Stay at Home Mum CV example

Taking time away from the workforce doesn’t make your skills disappear. In fact, many employers value the multitasking, planning, and resilience that come from managing a household or raising children – especially when paired with professional experience.

This guide will help you write a CV in a way that acknowledges your career break while showcasing your strengths, transferable skills, and readiness to return to work.

A clear, well-organised CV makes it easy for recruiters to see how your previous work experience – and your time as a stay-at-home parent – make you a valuable hire. It’s not about glossing over your career break; it’s about showing how your strengths remain highly relevant.

Here’s the way your CV should be laid out:

• Name and contact details – Add personal info to the top of your CV so employers can easily reach you. No photo necessary.
• Profile – A short summary of your professional background, current goals, and the value you offer.
• Core skills – Bullet point transferable and job-relevant strengths such as organisation, communication, or time management.
• Work experience – List past jobs in reverse chronological order, and consider including your time as a stay-at-home mum with relevant skills or responsibilities.
• Education & certifications – Go through your academic background and any courses or training, including any completed during your career break.
• Additional info – Optionally include volunteering, hobbies and interests, or additional roles such as PTA involvement or freelance work.
  

Use bullet points for readability, keep your formatting clean and professional with a simple font, and limit your CV to a maximum of two pages of length. You want to give recruiters as pleasant and easy a reading experience as possible: cohesive formating free from errors will accomplish just that.

This section is your opportunity to make a strong first impression and shift focus toward what you can offer – not what you’ve been away from. A profile should confidently highlight your strengths, experience, and current career goals. 

You want to make recruiters see the value you’d have, and what benefits there’d be to hiring you. Here’s a useful tip: if you’ve been out of work for a while, you should consider attaching a cover letter to your application to allow you to go into more depth.

Here’s what to add to your CV profile:

• Career background – Briefly reference your previous professional experience.
• Time away from work – Acknowledge your career break and position it as a time of development and learning.
• Transferable strengths – Mention qualities like organisation, resilience, communication, or multitasking.
• Career goal – Clearly state the type of role or industry you’re returning to, showing your enthusiasm and direction.

Let’s face it: if you can handle a weekly family schedule without losing your mind, you can handle most admin roles. 

This section is your chance to highlight the transferable skills and professional strengths that are still very much relevant – even if you haven’t used them in an office recently.

Focus on the qualities that employers value, whether developed in a previous job or refined through parenting. These CV skills might include problem-solving, budgeting, planning, interpersonal communication, or flexibility. Tailor the list depending on the kind of role you’re applying for.

Your work experience still matters – regardless of when your last job was. Structure your roles in reverse chronological order, including job title, company name, dates, and a brief summary of what you did. You can also include your time as a stay-at-home mum, especially if it involved relevant responsibilities like organising events, budgeting, volunteering, or freelance projects.

If there’s a gap, don’t hide it – explain it confidently and keep the focus on what you learned and how you’re ready to return to work. But don’t let that so-called “career gap” fool anyone – you’ve worked some of the busiest shifts known to humankind!

• Outline – Introduce the role, the organisation, and the period of employment (or time at home).
• Responsibilities – Describe your key tasks and contributions. Use power words like “organised,” “coordinated,” or “supported.”
• Achievements – Mention positive outcomes, successful projects, or relevant learning – even during your time at home.

Education becomes even more important when returning from a career break, so this section can help reassure employers of your knowledge and commitment. List your qualifications clearly in reverse chronological order.

If you’ve taken any courses during your time at home – whether to upskill, retrain, or refresh – include those here too. It shows initiative and an eagerness to learn. Keep this part concise, and try to focus on work experience.