Re-entering the workforce can be daunting, and you may have questions about how to create a resume if you haven’t been employed in a few years or have significant gaps on your resume. Use the tips and templates below to craft a compelling resume highlighting your skills, such as family and management and handling projects as a volunteer.
“Stay-at-home mom resumes should focus on transferable skills like time management, budgeting, and multitasking. Show readiness and reliability for reentering the workforce.”
— Carolyn Kleiman, Resume and Career Advisor
Most Popular Stay-At-Home Mom Resumes
Environmental Science Stay At Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume balances older but relevant professional work with current volunteer experience, demonstrating continuous engagement. For additional advice on structuring your document, review these resume outline examples.
Medical Coder Stay At Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume effectively combines technical expertise with volunteer work to show ongoing engagement. To learn how to highlight your own technical abilities, review this resource on technical skills for a resume.
Attorney Stay At Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume highlights long-term experience and client-focused legal expertise. For guidance on presenting credentials, read this article on how to list certifications on a resume.
Health Care Stay At Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume highlights measurable success in patient outcomes and leadership training. To learn how to present your medical background effectively, check out resume summary examples.
Human Resources Stay At Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume clearly highlights achievements in retention and compliance. For ideas on what to include, visit What To Put on a Resume.
Marketing Stay At Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume demonstrates measurable achievements in marketing campaigns, making it results-focused. To learn how to craft measurable statements, check out how to make a resume.
Homemaker Stay At Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume effectively frames homemaker responsibilities and volunteer experience as transferable professional skills. For more advice on highlighting diverse experience, read resume skills.
Military Spouse Stay At Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume highlights resilience, adaptability, and transferable skills gained as a military spouse. For additional strategies, see this resource on resume objective examples.
Returning to Work Stay At Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume demonstrates readiness to rejoin the workforce with past work and recent volunteer experience. To see what else can strengthen a career transition, explore what to put on a resume.
Reentering Workforce Stay At Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume balances past employment with relevant volunteer work, showing transferable office skills. For more details on effective formatting, visit best resume formats.
Housewife Stay At Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume translates home and volunteer responsibilities into marketable skills. For tips on choosing the right sections to include, see resume outline examples.
Airline Resume for Stay-at-Home Mom
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume highlights past professional airline experience and current volunteer involvement, making it relevant to aviation or customer service roles. For more on transferable skills, explore customer service skills resume.
Business Insider Stay-at-Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume shows continuity through freelance and volunteer writing, keeping skills sharp during a career break. For formatting tips, read best font for a resume.
Creative Stay-at-Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume highlights creativity and freelance work while actively engaging in community projects. For more inspiration on tailoring resumes for creativity, see resume interests section.
Entry-Level Stay-at-Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume emphasizes transferable volunteer experience for someone without extensive professional history. For more on how to write an entry-level document, explore resume examples for teens.
Government Stay-at-Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume links past government work with current volunteer advocacy, showing continuous involvement. For more strategies, see how far back a resume should go.
Project Manager Stay-at-Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume demonstrates strong management skills in both professional and volunteer roles. For advice on highlighting leadership strengths, see resume summary examples.
Teacher Aide Stay-at-Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume highlights professional and recent volunteer experience in education, bridging a career gap. For tips on aligning your work to target roles, see how to make a resume.
Bookkeeper Stay-at-Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume highlights accounting expertise reinforced by volunteer bookkeeping roles, ensuring up-to-date experience. For guidance on showcasing finance-related strengths, review resume skills.
Customer Support Stay-at-Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume combines professional customer service experience with recent volunteer roles, showing readiness to return. For additional ways to emphasize service roles, read customer service skills resume.
Administrative Assistant Stay-at-Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume bridges professional admin experience with volunteer clerical work to show current skills. For more advice, review what to put on a resume.
Paralegal Stay-at-Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume shows a mix of professional legal work and nonprofit volunteering. For guidance on highlighting certifications, see how to list certifications on a resume.
Retail Manager Stay-at-Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume demonstrates leadership and retail experience, reinforced by recent volunteer retail work. For additional advice, read resume skills.
Nonprofit Coordinator Stay-at-Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume highlights both professional and volunteer nonprofit experience. For tips on tailoring your nonprofit resume, read how to put volunteer work on a resume.
IT Support Stay-at-Home Mom Resume
Why This Resume Example is Strong:
This resume combines professional IT experience with relevant volunteer support, showing technical proficiency. See technical skills for a resume for more guidance on showcasing technical strengths.
Our templates are crafted by professional resume writers to make creating your resume quick, easy, and effective.
- Professional resume template downloads
- Customized cover letter generation
- AI resume writing support
- Career-building resources and advice
Stay-At-Home Mom Text-Only Resume Templates and Examples
How To Write a Stay-At-Home Mom Resume
1. Write a dynamic profile summarizing your qualifications
Modern resumes have traded the objective for a profile summary. This section should give a hiring manager a quick overview of your skills and the type of position you’re seeking. It’s fine to write your profile summary as if you don’t have any gaps in your resume, but if you need to explain, you can add “returning” or something similar before the job title to make it clear you’re coming back into the industry.
Senior-Level Profile Example
A compassionate, empathetic attorney with over 10 years of experience in family law. A proven track record of managing complex negotiations and litigations for over 500 legal cases. Adept at identifying peaceful resolutions to preserve family relationships and secure fair compensation for clients.
Entry-Level Profile Example
An environmental science expert with an advanced knowledge of land management policies, habitat conservation, and community outreach. A proven track record of collaborating with naturalists, planners, and conservationists to address local and state issues facing communities in Florida.
