5 Resume Tips for Moms Reentering the Workforce

1) Lead with a killer summary.

Grab and hold recruiters’ attention with a summary that is specific about your experience, is relevant to the job to which you’re applying, and highlights your achievements. For example:

A dedicated teacher and translator with more than eight years of professional experience. Successfully prepared mid-schoolers for language certificates, with average scores above 80%. Eager to leverage superb communication and organization skills as an English teacher.

2) Address the gap in your stay-at-home mom resume.

A resume that has a gap in employment can be a red flag for a recruiter, advises Jobscan. It is important to include employment dates, as this is information that employers look for. Treat your experience as a stay-at-home mom as a position you held–because it is! And probably the hardest one. Give it a title, include dates, and outline the activities, skills, and accomplishments you acquired during this time. Having said that, avoid tongue-in-cheek titles such as “Chef,” “Domestic Engineer,” “Chauffeur,” and “Housekeeper.” Instead, try something like “Career Sabbatical to Take Care of Children” or simply “Stay-At-Home Parent.” Your bullet points can include the skills you gained in your role as a stay-at-home parent that easily transfer to the position you are applying to, such as time management and project coordination.

3) Feature any volunteer experience

Whatever you’ve raised your hand for – PTA, animal rescue, speaking engagements, organizing Facebook groups for local moms, taking the lead for an auction – this should absolutely be on your résumé.

Don’t bury this experience at the bottom of your resume; list volunteer work as jobs. If you gave a talk, acted as a mentor, served on a board, or participated in any volunteer or community work, you should include them as “jobs,” and highlight your responsibilities and accomplishments.

4) Show that you’ve kept your professional skills sharp and up-to-date

Prove to recruiters that you’ve kept up with professional trends by taking, say, web development courses at Udemy or SEO certification classes with Google (which are free, by the way!). This demonstrates that your desire to learn hasn’t waned and you’re able to hit the ground running.

5) Rethink the structure of your resume

To ensure recruiters don’t dismiss your resume (the bias is real, my friends), consider reorganizing your resume, opting for a combination format that kicks off with your key skills and the technology you’re proficient in, and then delves into your work history. Or you could also move your education section higher up, above your work experience section, to highlight any continued training and/or education completed during your time away (see #4). In other words, don’t be bound by the traditional chronological format; organize it in whatever way presents your key strengths in the best light to immediately to capture their attention.