“But who would want to hire me? I’m not worth anything, am I? Really?”

This is a question I hear over and over from women who have chosen to stay at home to raise their families. They’ve made big contributions to our society, often unrecognized and unpaid, and are now ready to become significant contributors in our workforce.

Here are 5 specific reasons why returning Moms make the best employees:

1. Professionalism:

Career Rocketeer

Banding together can strengthen your hand on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter

MSNBC

The sale of her distressed management consulting firm is imminent and so is her impending layoff.  Yet, by the time Patricia Brown's employers at BearingPoint sign her severance check she will have completed the unfamiliar task of feathering her nest on LinkedIn.

Alison's Job Searching Blog

is rapidly becoming an integral part of how companies and recruiters source candidates for employment. For companies and recruiters, the Social Recruiting Summit 2009 will be held on June 15 at Google Headquarters.

The Street.com

Ed. note: The following is a first-person account from the owner of a small business.

Like many small business ventures, mine started with a simple premise:  Everybody has a story. But it takes a pro to help tell it in a compelling manner.  With this idea in mind, I launched a business producing video biographies and family history documentaries.

Diversity Woman

Are visions of entrepreneurship dancing in your head? Believe it or not, now might be the best time to strike out on your own. Due to the recession, many big companies have downsized and are now outsourcing—so why not to you? What's more, business start-up costs are lower than ever.

Flexperience's Lisa Kay Solomon sees flexible arrangements as vital to winning and retaining the best employees

By Marshall Goldsmith

Business Week

Techcrunch

Astia wants to hear from you. The Silicon Valley organisation focused on funding women-led start-ups has launched a programme in the UK to help high-potential, high-growth startups across Europe find investors and mentors.

All Things Considered, March 23, 2009 ·

In the 2001 film Legally Blonde, the ditzy heroine makes a splash with a video of her qualifications for law school narrated from a swimming pool.

The bikini-clad sorority girl was spot on about one thing: Resumes printed on paper? As if!