Whatever reason, many stay at home parents do eventually decide to return to work. They face tremendous disadvantages, however. They may not have held a job ever previously. Their skills in field they worked in before staying at home may be out of date. Whatever situation, writing a resume after staying home with kids can present a special challenge.

As with any resume, first take a look at your work and educational history. If you have spent several years at home, you will probably want to do a functional resume, that is, one which emphasizes your skills rather than a timeline, as traditional chronological resume does. However, be upfront and honest when asked about fact that you spent time at home with your kids. You do not want to be afraid to admit to it.

If you have professional skills, make sure you are up to date on them. This may mean taking a class in whatever your area of expertise is. Show potential employers that you take your skills seriously and are keeping yourself current. If you’re behind on technology or techniques, you will not find many employers willing to hire you.

The first thing to remember is that if you aren’t qualified for a job, there is very little point in applying for it. Take a good look at your skills. Do you know what data entry involves? How fast can you type? Do you have a quiet room for taking telephone calls? These are questions you may need to consider, depending on kind of work at home job you are applying for.

List your relevant skills first. If you are applying for a range of job types, you may need to rearrange these so that most relevant skills come first for each kind of job. Remember, employers are often looking at hundreds of applicants, so you need to catch their eye right off bat.

List your employment history starting from your most recent or current position and going back. Particularly if you have never held a work at home position, emphasize anything that shows your ability to work without supervision. Remember, this is a vital skill for work at home employees, no matter job. Especially if you have had a work at home position before, tell why you left position. List about 4 jobs at most. More tend to indicate you either change jobs too often and have had a lot of jobs in only a few years, or go back too far in time to be considered relevant. If a job was short term by its nature, say so. Call it contract, seasonal or freelance, depending on which is most relevant.

If you have very little employment experience due to recent graduation from high school or college, emphasize your education history over your employment history. Take a look at classes you took and how they might apply to job you are interested in. If you have a college degree, do not bother listing your high school education. Include any achievements as well.