A freelancer resume is an ambiguous term since it can mean either 1) a freelancer's application document submitted for a regular job or 2) an application document submitted for a freelancer position. However, both definitions have one thing in common - the content of either resume is filled with lots of freelance work. Now, according to the FreeTrain research, there are about 53 million freelancers in the United States of America which constitutes approximately 34% of the national workforce. We couldn't simply ignore these numbers and decided to help freelancers by sharing some great recommendations on how to wisely organize their experience on a resume. Some might say that resumes are dead today but you can prove the opposite when you are asked to submit your resume when you try to go back to office work, apply for a certification, bid on a job as a freelancer, apply for membership, etc.
Highlighting Your Freelance Work Experience
What can possibly be better than having a job without any restrictions of working hours that still pays good money? Freelancing opens up new opportunities both now and in the times to come, as outlined by TimeDoctor. Many people used to ask how to list freelance work on a resume. However, this time is gone now as more and more people are getting into freelancing. The question today is how to incorporate that experience into a resume because obviously the nature of work (and the list of responsibilities) differs from what people used to do in their offices. It is easier if you worked for a few companies only - in that case you can just list the name of the company, your title (alternatively, "Freelancer"), and the projects you were responsible for. With this layout your resume won't look much different from those of others and it will be super easy to organize your experience this way.
Sometimes freelancers have a long list of projects they worked on and it often seems impossible (or not appropriate) to list all of them under the work experience section. In this case we recommend structuring all of the work experience based on relevant projects. The truth of the matter is that you don't need to fire out all of the things you did in the past (even though it may seem a crime to leave out some of your accomplishments). The thing is that those reading/reviewing your resume are looking for specific skills and qualifications they are interested in. The rest is nothing but fluff for them. So one needs to be careful and selective when listing the professional experience.
Professional resume writing is all about including information the person on the other end wants to see. In regard to the project descriptions, we recommend including the assignment, the company (the client), the address along with the results you have achieved. It is also extremely important to include your work samples. Most of them could be stored online so all you have to do is to add the URL linking to something that is representative of your best work. When you are done with the main section of your resume, it is easier to do the rest. Place your name, address, and contact details on top of the document. Then goes the summary section where you will be able to briefly share your entire career story based on relevant accomplishments. Once again, the word "relevant" is key here. Don't say things that are of no interest to a potential employer. After the summary goes your work experience which you should have done by now (we recommend starting out from this section; it serves as a solid foundation upon which you can build up your summary, qualifications, skills, etc.) The work experience section is to be followed by the education, technical proficiency, and affiliations sections.
