The latest figures from the US Census Bureauindicate 5.4 million women and 98,000 men are stay-at-home parents.Although the Census Bureau doesn't track the number returning to work,hundreds of thousands of parents decide to venture back to theworkplace every year. These tips will help you get your resume noticeddespite the gap in employment.

Highlight Related Activities

You need to convince employers that you have the skills andexperience to do the job, so your resume's content must actively sellyou. When writing about your time out of the paid workforce, includeonly activities that back up the skills relevant to your career goal.

"Most women who stay at home for a period of time are not just doinglaundry and homework oversight," says Kathryn Sollmann, cofounder of Women@Work Network,an organization dedicated to helping women reenter the workforce. "Mostwomen are involved in significant volunteer efforts, and that is theexperience that should be included in a resume." Sollmann successfullyreturned to the workforce by leveraging her volunteer and freelanceexperience.

You can highlight the following activities on your resume:

• Volunteer/Community Involvement (PTA, Charity Work, Fund-Raisers):Just because you weren't paid doesn't make the experience any lessvaluable, so treat volunteer work like you would a paid position onyour resume. If you held leadership roles or made a difference to yourorganizations, tout your accomplishments and the key skills developed.You can include volunteer work in your Work Experience section to coverthe employment gap.
• Continuing Education: Show that you've kept your skills refreshed through courses, online learning and/or independent study.
• Freelance Projects: If you've done consulting/freelance workrelated to your job target, include project highlights in your WorkExperience section.
• Professional Development: Demonstrate your commitment to thefield by including membership in professional organizations andparticipation in conferences.
• Work-at-Home/Self-Employment: Even if you worked part-time for yourself or your partner, include the experience on your resume.

Should You Use a Job Title?

There's conflicting advice about whether to give yourself a jobtitle and job description for your role as a parent. If your homemakeractivities are related to your job target, it makes sense to drawattention to your parenting activities and accomplishments. Forexample, if you are looking for a job in teaching/day care or workingfor an organization serving children, you could emphasize the relevantexperience of child care and incidental teaching as a stay-at-homeparent. Examples of job titles parents have used include: householdmanager, manager -- Jones family and family CEO.

For most people, though, it's best to avoid including parenting asan actual job on the resume. "We personally feel that there is no needto dress up time at home with silly titles like ‘domestic engineer,'"says Sollmann. "The important thing is to identify how you havecontinued to use your business skills in the time you have been out ofthe workforce. And if you truly have had nothing but child care andhousehold responsibilities, it would be a good idea to get involved insome volunteer activities that require business skills -- managingcommittees, writing newsletters, handling budgets, etc."

Select the Best Format

According to Linda Matias, president of the National Resume Writers' Associationand CareerStrides, the right format is critical to getting noticed.Matias suggests that parents avoid chronological resumes and considerusing a combination format. A chronological resume can eliminate a parent's candidacy in seconds, she says.

Parents who have been out of the workforce for a number of years andhave minimal alternative experience such as volunteer work may need afunctional resume. Although functional resumes are not preferred byhiring managers, this format allows you to emphasize your skills whiledownplaying your employment history.

Be Honest

Use your cover letter to briefly explain your recent gap, butemphasize that you have kept your skills up-to-date and are energizedto return to the workforce.