Put parenting experience to work

If you're a stay-at-home mom busy volunteering at preschool, supervising homework and taking care of a family, keeping a résumé updated probably comes pretty close to the bottom of your priority list. However, if you decide to return to work, the first tool you're going to need is a current and captivating résumé.

When you've been out of the workforce for an extended period of time, it's hard to know where to begin and how to fill the resulting employment gap on your résumé, but Cam Whalen, an associate coach with CareerJoy -- a Canadian career coaching company offering career identification, transition and search services -- has some suggestions.

Stay chronological
In the past people out of work for long periods of time were advised to forgo the traditional chronological résumé in favour of a functional approach, grouping experience into skill clusters and leaving dates out for the most part. However, Whalen warns of a drawback to the functional approach. "Really what happens is people think, ‘what are you trying to hide?'" he says.

He recommends instead creating a hybrid résumé, where the first portion, highlighting your skills and top achievements (what Whalen calls the "30-second commercial"), is immediately followed by the chronological information most employers look for.