Confused about what to put on your freelance writing resume? Start here. We’re covering what NOT to include, from headshots to BS summaries.
Be honest: When was the last time you dusted off that outdated resume? And do you really think you need one as a freelancer?
The answer to that is, yes, you do… sometimes.
You may be getting work through cold calling, Upwork, or other methods, where resumes never come up in conversation. Or, if you’re a little more experienced in the freelance game, you may treat your services as business offerings.
Once again, during a B2B conversation, no one asks for a resume. Maybe this is why so many freelancers are guilty of not keeping our resumes up to date!
And I’m going to be real with you: I don’t even bother looking at mine unless I’m considering corporate freelance gigs, more traditional remote jobs, or other special projects.
But hey—why not be prepared?
A properly groomed resume sitting on your hard drive will ensure you’re ready for whatever opportunity may pop up. Unfortunately, resumes have this unique potential to be the most awkwardly mistreated document one ever encounters in their professional career.
If you’ve ever hired for a job, you know what I’m talking about. On the whole, they’re bad.
Most people have no idea how to represent themselves on paper. This isn’t surprising because most of the advice out there on resumes is pretty misleading.
You’re a writer, though, so you’ve gotta get it together on this one!
Since it’s so hard to find solid advice on creating a non-crappy resume, we put together a helpful, no-BS guide for you to follow. Dive in and learn how not to create your freelance writing resume.
Banish the double-pager
Writer fam, let’s repeat this together: Keep. It. Short. When it comes to representing yourself on paper, being short, impactful, and memorable will help you stand out.
One page is enough unless you have over a decade of experience (that’s 100% relevant to the job you’re applying for). We don’t even want to go there, though. Just keep it to one page.
What’s the logic behind this? Most companies are combing through hundreds of resumes when they post a job. Not only do they literally not have time to look at more than one page, but they don’t want to. Accept the challenge. Convince them you’re the ultimate candidate in one page.
Forget the headshot
While I was checking out some resume templates on Etsy recently, I saw that a lot of them have a place for a headshot
“Yikes,” I heard myself say under my breath… 😂
In our Insta-obsessed world, it might be tempting to put your cutest selfie or your headshot in that little square next to your name. After all, most of us have photos on LinkedIn and on our Facebook pages, right?
Outside of the entertainment industry, however, I struggle to conjure up a reason why your resume would need a photo of your face.
If you’re a blogger/influencer and you really want to show off your mug, link to your blog or media kit at the bottom of the page.
Just know that for most writing jobs, you’re not helping yourself by using up this precious real estate.
The client will see your photo when they proceed to stalk you on LinkedIn.
Trim the clutter
It’s time to streamline! We’ve already recommended keeping your resume to one page, but you’ve probably seen single page resumes that are packed from margin to margin. This isn’t a smart strategy. It’s time to narrow down the information you include.
Information should be divided into sections and easy to skim. Your colors, fonts, and spacing should be uniform. Headlines should guide the eye through your credentials with ease.
Sometimes it’s hard to edit yourself, so you might want to start with a template that doesn’t allow for clutter in the first place. In fact, a sleek template can save you some major frustration when it comes to planning your presentation.
Luckily, some talented graphic designers have taken care of this. You can visit sites like Creative Market for templates and pre-made resume documents that will help you stand out in the glossiest (yet least fussy) way possible.
Avoid to irrelevant info
I know, I know.
You’re proud of that internship you did eight years ago with that super cool magazine.
The truth is, if it’s not relevant to the job you’re applying for, you probably shouldn’t include it. Again, the person looking at your resume has very little time. Respect them by curating your work history to be hyper-relevant.
Dying to let your future employer know how well-rounded and awesome you are? You can always chat about your experience in other industries or side projects when you get them on the phone or talk to them in person.
Sidebar: The only exception to this rule is if you’re at the very beginning of your freelance career. If you don’t have writing experience to include, find ways to make other work relevant.
For example, project management and organization skills you stocked up on during your role as an office admin could benefit you in just about any job. Another thing to keep in mind?
Niche knowledge about a specific industry could give you a major advantage.
I landed my first-ever writing jobs in fashion without professional writing experience because I’d just graduated from a fashion design program. I used that knowledge to leverage entry-level positions and build up my experience.
Don’t be afraid to draw parallels like this in your work history if you don’t have writing experience to share.
Leave out social media links…
… unless they are professional profiles. Or the job you’re applying for is a social media writing gig, and you’re linking to examples of YOUR OWN accounts that showcase as your best work.
They might not get looked at, but a curious client could also be delighted to see that you can walk the walk. For vanity’s sake, however, this is a no-go.
I include my Linkedin because it fills in work experience gaps (I have way too many gigs to list on one page), but I leave out the rest.
You don’t need to show personal Instagram and Facebook profiles to a client (nor relevant business accounts).
As a sidebar… If they’re curious, they’ll search you out and see what you’ve been posting, so be sure any public-facing content is optimized for impressing potential clients rather than scaring them away.
Skip the “summary”
That summary at the top of your old resume? Lose it!
You need no more than a sentence (or less) to convey your objective and specialty. A professional title is all you really need, which can go below your name. This is followed by your work history, skills, and education.
Honestly, with one page of information, do you really need to write a paragraph summarizing your skills at the top? (No.)
