Principle #4: Start Something Resume-Worthy

Ok, you might say. So I shouldn't join an MLM, I shouldn't put my home activities on my resume, clearly I don't want to go back to work (that being the point of being a SAHM) - how on earth am I going to get experience for my resume???

Here's the beauty of resumes:

1) They typically don't specify full-time, part-time, or contract
2) They typically don't require you to list your salary

What does that mean for you? Well, it means that you have a lot of options to gain experience that will reflect well on your resume:

For example, volunteer work.  Volunteer work is an excellent option because, since you're working for free, you can have more say in what you do for the organization. AND you can do it from home! Want a future career in marketing? Talk to them about handlin their brochures, website copy, and email campaigns. Want a career in finance? Offer to help them balance their books. The sky is the limit here. And since it's you're resume, you can choose whether or not you want to specify that it was a volunteer position. Obviously the time will come when you will have an interview and will need to explain what you did, how many hours you worked, and that it was volunteer. But the goal of a resume is to get an interview. If they think you're skilled, it won't really matter how you got your experience. They just want to know you can do the job and have some proof (portfolios can be helpful here as well).

You could also start off as a contractor. Get yourself some business cards, a free website, and a couple of samples of you have them, and offer your services to some local businesses. Start off doing it for free until you have some experience under your belt to prove you can deliver results. Lots of businesses could use statisticians, or web developers, or even interior designers. And if they can get it for free - it's a win-win!

A third option is to simply get a Part-time job working remotely from home. Of course, as you know, stay away from the companies that like to shout "WORK FROM HOME!" Or "MAKE MONEY IN YOUR PAJAMAS!". We all know those are a terrible idea. But you can do something very simple to find good, legit, paying part-time job opportunities working at home:

1) Go to www.indeed.com
2) under "what" type your area of interest (be creative with different key words, there are usually a number of different job titles for essentially the same work)
3) under "where" type "Remote"

And there you go! Be careful when you type in "remote" because Indeed will try to fill in "Remote, OR" and that's an actual city so.... Stick with just the one word.

There are a few other resources for remote and flexible job listings you might be interested in. Most require a fee but will give you a free trial to start. A few that I've tried in the past:

www.flexjobs.com
www.virtualvocations.com
www.weworkremotely.com
angel.co (this one is specifically for start-ups which are usually a lot of fun but can be stressful)
www.idealist.org (this one focuses on non-profits)
www.powertofly.com (this one is really cool - started by a female executive to give women more flexible work options)

Ok so you have a bunch of options, yay!! Pick the one that works best for you. I will give you one piece of advice though that will make or break your ability to put this on your resume:

STICK WITH IT

First of all, it won't look good if you're jumping from organization to organization every three months (ALTHOUGH you could always say you were working as a consultant for the various companies). Secondly, you want to be somewhere long enough to create some real value for the organization. Just having their name and your tasks on your resume isn't enough. You need to be able to say that you changed or built or enhanced something - launched their eblast campaigns, implemented QuickBooks, consolidated their employee team to be more effective - whatever it is.

Building a resume when you're home chasing around little rascals can be hard but it's not impossible. Follow these guidelines and you will be on your way to building a foundation for a future career!

Note: these resources can also be helpful if you are currently re-entering the workforce. All of these options can build your resume while you're searching for that perfect job.

Principle #3: DON'T Join an MLM

Just don't. And if you do, do not put it on your resume. MLM's have terrible business models, it's almost impossible to make any money, and legitimate companies know this. Putting an MLM on your resume is about as effective as putting your circus clown act in your resume - it simply shows your future employer that you don't understand the real business world.

(Nothing against circus acts, BTW. Clowns actually might have a better chance that MLM's)

Allow me to explain my disdain for MLM's. I was in sales for a few years: one year it was for a company that ran under a similar model as an MLM and one that was legit.

The former hired as many people as were willing to put up with the job, had very few skills requirements (although they pretended to), they were entirely commission-based and even charged a fee to join, they acted like a huge cheerleading squad with mantras about being your own boss and living the life you want with freedom and flexibility, promised promotion as you built up your team, and made a whole host of other promises they couldn't keep with 99% of their employees. But of course, it was the employees fault for not working hard enough. Sound familiar?

The latter, however, had a list of skills requirements they stuck to, they limited the number of people they would hire, offered base salaries, protected territories, benefits, training, and a realistic view of your potential in the company.

The former model is irresponsible. It only benefits the people who started the business and does very little for anyone who wasn't one of the first 10 to sign up.  I'll show you what I mean: hop onto your favorite MLM website and, if they have this feature, look up how many reps are in your city alone. Mine had 32. No serious sales company would EVER do this because they care about the satisfaction of their employees. No serous company would ever over-saturate their market with sales people. It's bad business practice.

And trust me, corporations know this. If they see an MLM in your resume they will roll their eyes and move on. You have a LOT to offer as a SAHM; don't give it to a company that will take advantage of you. In fact, best case scenario, start your own business. If you have an idea, a copy of Microsoft word and Excel, and an Internet connection there are all kinds of ideas out there for you. In fact, I plan to share a few of my own that I've thought up and even piloted in later posts.

So don't sell yourself out. If you are part of a MLM and you enjoy it, go ahead and stick with it but find something reputable to involve yourself in the will bolster your resume.

More on that in Principal #4!