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