While you’re punking up your job applications, you might as well punk up your resumes.
I’m always surprised at the number of job ads I see asking for freelance writing resumes. I know many freelance writers and bloggers who don’t even bother with traditional resumes. I’m of the non-resume mind myself. But, if a potential client wants one, I like to have one ready. Every six months or so I try to punk it up a little.
Break the Traditional Resume Rules
When folks ask for your resume, they probably aren’t looking for the traditional chronological list of every job you’ve ever had. And since most freelance writers have more than one client at a time, there is really very little value in the (hire date to present) format, unless of course it’s to show that you’ve had several long-term clients. But if one-off projects are more your style, skip the date ranges. After all, Freelance Writer for X Corporation (October 1999-1999) doesn’t look all that impressive, does it?
Think Like an Employer
What would you care about if you were hiring yourself? Your corporate blogging client probably doesn’t care to know about that six month period back in the 80’s when you flipped burgers at McDonald’s. But maybe you had an office job for a while. Maybe you did a bit of corporate writing at that office job. If you’re just starting to freelance and need to bulk up your resume, it doesn’t hurt to list your past employer and highlight your writing responsibilities. Especially if you were there for several years, listing that job on your resume will help your potential client know you’re reliable and capable (even if you haven’t freelanced before).
Concentrate on Skills
If you haven’t freelanced much, you’ll want to concentrate on your skills. If you’re applying for a web writing position, you’ll probably want to mention your SEO (search engine optimization) knowledge. If you’re applying for blogging jobs, you can talk about your ability to use wordpress (even if you’ve only used it on your own blog), your photo editing skills and/or your experience with social media. Use your resume as a place to list examples of places you’ve used those skills, even if those places are limited to your own blogs and websites.
Pick and Choose
If you’ve been freelancing for three years and have done four projects a month, you obviously don’t want to list everything. Pick the jobs most relevant to the gig you’re applying for. Keep in mind that a resume should be no longer than one printed page.
Tailor Your Resume
Just like cover letters for job applications should be tailored for each job you apply to, so should be your resumes unless you apply for the exact same type of work every time.
Use Hyperlinks Where Appropriate
If you’re using a Word document, inserting hyperlinks into the client names (to point to websites or blogs you’ve written for) can be helpful. If your resume is online, you’re probably already doing this.
Sample Freelance Writer Resume (Word 2007 version)
Sample Freelance Writing Resume (PDF version)
Your Turn
Your Turn
How do you punk up your freelance writing / blogging resumes?
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Good timing! I just emailed a publisher yesterday, looking for work, and offered to send my resume. I was thinking this morning that I should have another look at it to see if I need to punk it up a bit!
So thanks for the tips and the sample!
steph’s last blog post..EditQuest at your Service
Thanks for the sample, Amy. Apparently I needed that… badly.** goes off to punk up resume and make it SPARKLE**
Avid Writer’s last blog post..Freelance Writing During a Gas Shortage
I was looking for something like this being that I’m a beginner in the writing field, but unfortunately I was unable to open the pdf file. Thanks for the post.
Nancy’s last blog post..Sofrito
Steph — Happy for the good timing. I’m sure you’ll have many very cool opportunities to use your punked up resume now that EditQuest is up and running. Very very happy for you.
Kimberly — Sparkles are good. Don’t use too much glitter.
Nancy — Welcome! The file isn’t a PDF. It’s a Word doc, but since I’m on the new funky Word there are probably a lot of folks who can’t open it. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll email you and upload a PDF version here in a bit.
My advice is to hire a career consultant to help you with your cv.
There are people out there who do this for a living, and they know what they’re talking about. Some of them used to work in HR or with hiring managers, and they can tell you the ins and outs of how to get noticed.
A few years ago, I was arrogant and considered myself a good writer, and thought I had a good cv.
But after working with one of these people, it totally opened up my eyes. Boy was my resume ever CRAP, and boy, did they ever help me improve it. It definitely made a huge difference in my interviews.
It will probably run you $100-200, but think of the big picture. If you end up getting the job you want at a higher pay, it’s a small price to pay.
Friar’s last blog post..Travels with the Bear: Poland, this time!
Hey Friar. I think that’s a great idea for many folks, but I’m not sure if it would work for freelancers. Most freelancers don’t do the same type of work all the time and therefore tailor their resumes for each new job they apply for. Might still be worth it though. Never tried it so can’t say.
This is so helpful to hear about. I’m still using the chronological resume style just because that’s what I’ve always used. I keep meaning to create one that is better tailored to writing but I had never actually seen one before.
I do like the format, but most of what I do is for clients that aren’t affiliated with companies. I freelance every day, but I’m afraid if I just talked about skills it would look like I hadn’t done much writing. And if I don’t do that, I can’t mention many clients anyway because almost everything I do is ghostwriting. I is confuzzeled.
