Parents who are returning to the workforce after a long absence may think that the work they've done organizing family life, running a household and volunteering on school trips don't relate to the jobs for which they're applying. However, much of that work can easily translate into skills most employers are looking for. If you're ready to restart your career after caring for your children, you can write a resume that will get an employers attention. The key is making your stay-at-home experiences understandable to employers.

Make a list of your work history. Include all paid and unpaid work that you've done. Volunteer work for your child's school such as organizing and administering PTA events as well as any other organizations to which you belong can provide strong evidence to employers that you have what it takes to reenter the workforce. Also include any freelance work you've done, work from home businesses you've managed and any consulting work you may have performed while you've stayed at home. Write down all months and dates for the work as well as names for organizations and employers.

Make a list of everything you do as a stay at home parent. Examine the job listing and the requirements mentioned in the advertisement. Use these as a guide to how you tailor your experiences in the resume. Chances are you've scheduled appointments, maintained records, managed finances or raised money for school events and programs.

Choose a resume format that emphasizes your skills over chronological work history. For parents reentering the work force, it is best to use a functional or hybrid resume in which each skill you have is listed at the top of the resume. You may include a chronological job history below your skills so that employers can still see that you have a work history and that you're not trying to mask gaps in your resume.

Job search and career website, Monster, reports that some parents reentering the workforce have used titles such as "Household Manager" or your family's name and "CEO." Don't use something silly like "Domestic Goddess" or "Domestic Engineer." It is best to avoid using "Parent" or "Stay-at-home-mom" as a job title. Instead, in your cover letter or during the interview, you may use your experiences as a parent to leverage your ability to get the job done, especially if you are applying for jobs directly related to child care and family services.

Include your educational information and degrees. If you've taken continuing education classes or college courses during your time out of the workforce, you should list these too so that you can show employers how much you're willing to learn new skills and improve.

Proofread your resume or have someone else read it before you send it off to the employer.

Tips:

Use professional language, especially when describing your at-home experience.

Check for errors. Any error made is one too many.