Writing a Resume - Is There Life After Homeschool?

I'm mostly talking to homeschool moms today, but you can pull out the idea and make other applications as well.  

I went to a Resume Workshop this morning.  There were four of us and three were homeschool moms preparing to re-enter the workforce.  I didn't find the workshop all that helpful, but the hand out material and web links will do well to get one started.   The most striking thing about the morning was the idea that we finish our homeschool career and wonder what in the world we might be qualified to do.  We look at a resume and see a blank of unemployment for years and begin to wonder if we are qualified for anything.  We haven't received payment for our work for a number of years and if we don't get paid then we think that what we did doesn't really count.  

I found myself encouraging the others to consider what they may have done that are really valuable skills.  Sometimes we just need to know how to say them.  We need a language to be able to communicate what we have done in a way that shows the value of it.  Like Emily said, we need to dismiss the word "just" from our vocabulary and look at the amazing things the Lord allowed and equipped us to do!  I didn't "just" homeschool my children.  I invested in them.  The verb "homeschool" is packed full of meaning and skills. 

Really - think about all you do.   Start a list of all the skills that you have because of the roles you hold.  Rather than think of the myriads of titles that a homeschool mom might wear, think of the skills that you have developed that could be used in different applications.  Did you review and choose curriculum based on individual learning styles and then modify that curriculum for each student.  Of course, you did. You didn't "just pick it out."   Start making a list of these skills, the volunteer positions you hold, the programs you help develop,  the groups that you help to lead, and the ways you serve your community.

I would recommend you start now and add to it through your life.  So many things can get lost in the years.  Of course, our worth is not measured by our resume, but it is good to take a look at what we are doing to see it as it is rather than dismissing it as something less. 

We are so much more than we give ourselves credit for.