Building the perfect freelance resume is essential to your professional career. Updating it with all your new business experiences is equally imperative. Regardless if you are an independent contractor on the lookout for new clients or a professional transitioning from the land of freelance to the traditional 9 am to 5 pm, you need to find the right way to list your freelance work on your self-employed resume.
Your freelance projects have taught you valuable lessons, helped you develop your skills, and build up your work ethic. Thus, it makes absolute sense to think about how to promote it effectively in the business market. But try not to doubt whether you should include your self-employment on your resume since it belongs there.
In this article, after learning how to invoice your projects, we will give you useful information on how to add freelance work to your resume and emphasize how self-employment has turned you into a better professional. So, how should you list freelance work on your resume? Let’s find out!
Choose the resume format that works for you
To begin with, here’s an example. You have been a freelance graphic designer for the past four years. Before that, you held a position in a company that lasted for one and a half years. These two positions do not have the same value; thus, they will be treated differently in your freelance resume.
It seems as if the usual resume format does not meet your business needs. Instead of unraveling your professional background in the standard chronological order, focus on your working experience, and polished skillset. Therefore, you need to create a functional resume for your self-employed projects. With such a template, you can present yourself as a multi-competent person and not just a sum of unrelated positions, unemployment gaps, and freelance projects. Try listing your skills independently or dedicate a separate part to achievements you’re proud of. This way, you will be able to better support your job title at the top of the freelance resume.
Of course, it’s optimal that you organize all the things you bring to the table in sections. Each one of them needs a clear heading and creative symbols to keep the person who skims through your freelance resume engaged. There is no definite rule for the perfect resume. Still, depending on the industry you’re in and the positions or clients you’re after, you need to make your resume look professional, design-wise attractive, and easy to understand.
Pick a job title that suits you
You should present yourself exactly as you are so that clients can identify your professional value. Remember that your job title will mirror your work experience, so don’t lie and don’t blow your skills out of proportion. If you want to highlight that you are self-employed, include on top of your resume a word like “Freelancer”, “Independent contractor” or “Self-employed” to be consistent with your professional status.
If you’re in search of a permanent position, then you need to build your business persona in a way that an employee won’t hesitate to hire you. Working in the freelance market used to have a negative undertone for companies since, in the past, they were viewed as unwilling to work hard and unpredictable. So, you can always dissipate the freelancing myths by presenting yourself as a responsible CEO of your own business, punctual, and hard-working as any other candidate.
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Add a short but informative description of your services
A few lines that sum up your working record so far is a great first introduction to your resume. If you have mostly freelancing experience, then you should state the services you offer along with one or two clients from different industries. By supporting your working experience with specific examples of clients, you solidify your professional profile and showcase your work versatility by mentioning key successful collaborations.
Highlight the finest projects and most notable clients
Most employees cannot present a multiplicity of projects and clients in their resumes. However, a freelance resume has the advantage of being able to speak volumes about a professional’s multiple successful contracts and well-established clientele. It’s always crucial to focus on projects that had a proven impact on the client’s work. For example, an increase in sales and a boosted social media presence are strong pointers of work done well. So, be sure to select your best projects and clients that stand out in their respective industries.
For freelance work you can skip mentioning
Without a doubt, freelance work on your resume can exhibit your strengths and boast of your professional growth. However, there are two kinds of freelancing that you should avoid including them. Freelancing gigs that are irrelevant to your current profession and had a minor impact on your progress should not be included. Moreover, rare and brief freelance work can also be omitted. Hence, we recommend that you refer to the self-employment moves that have influenced your career path so far.
Closing Remarks
We hope that we’ve adequately answered your question on how to list freelance work on your resume. Your independent projects deserve to be in your freelance resume regardless if you want to stay in that line of work or not. However, you should be attentive during the process of deciding which freelance projects and clients to list. Try to organize the different parts of your resume and be sure that your skills, accomplishments, and successful projects are always in the spotlight. Then, your self-employed resume will be able to provide robust evidence about your proven professional performance!
