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As a freelancer, you don’t have the same experiences as someone in a big company. For a start, you can’t be promoted since you are already at the top of your own business! But this doesn’t mean that you can’t create a resume that isn’t just as effective. In fact, for freelancers, the humble resume is just the thing to give potential clients a taste of your skillset, experience, and talents.
So what makes the perfect resume? There is no reason that a great resume template can’t work perfectly as a base for you though if you want to show off your design skills, you might want to make some modifications!
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Here are a few other ideas to get you started.
Use Keywords
One of the most important aspects of a resume. Some employers actually use bots to spool through the number of resumes they receive but even if they don’t, people tend to skim through text to find what they are looking for.
If you aren’t sure whether you are using the right keywords, Jobscan is a great reference point. With a list of 500 keywords to browse and a scanning tool that compares your resume to the job description, you will have a much better idea of what to aim for.
“The problem with these hundreds of identical resumes is that all of them look alike, like clones. Moreover, some of them are almost as annoying as spam messages, which have miraculously gotten through a spam filter. How to observe the rules of business etiquette and make your resume to stand out from the crowd at the same time? Here is a surprising, but effective action plan” – How to Write a Killer Resume
Keep It Brief
A resume should be a single page document that covers as much as possible but this doesn’t mean that you can ramble on. You need to be as efficient with the space available as possible which means that you need to curate the details you include and be as brief as possible everywhere else.
Unlike a CV, you don’t need to include your complete job history, you can just pick out your best highlights. For example, if you have worked for a big brand name, this is the time to show that off!
Be Confident
You might be quite modest in person but your resume is no place to hold back. You need to present yourself in the best light in order to show off your experiences and your potential. If you want an employer to know how much value you can add to their business, you need to give them a reason to hire you and not another freelancer.
If you aren’t sure how to be confident without sounding like a jerk, you should start with the facts. Put down any quantifiable results and explain what you did to get there. If you worked with a team or built on someone else’s work, don’t be afraid to put that in. No good work happens in a vacuum.
Photo by James L.W on Unsplash
Tell a Story
You might not have the space for a full-blown epic poem written in iambic pentameter but you definitely have room for a dragon-slaying story. For all that a dragon-slaying story won’t actually contain a dragon, the principle is simple: there’s a problem, you provide a solution and the lasting impact is seen in x, y and z. This kind of story shows that you are aware of the way that businesses run going in and can spot the areas that require improvement. Plus, as a freelancer, you can show this over and again, choosing from a variety of stories and picking out the one that will tempt your next client in particular.
Bringing personality to a resume can be quite a challenge in so little space but there are a couple of methods you can use. For example, even if your cv will be read by a bot, it should still scan well to a human being. Writing in your own voice is a good place to start and a more conversational tone is appropriate in most situations now.
Call to Action
Finally, every resume should come with a call to action at the bottom of the page. This might be a link to your website which contains much more information about your work and experience but it might simply be an email address and an offer to get in touch.
If a potential employer doesn’t have anywhere to go immediately after reading your resume, you are increasing the chances that they are going to stick in their filing system and never return to it. The easier you can make it for them to continue researching you or get in touch to set up a meeting, the more likely they are to do it.
