This is how Berkeley, Calif., consultant Yana Parker responded to the job-hunting efforts of 68-year-old Marguerite Avery, the subject of a page-one article in The Wall Street Journal last month.

Mrs. Avery, of Vancouver, Wash., is among the many older homemakers who are trying to join the work force and who sometimes find it difficult to promote their skills aggressively. Since the article ran, Mrs. Avery has received

Based only on what she read about Mrs. Avery in the article, Ms. Parker rewrote her resume. "I'm not talking about transforming 'Housewifery' into 'Domestic Management' but simply recognizing and marketing her obvious strengths and passions," says Ms. Parker, the author of "Damn Good Resume Guide" and four other resume books. "She represents a lot of women."

• Highly intelligent: consistently score in the 95th percentile
  on aptitude tests.
• Passion for words, top speller, broad vocabulary.
  (unbeatable Scrabble player)
• Willing and eager to learn more about proof-reading and editing.
• Mature, reliable and industrious. Worked continuously since
  age 17, as employee, entrepreneur, student, and/or parent.
  Rarely missed a day of work; get along well with co-workers.

• Took on a new position and learned to operate fax, copy
  machine, mail machine and word processor.
• Accurately typed 35 wpm using WordPerfect with
  Windows 95.

• Returned to school and earned a GED, earning top scores
  in a 6-months program, which covered: --Computer skills
  --Writing (97%) --Social Sciences (99%) --Math (93%)