Making Your Resume Stand Out In Crowd of Freelancers

 

One of the most daunting things about freelance writing is getting yourself noticed. It is a highly competitive field. Sometimes it seems like all the good jobs are taken and only the scams and cheapskate jobs are left. When a dream opportunity comes along, all of the bids start piling up and it’s tough to get noticed in the crowd of competition. The best shot you have going in is your resume, so it had better be good! If you are looking for jobs on freelancing sites it will be in your best interest to take another look at your CV and determine if it can’t be even better.

Don’t Be Predictable

There are so many generic resume templates out there that people are careful about differentiating themselves from everyone else. This is not a very wise approach, as your resume will look just like everyone else’s and you will be forgettable. Avoid using the usual “Hard working”, “Self-starter”, or “Perfectionist” cliché words. If you can engage the reader, you might have just gotten your foot in the door.

 

Customize for Each Job

If you’re applying for a technical writing job, you will want to put a lot of emphasis in your resume on all the experience you have with technical writing. Then let’s say you apply for a comedy writing piece, you probably will want to emphasize on your comedic writing experience, rather than the technical writing. Cookie cutter resumes that appear to be broad, aimed at multiple jobs, won’t get looked at. If the reader knows that you have put in the extra effort to acquire the job, they will be more likely to hire you.

 

Don’t Be Sloppy

Someone once asked me why nobody would hire him even though he thought he had a lot of skills. He sent me his resume and had written “costumer service” in several places. It wouldn’t have been bad if he worked in a wardrobe for movies, but alas, he was referring to customers, not costumes. If you’re a writer, imagine how bad it would look to service buyers to see a resume riddled with spelling errors. People want perfect spelling and grammar and aren’t about to hire those who can’t spell in their own resumes.

 

The Use of Keywords

Many employers use tracking systems that pick out keywords from peoples’ resumes. If the recruiter states that the incumbent must be university educated, have strong mathematical skills and have experience with a certain program, you should list those exact things in your CV.

 

Be Specific of Achievements

If you were a part of a team of people who formulated a cure for a certain disease, you would want to put your name on it. The same goes for the smaller scale achievements throughout your life. If you worked on certain projects, elaborate on them. Don’t skate over them with “Led a project to minimize workplace interruption” or vague descriptions. List what your role was, what the project was about and the outcome.

Your resume is your key to getting noticed. It might help if you get other people to read yours and give input on what you should include or what to remove. You may even want to approach someone who works in the HR field for some input and tips if possible. Once you perfect your resume, it could only be a matter of time before that big beautiful dream job comes your way.