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Take a good look at your skills. Do you know what data entry involves? How fast can you type? Do you have a quiet room for taking telephone calls? These are questions you may need to consider, depending on the kind of work at home job you are applying for.
List your relevant skills first. If you are applying for a range of job types, you may need to rearrange these so that the most relevant skills come first for each kind of job. Remember, employers are often looking at hundreds of applicants, so you need to catch their eye right off the bat.
List your employment history starting from your most recent or current position and going back. Particularly if you have never held a work at home position, emphasize anything that shows your ability to work without supervision. Remember, this is a vital skill for work at home employees, no matter the job. Especially if you have had a work at home position before, tell why you left the position. List about 4 jobs at the most. More tend to indicate you either change jobs too often and have had a lot of jobs in only a few years, or go back too far in time to be considered relevant. If a job was short term by its nature, say so. Call it contract, seasonal or freelance, depending on which is most relevant.
If you have very little employment experience due to recent graduation from high school or college, emphasize your education history over your employment history. Take a look at the classes you took and how they might apply to the job you are interested in. If you have a college degree, do not bother listing your high school education. Include any achievements as well.
Do you volunteer? This is the time to let employers know, and how it is relevant to the job you are interested in. You can develop great skills from volunteering. Skip ones related to religion in general, as this could lead to discrimination.
If you have a relevant hobby, you can list it, but not otherwise.
For work at home positions, it is a very good idea to include your references. Three to six are sufficient. No family members or roommates, please. Former co-workers or people who work in management are good choices.
Keep your resume clean and straightforward. Do not change fonts all over the place.
If you are emailing your resume, put it in plain text at the end of your email. Do not send as an attachment unless requested. Many people will not read attachments for fear of viruses. Email your resume to yourself before sending it to an employer to ensure that the text version comes through cleanly. You may want to consider formatting it to a 65 character line to ensure that the lines wrap correctly. It’s pretty much the only formatting you can do with plain text. Most people can receive HTML email now, so if you want to format, it is most likely okay, but there is always the chance that they will not be able to read it correctly, so decide if you want to format your resume that way.
Consider having a webpage with your resume on it. A free hosting service works well enough for this if you are looking for a job, but not if you are freelancing. Do not get fancy with this page. You want your online resume and portfolio if relevant to be as clean as it would be on paper.
You will want to consider having more than one version of your resume. Tailor to each job title you are considering, so that you can emphasize the skills most relevant to that job. It’s not much extra work, but might just get you that job.
Finally, write a good cover letter. It should give more detail to your most important points on your resume. Do your best to give the impression of a hard worker who can work independently.
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About the Author:
Stephanie Foster is the owner of Home with the Kids, a resource that knows that there's more to staying home with your family than just business. From money saving tips to parenting and marriage tips, to work at home jobs and businesses, you can get information and support here. You can visit the site at http://www.homewiththekids.com
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