A freelancer resume is the top marketing tool to showcase your freelance work and experience. Here are 10 tips to help you write a resume that gets clients.
A day in the life of a freelancer is full of responsibilities that include marketing, meeting clients, and submitting an online portfolio for opportunities.
The top professionals know how to promote themselves using online and offline platforms to show an employer they are subject matter experts when compared to other freelance competitors.
According to the Payoneer Blog, “India has the second-highest number of freelance professionals (about 15M), standing next only to the US (approx. 53M).” It means the freelance business is booming and you have a chance to conveniently work from home to assist some of the top employers in your field.
One of the top marketing tools to showcase your work is to write an effective resume that reflects your freelance experience and how you helped a company succeed. Most prospective clients need to see percentages and examples of achievements that will persuade them to contact you for an interview.
10 Tips To Write A Resume That Wins Clients
The next time you decide to start writing your resume, we encourage you to pay attention to these helpful tips.
1. Effective Keywords
A careful selection of resume keywords throughout your resume is helpful because after a resume is received by a recruiter or hiring manager, the individual will scan the document to verify if the words that match the job description is included.
It helps the recruiter save time by reading hundreds of resumes when selecting candidates for an interview.
The next step is to think about action verbs that describe skills that include communication, teamwork, and multitasking. A few examples of action verbs are listed below:
- Achieved
- Delegated
- Organized
- Pioneered
- Educated
- Partnered
I recommend that you add action verbs as the first word at the beginning of a sentence for each bullet point of your work responsibilities.
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2. Showcase Your Results
If you are a freelance marketing writer, adding details that show results can include the percentage of the conversion rates that your writing helped a company earn on its return on investment.
Another example is to write the number of clicks that an email campaign you completed, attracted to a company’s site. You need to think of yourself as a business first then a writer when writing a resume.
Most organizations that hire freelancers need to know how their investment in hiring you will help them earn revenue and the best way to communicate your previous achievements is by describing it in a resume.
3. High-Impact Profile Summary
A profile summary is listed under your career objective. It can be no more than one paragraph describing your experience from the beginning to the present stage of your career.
In this section, you need to write high-impact sentences. For example, “Accomplished freelance graphic designer with experience developing effective designs for B2C and B2B marketing campaigns for some of India’s top organizations.”
It is one of the first descriptions of your experience that will inspire a recruiter to select you from a list of other freelance candidates.
4. Share Contributing Guest Blogger Experiences
Do you write for a reputable news site? If you add this information at the top of your resume, a hiring manager will have the impression you are a subject matter expert because a reputable (I.e., Forbes, Business Insider, Huffington Post) has accepted you to write for their platform.
As a subject matter expert, you can be a graphic designer, writer, consultant or editor. If you write articles or blogs that relate to your industry, it can result in an online following which is an attractive trait to have as a freelancer.
Include a link to one of your top shared articles to your online portfolio that is included in your resume.
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5. Share Your Logo
If you incorporate a company logo on your resume, it is a good idea to add it at the top right or left corner of your resume. A logo will project professionalism and creativity on your part. It will tell the recruiter that you understand the value of corporate branding.
A logo can help define what you represent as a freelancer in your field. For example, if your favourite colour is green or a symbol that tells the story of how you started as an independent professional.
If you’re not a graphic designer, we recommend that you hire one to help you capture the true essence of your personality in your company logo.
6. Include Your Best Photo
You can add a professional headshot of yourself at the top right, middle or left corner of your resume. It can be added beside or under your name. A personal photo on a resume is eye-catching, and your smile can create attention in hiring managers responding to your application.
In most cases, a hiring manager will search for you on LinkedIn to review your profile. You can use your LinkedIn photo to add to your resume if it is a self-reflection of how you currently look.
It is essential to use a recent picture because potential clients can invite you to a video interview on Skype before proceeding to the next step of the hiring process.
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7. Highlight Collaborative Assignments
As a freelancer, a natural thought process is to write examples of how you work independently on assignments. There will be a time when you need to work with a remote team for a job opportunity.
Remember to include collaborative assignments that highlight how you successfully worked on a project with the CEO of a company, a public relations firm or the lead marketing specialist at an organization.
Clients need to understand that you can work remotely from home and you have the personality to work with other people if the role requires a collaborative team effort.
8. Professional Development
Depending on your profession, it is essential that you attend webinars and courses throughout the year to improve your skills. It is vital to add formal education (i.e., Bachelors of Arts, Masters degree) and career development such as seminars, online courses, and books you read.
If you are not an employee, in most cases clients will not provide you with training. A recruiter will be impressed to see on your resume that you have taken the initiative to learn how to improve as a freelancer.
9. Online Resumes
In my career as a freelance writer, I notice freelance job applications that request a link to an online resume that is separate from a LinkedIn profile. There are cases where employers do not want a Word document or PDF attachment of your resume.
You can set up an online resume on Fiverr, Upwork, Guru or your freelance website. The online resume should have different content than what you included on your LinkedIn profile
10. Tailor Your Resume To The Job
If you are a new freelance professional, you can add projects completed at work or university. Think of what you would like to see if you wanted to hire a freelancer for your company.
As you read the job description, you can tailor your resume to the specific skills and experience the client needs. The goal is to complete a useful document you will be proud to share with potential clients.
The free Online Resume Builder in the Glow & Lovely Career Community will help you create a professional resume in minutes, so you can get attention and get the job you want.
In the Glow & Lovely Career Community on SHEROES, you can also take a free career test to learn about careers that match your interests, try an online course to learn a new skill or improve your English, or practice for a Government Job exam using online tests.
About the author:
Priya Florence Shah is the Group Editor at SHEROES and author of Devi2Diva, an emotional self-care book for women.
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