Hi LShep, thanks for coming around.
Here is a ghostwriting resume you might want to look at. Their resume is good, I think, because they talk about the work they did on each project without giving away the employer.
@Amy
Engineers are no different, ..we tweak our cv’s according to the job. I worked with the consultant and ended up with multiple versions of the same resume.
Though I think writing a decent c.v. in “Corporate-Speak” is a whole different set of writing skills, above and beyond what we’re used to in our everyday jobs.
Nothing wrong with people wanting to write their own cv’s. Just that I find it a bit ironic how reluctant some people are to pay for this service.
We don’t think twice about paying some expert $$$$ to fix our car, or repair our house, build a web page or teach us SEO.
Why not do the same, with resume experts?
Friar’s last blog post..Travels with the Bear: Poland, this time!
Hey Friar. I hear ya. I’m all for paying an expert to do something rather than doing it myself.
My hesitancy to do this as a freelancer would be that we’re applying to dozens of jobs a week. You probably don’t have to do that.
@Amy
Oh, that’s right. Didn’t realized Freelancers had to do that.
I’ve only had to apply to three jobs within the last three years (and all within the same company).
Friar’s last blog post..Dear Solar System
Did they make you submit a new resume each time you applied for a job within the same company?
They make you submit your cv regarldess (Yes! Even if it’s the SAME COMPANY and you already work there!) But there’s over 2000 people at the Widget Factory, there are so many departments, it’s almost like a whole other workplace, at times.
I chose to tweak the cv. a bit to increase my chances. Since I applied for different jobs (research scientist, for example, compared to operations engineer or project management).
Friar’s last blog post..Dear Solar System
That’s a great example! Thanks!
Hey Amy,
Am in a bit of a dilemma. As a starting writer, my resume for writing is just zilch, zero. Probably crappier than Friar’s because most of my jobs are unrelated to writing –I’m a teacher. And don’t get me started on the technical skills. But I’ve been blogging for almost 3 years now and that’s the only writing experience I got. How can I punk my resume when I have nothing to start with? HELP!
Kate’s last blog post..Asking for Sex vs Asking Someone Out & 4 Ways To Ask A Guy Out excerpt
Thanks for the sample! I’ve been using a resume for about a year, and you’re right, knowing what to put on the resume is tricky. I couldn’t find many freelance writing resume sample’s online, so I had to wing it. My format is similar to your resume. Glad to know I’m going in the right direction.
Valencia’s last blog post..Is the Project Worth My Time?
Friar — That’s kinda funny in a sad way.
When I applied for a new job at the firm I did have to fill out a new application, which I thought was nuts.
LShep — Happy you like it.
Kate — Others will probably tell you differently, but I’d say you’ll need a few writing jobs under your belt before you start an actual writing resume. I’ve found most freelance writing job ads don’t ask for resumes, so I don’t think you’ll have a problem. If they want one, send them your teacher resume. Surely you did some writing as a teacher?
Valencia — I think there are a ton of ways to go about it. Cool that yours is similar to mine. Maybe that means we’re BOTH doing it right.
Does writing tons of student feedback count?
Lol but you’re right. I got to get some writing gigs first before writing a resume. Thanks for the tip!
Kate’s last blog post..Sex with Fairies- Excerpt And Social Bookmarking Bar
Kate — Happy to help.
Hi Amy - I’ve been scouring the net for something like this AND I’m a lawyer who freelances too! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your advice and samples. One question: I’ve have been lucky enough to have a few of my blog posts excerpted (with credit) and featured in a couple of local and well-known blogs. Should I include this publicity in my resume? If so, do I just list it as something like “Posts featured in …” or do I provide the actual links?
Also, if I send clips of these featured blog posts, should I send in clips as they are posted on my blog or as they are featured on the other blogs?
Thanks again!!
TN’s last blog post..COLE’S: NOT THE CLOTHING STORE
Hi TN!
SO glad you found me here.
To answer your questions, yes I would include links to those posts if they are relevant to jobs you are trying to get. I prefer to link directly to a post. But if something happens and the link to the publication becomes inactive or something, I have (occasionally) re-posted to my own site so I can link to it. Does that answer your question?
Since you’re a lawyer, you might also be interested in my other blog, lawfirmblogger.com. Maybe.
I would love to talk with you about what you do. Feel free to email me sometime at amy@lawfirmblogger.com.
Please do comment and discuss.
We love a good conversation!
Please use a name when commenting. Does not have to be your real name or full name. But responding to folks calling themselves "Make Money Writing Online" and such kinda sucks. Calling yourself keywords will likely get you thrown into my spam filter.