Anything you were going to say there should be reflected clearly elsewhere on the page.
Avoid fake (novelty) job titles
I have sad news… You are not a magic copy unicorn. You are not a word-weaving wizard. You are not an SEO ninja or a blogging supernova.
I mean, fine. Maybe you are those things! But that doesn’t belong on your resume.
Yes, late adopters are still doing stuff like this. It became wildly popular in the startup and online business space (initiated by a fabled species called homo computatrum, which is Latin for tech bro) to differentiate yourself through the use of novelty terms no one can actually decipher.
But that era has ended. We need to let it die, bury it, and move on.
Even if you get a little kick out of writing a cute title on your resume, the tactic will likely draw nothing but eye rolls.
Even worse, you’ll run the risk of confusing prospects. Remember: If people aren’t 100% sure what you do, they are not going to hire you.
Clients are looking for someone who can help them fix a problem and hit their business goals. If they’re not sure how wizards, unicorns, and ninjas factor in, they’re just going to move on.
Clarity should always take precedence over cleverness.
Always.
Kick the cliché self-congratulatory phrases
Leave out the stale cliche words like “team player”, “self-starter”, and “detail-oriented”.
Not only are these so overused that they don’t mean anything anymore, but the person reading your resume isn’t going to be phased. You’ll probably even inspire another eye roll.
The idea is to show these qualities without saying them. The descriptions of your achievements and responsibilities within work experience will reflect the qualities that make you hirable.
Labeling yourself a team player is just a silly way to waste precious real estate on that all-important single page.
Show instead of telling.
Forgo the references…
…and don’t even say they’re “available upon request”. This is just more unnecessary page filler. If the client wants references, they will ask for them. Don’t let this offering take up precious space on your one-page resume.
Now, this is not to say you don’t need references! Sometimes it helps to have social proof on your side, and while references are typically requested for more traditional roles, some clients may want to see them, too.
If they want to call a few people to see if you’re up to snuff, you should graciously slide them a list of people who absolutely freaking love you.
Have your references prepped in a document with the same letterhead as your resume, or ready for takeoff within in a simple email draft.
Having them prepared will save you the time and stress of reaching out to random clients and potentially sounding desperate to use them as leverage. Not a good look. It could also take days to hear back from them.
We went on a bit of a tangent there! However, the point is to be prepared without adding this information directly to your resume. And! While we’re on this topic, remember to update your references regularly and give them a heads up before you pass their info to a potential client.
Remove irrelevant interests & skills
I cannot imagine why you would want to list your interests on a resume, but I’ve seen people do it.
This seems like a cheesy thing out-of-touch guidance counselors would ask you to do.
Avoid, please.
Of course, you want to be human, but you’ll bring up interests and fascinating tidbits about yourself when it makes sense.
For example, when you’re opening up or winding down a client call and shooting the shit, you could give them a glimpse of your life outside writing. IE:
Client: Hello, Belinda, how are you today?
You: Hi Marzipan! I’m doing great! Just took 2nd place at the world badminton championships and I spent the morning polishing my trophy. How are you?
See? Seamless. 😉
As for skills, trim them down to those relevant to the gig.
Again, you can talk about additional skills as it comes up in your conversations with the client. This will happen when you dig into specifics, and it won’t be something you list on the phone arbitrarily.
You may also want to consider that your skills will be clearly communicated (not necessarily listed) as the services you provide on your website and in your cover letter, as they pertain to the job.
Think about how someone interacting with your online presence will learn about you—and don’t try to chock every touchpoint with your qualifications.
While we’re at it, leave out those little bars that indicate approximately how skilled you are at something.
Do you really want to say “I’m a 7-out-of-10 at social media management”? This kind of cute graphic representation of skills is not working in your favor.
Leave out the half-truths
If you lie on your resume, it will catch up to you, and you don’t want a scarlet letter on your freelance reputation.
Just because you’re applying for work outside of the corporate world doesn’t mean false claims on your resume won’t be tracked, verified, and blow up in your face.
I mean, woah. If you didn’t write copy for a specific brand, don’t pretend you did. If you didn’t help someone double their revenue with your email marketing prowess, don’t claim that you did.
If you can’t pull stats to prove an epic claim, don’t make it just to create intrigue.
Half-truths and blatant lies might get you an “I’m impressed!” look during an interview and even land you a position… but what are you going to do once they realize you lied on your resume?
There are entire memes about this! It doesn’t work in your favor in the end.
I’m confident that our readers aren’t pulling stunts like this (you guys are too smart), but I want to include it in case you’re ever tempted.
Lots of rules, I know, but the resume standard has been archaic for too long! Let’s get up to date and stay there. 😉
And please, if you’re having trouble with your resume, hit us up. We will help you make it non-crappy. We’re in this together and we want to see you succeed.
Got thoughts on the modern resume? Drop a comment below and share!
Freelance Writing Cafe is a freelance writing career training website with an emphasis on remote (online) working. Once upon a time, our name was Day Job Optional and we focused on digital nomadery of all kinds. We then niched down to freelance writing in order to provide the best possible mentorship to our audience. We moved some of our DJO blog posts over to the FWC website because we felt they would be inspiring and relevant. This is one of those posts. We hope you enjoy!