2. Add an accomplishment-driven professional experience section
The professional experience section is usually the largest on your resume. If you previously held several jobs, focus on those most relevant to the position. Something doesn’t have to be a paid position to count as professional experience. If you did volunteer work, including these roles can give you more recent positions to list. Generally, you don’t need to worry too much about time gaps in your resume, as you can explain these in the cover letter and interview.
Senior-Level Professional Experience Example
Associate, Germaine and Associates, San Diego, CA | 2009 – 2015
- Represented clients in all areas of family law, including divorce, custody, paternity, child support, alimony, and distribution of assets and debts
- Drafted and reviewed all pleadings, briefs, and oral arguments, performed comprehensive legal research, and oversaw discovery motions for pending litigations
- Provided legal support for mediations, negotiations, and litigations in over 500 legal cases and communicated empathetically with clients during divorce trials
Entry-Level Professional Experience Example
Volunteer, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Durham, NC | 2016 – present
- Volunteered for a state-wide environmental campaign for a conservation nonprofit, which included supporting initiatives to expand education and grow awareness of environmental issues across communities, schools, and local governments
- Assisted with lobbying efforts to garner support from local politicians for environmental legislation, attended public hearings, and performed grassroots campaigning
3. Include relevant education and certifications
Your resume should always include any certificates or academic degrees relevant to the position. Still, it’s also a good idea to add your educational background, even if it’s not a direct fit for the job. Some employers require specific academic qualifications, such as a bachelor’s or master’s degree, regardless of the field of study. If you took classes as electives or completed any special projects relevant to the industry, you can also list these.
Education
Template
- [Degree Name]
- [School Name], [City, State Abbreviation] – [Graduation Month and Year]
Example
- Associate of Applied Science in Health Information Technology
- Arapahoe Community College, Littleton, CO – May 2008
Certifications
Template
- [Certification Name], [Awarding Organization], [Completion Year]
Example
- Certified Professional Coder (CPC)
4. List pertinent key skills
When hiring managers create a job description, they generally list the needed skills and responsibilities. Use this to your advantage by including a list of key skills and proficiencies on your resume. Add any qualities you possess in the job posting and anything else that might be relevant. Being a stay-at-home mom gives you unique skills that can be valuable to an employer. Here are some qualities you may use on your resume.
| Key Skills and Proficiencies | |
|---|---|
| Budgeting | Communication |
| Computer literacy | Creativity |
| Decision-making | Emotional intelligence |
| Flexibility | Leadership |
| Multitasking | Negotiation |
| Organization | Patience |
| Project management | Resolving issues |
| Teamwork | Time management |
How To Pick the Best Stay-At-Home Mom Resume Template
Most professional resumes should be formatted in a way that is clean and easy to read. The main exceptions to this rule are creative positions, such as graphic design, or a job that requires a more personal connection, such as a nanny. When looking for a resume template, consider the industry you’re applying for and whether to use a reverse chronological or functional resume.
Frequently Asked Questions: Stay-at-Home Mom Resume Examples and Advice
Why should I use a Stay-at-Home Mom resume example as a template for my own resume?-
A Stay-at-Home Mom resume example provides a solid foundation for structuring your own resume. It showcases how to highlight achievements, use quantifiable metrics, and present your experience in an organized manner. You can personalize it by adding your unique qualifications and adjusting sections to better reflect your skills and career history.
What are common action verbs for stay-at-home mom resumes?-
Writing the professional experience section of your resume is as simple as breaking your job duties down into bullet points and starting each with a strong action verb. But creating a unique verb for each bullet isn’t always easy. If you need some ideas to get you started, we’ve compiled a list of action verbs below that should fit most stay-at-home mom resumes.
| Action Verbs | |
|---|---|
| Adapted | Balanced |
| Budgeted | Collaborated |
| Coordinated | Created |
| De-escalated | Facilitated |
| Implemented | Managed |
| Monitored | Negotiated |
| Nurtured | Organized |
| Planned | Prioritized |
| Researched | Resolved |
| Supervised | Supported |
How do you align your stay-at-home mom resume with a job description?-
If you’re ready to re-enter the workforce, it may help to look for a job in an industry projected to experience above-average growth. Often, there are more open positions, and you may face less competition from other applicants. Ensuring you target your resume to each role can also give you an edge over other candidates and increase the chances that your resume makes it in front of a human reviewer.
What is the best stay-at-home mom resume format?-
If your resume has a significant time gap, avoid the traditional reverse chronological format. Instead, consider a functional or combination resume. A functional resume focuses on your skills and qualifications so the hiring manager can see what a great candidate you are before noting gaps in your work history. A combination resume is the best of both worlds, letting you organize key skills like managing a home or volunteering while showing you have traditional work experience.
What’s the ideal length for a stay-at-home mom resume?-
A one-page resume is ideal for most stay-at-home mom positions, especially if you have less than 10 years of experience. For experienced professionals, a two-page resume may be appropriate, but only if it includes valuable, job-relevant content. Focus on showcasing your key achievements, certifications, and skills that align with the job description.
Aim to include work experience from the last 10 to 15 years. Older roles can be summarized or omitted unless they add significant value. Keeping your resume concise and relevant will leave a strong impression on hiring managers.
Craft your perfect resume in minutes
Get 2x more interviews with Resume Builder. Access Pro Plan features for a limited time!
Your resume and cover letter are a team. A resume quickly lets a hiring manager know who you are and what your skills are. The cover letter provides context for your professional achievements and gives you a chance to explain why you’re interested in the position. When writing a cover letter, decide whether to explain any gaps in your resume or why you’re re-entering the workforce, but keep it to just a sentence or two if you do. The focus of your application, including your resume and cover letter, should be on what you can do for the employer now.
