Being a mum is a full-time job in itself. But now with pay freezes, redundancy and high unemployment, many mums are having to seek employment in the work place again and for many mums, staying at home full time simply isn’t an option anymore.

The job market has been going through some tough times since 2008. Unemployment peaked at 8% at the start of 2010 making the chance of finding a new job for stay at home mums almost impossible.

However, things look to be changing now. In the three months to July, the number of people that were unemployed fell by 8,000 to 2.47 million, keeping the UK unemployment rate at 7.8%.

At the same time, the number of people in employment rose by 286,000, which is the biggest quarterly rise since 1971. This growth was fuelled by a large rise in the number of people employed in part-time positions. According to the Office of National Statistics, the number of part-time workers increased by 166,000.

Part-time work is ideal for mums. They can manage their shifts or work days around their children’s schedules and nursery times. It also gives women a huge feeling of independence. Being able to contribute to the family money pot is a great confidence booster and it also reduces the pressure on working dads as the main breadwinners.

Private firms and business across the UK created over 300,000 jobs over the summer as the British economy began to bounce back from recession.

However, this doesn’t mean we are out of the woods yet. Women are feeling the affects of the past recession worse than their male counterparts. There are now 1.02 million women out of work and with increasing competition for part time roles to fit in around family life, you need to make yourself stand out from the crowd.

Getting the tone, style and content of your C.V. right is a fine art that can give you an edge of the competition and make you stand out in this competitive job market. There are a few key points to remember when building your C.V.

Firstly, don’t underestimate the skills you have learned as a mum. Multi-tasking, time management, accounting and budgeting are all worthwhile skills employers look for and something that comes first-hand to mums.

Make sure you target your C.V. and not just your covering letter, to every job. Point out job skills and experience that show why you are suitable for this role in particular.

Upload your C.V. to a recruitment site that allows employers to search you as well as vice versa. Reed is one of the best sites for jobs (take a look for yourself) and it lets you display your C.V. online. Making your C.V. searchable online takes away much of the hard work, which is a god send when you are a mum with a million and one other things to do.