn to you for information, which can help you to feel knowledgeable and foster your self-confidence.Improving your self-confidence at workConfidence is important in the workplace not only for success, but also for feeling happy and satisfied. So make sure you embrace yours to ensure this isnt holding you back. If youre finding this difficult, remember you can always fake it until you make it to help you inject some positivity into your work life.Click on the following link for more advice on how to get ahead.Feeling insecure about your resume? One of our professional resume writers can boost your resume confidence Check out our resume-writing packages today.Recommended Reading12 Things Successful People Do Each Morning4 Ways to Get Out of You r Comfort Zone at WorkHow to Repair Your Reputation at Work After a Mistake

Scandinavian life philosophies for a long, happy, and meaningful life

Scandinavian life philosophies for a long, happy, and meaningful lifeScandinavian life philosophies for a long, happy, and meaningful lifeBenjamin Franklin once said, Happiness consists mora in small conveniences or pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom.Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden are ranked among the top happiest places in the world. With a focus on balance and connection, each country has developed its own way of living life to the fullest.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreMillions of Scandinavians enjoy a healthy work-life balance, high standards of living with less pressure, less stress, and more time for everything they enjoy and love doing.Looking for a lifestyle change?Use some of these Scandinavian life philosophies to change yur perception about living a meaningful and fulfilling life.Rethinking the k eys to happiness.LagomLagom(pronounced lar-gohm) is is a huge parte of the culture in Sweden.It means Not too little. Not too much. Just right.This single word encapsulates the entire Swedish socially democratic philosophy on life that everyone should have enough but not too much.The concept encourages an overarching balance across our lives everything in moderation.At the office, professionals who work hard?- ?but not to the detriment of other parts of their lives?- ?are following thelagomideal.Rather than burning yourself out with a 60-hour working week and then getting stressed, lagom encourages balance and living somewhere in the middle.Other features include frugality, stress reduction, striking the perfect balance between work and play and focusing on environmental concerns and sustainability.The archetypical Swedish proverb, Lagom r bst, literally means, The right amount is best but is also translated as Enough is as good as a feast and There is virtue in moderation.You are p robably exercisinglagomis many aspects of your life already.For Swedes, lagom is a lifestyle, a habit of mind. Theres an internal mindset of acceptance and contentment in Sweden. Thats part of the secret to being happy?- ?dont obsess about it.The philosophy of lagom is beautifully simple, and offers an alternative to the idea of always seeking the next best thing.Anna Brones explains in her book,Live Lagom Balanced Living the Swedish Way, Applying a sense of lagom to our everyday lives?- ?in what we eat, what we wear, how we live, how we work?- ?might just be the trick for embracing a more balanced, sustainable lifestyle that welcomes the pleasures of existence rather than those of consumption.HyggeIn both Danish and Norwegian,hygge(pronounced as hoo-guh) means to give courage, comfort, joy.In Denmark, hygge is more than just a word?- ?its a central part of the culture.Its about giving your responsible, stressed-out self a break to live in the moment and enjoy your immediate environ ment.It is about enjoying life with friends and family, cherishing the moments. It is about grabbing hold of these moments and making them special. Not rushing through an activity so to move on to the next, it is about taking your time and enjoying what is before you now and not what is to come says Sofie Pedersen, in her book,Keep Calm Hygge A Guide to The Danish Art of Simple Cosy Living.Hygge is a feeling closely tied to being relaxed, happy, content and at peace with oneself. It is the absence of all pretence and worry.If you take time to lose yourself in a book, take a walk, ride a bike, share a meal, enjoy your favourite TV show with friends and family, or play board games, you are already practising hyggeIts the pleasure of simply being.You cannot hygge if you are in a hurry or stressed out.Hygge is about an atmosphere and an experience, rather than about things. It is about being with the people we love. A feeling of home. A feeling that we are safe, that we are shielded f rom the world and allow ourselves to let our guard down, writes Meik Wiking, in his book, The Little Book of Hygge Danish Secrets To Happy Living.The hygge lifestyle open to anyone. And its one of the best ways to practice self-care that feels sincere.LykkeLykke (pronounced loo-kah) is simply the Danish word for happiness.Copenhagen is probably the most Lykke place in the world. At five oclock in the afternoon everyone leaves work, rides home on their bicycles, does two hours of creative play with their children, goes out to do a random act of kindness to a stranger who wants to be left in peace, lights five candles and then settles down to watch several episodes of a Scandi-noir TV thriller about some psychopathic paedophile on the loose,writesMeik Wiking, author ofThe Little Book of Lykke Secrets of the Worlds Happiest People.Happiness isnt a destination, its a habit.Its what we do to make everything else in life awesome. And to be truly happy, you have to be actively involved in the direction of your life.you are the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on the bus, or in the car, or at the computer, says Anna Quindlen, author ofA Short Guide to a Happy Life.Strive to install experiences of gratitude, gladness, moderation, accomplishment, feeling successful, feeling that theres a fullness in your life rather than an emptiness or a scarcity to live life to the fullest.No people can be truly happy if they do not feel that they are choosing the course of their own life, states theWorld Happiness Report 2012.The report also found that having this freedom of choice is one of the six factors that explain why some people are happier than others.SisuEtymologically, sisu (pronounced see-soo) comes from a Finnish root word that implies inner or inside. In Finnish culture, its about adopting the attitude of persistence and determination.Sisu is not momentary courage, but the ability to sustain that courage. It is a word that cannot be fully translated. It defines the Finnish people and their character. It stands for the philosophy that what must be done will be done, regardless of cost,accordingto Finlandia University.Its often described as stoic determination, the tenacity of purpose, grit, and resilience. Its a form of courage that is presented in situations where success is against the odds.Its about persevering your way through challenges.It is a compound of bravado and bravery, of ferocity and tenacity, of the ability to keep fighting after most people would have quit, and to fight with the will to win,The New York Timesexplained in 1940.Sisu is doing whats necessary even when its difficult.Sisu may be a Finnish word, but its a universal trait, says Joanna Nylund, author ofSisu The Finnish Art Of Courage.Closing thoughtsLife is unpredictable, but strong life philosophies can guide the way.A great lifestyle accrues benefits over time. Take time to enjoy lifes journey.You cannot be really first-rate at your work if your work is all you are, says Anna Quindlen.Embrace and practice some of these philosophies in your everyday life and, maybe, youll find out why Scandinavians are ranked as the happiest people in the worldThis article first appeared on Medium.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people