How to Incorporate Freelance Work Into a Resume
Working as a freelancer is an ideal way to gain experience, chart your own course and bridge employment gaps. Taking full- or part-time work as a freelancer is also a way to enhance a resume. While it might seem like you need to pay special heed to alerting prospective employers to your freelance work compared to your "permanent" positions, when properly incorporated into a resume, freelance work blends in seamlessly alongside your other information. There are no requirements to add a neon sign or red flag denoting your freelance experiences.
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Instructions
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Open a word processing document and create a linear list of your work, starting with the most current, including all freelance and nonfreelance jobs. Type the company name where applicable, job title where applicable, dates of employment where applicable and job responsibilities and achievements.
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Eliminate any freelance experience that does not directly relate to the job being applied for. If you freelanced in an area that touches on the responsibilities, equipment or software required for this new position, include it. If the work is unrelated, leave it off the resume to save valuable space for something else.
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Click into the first section of freelance work on the resume. If you freelanced for an umbrella organization and want to include the name of the company, add it to the resume. Leave the job title as is; there is no need to add "freelancer." Use "graphic designer" instead of "freelance graphic designer."
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Delete any placeholder company name you had typed if your freelance time was spent working for yourself. If you run your own business, type its name as the employer, such as "Janofsky Graphic Design." Otherwise, simply leave "Graphic Designer" and the dates of freelance work to stand on the resume.
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Include information about your projects and clients, although naming specifics is not required. Type "Created logos for 15 national clients; designed 20 monthly newsletters and three local commercials for auto dealers."
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Add hyperlinks or Web addresses to samples of your freelance work where applicable, such as online portfolio sites. You can collect these at the bottom of the resume in the "Work Samples" section or disburse them throughout in the sections where the freelance work is listed.
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Tips & Warnings
For a resume that is entirely built around freelance work, arrange the resume in a functional, rather than chronological, format. Both the National American University and Los Angeles Valley College advise this format for freelancers because it highlights skills and achievements over places worked and job titles. Functional resumes offer a list of the applicant's skills -- usually in boldface type -- followed by a short paragraph of explanation each.
