My eldest two are now at work.
Eldest return to college post 16 and settled well academically and socially. Did well at A levels. Never had a problem getting a job.
Middle child went for a recruitment weekend in Jan for a well known national organisation.
On the application form, where it asks for educational history she wrote "Home educated by parental choice, in a self directed way"
Where it asked for life/educational experience, she wrote about the firm she worked for that were developing mobile internet sites, the small retail outlet that she ran on her own for 20 hours a week, helping to run workshops for women who are victims of domestic violence, being involved with a dyslexia charity and co-chairing the launch with a recognised dyslexia expert from the States, and sailing round the country for two long summers, with another HE family helping to crew the boat and look after their children.
She had references to back up all of this from people who were very happy to supply them.
It seemed to make her stand out from the crowd and she got the job she wanted.
Her new boss has told me that no less than 5 managers from that recruitement weekend indpendantly recommended her!
Ds too had different experiences from the 'norm' on his CV and it seems to have helped.
I guess there are bound to be employers who would disagree I suppose, but so far so good-and it seems to be the experience of the other home ed teens and young people we know (and we know hoards of them)
Our young people are happy and enjoying their lives and saving for their next step in lives. One plans to go to Uni, the other to do her competant crew sailing course.
I know of one young lady who works for the BBC-she was employed in a similar way to my children-and is now deemed to be about 4 years ahead of her degree educated peers, with her (very exciting) career.
As Fillyjonk has indicated, more and more Unis are pleased to be getting applications from HE young people, some with conventional qualifications and some who have skipped GCSEs/A levels and have used the OU route instead.
One friend of ours was 'invited to apply' to a couple of Unis after going for their open days. She was half way through a OU science course. She has now nearly finished her paedicatric nursing degree.
We know another who is doing Law at Oxford after going straight to an OU course first.
One mom here on MN has children who have achieved scholarships for public schools as teens and there is another mumsnetter whose son is the youngest person ever to be doing his PhD in Medical Research-and that was after a completely child led, autonomous education.
For my children and their many friends home education has been fabulously successful (note that my son had been predicated by the school, to get GCSEs grade D if he worked very, very hard, because of his dyslexia.)
In our children's opinion and ours, home education was/is the very best choice we could have made for them.