Help With a Resume for an Independent Contractor
Independent contractors gain a wide range of work experience, which can benefit them as they seek out new projects. However, presenting this experience in a well-organized and easy-to-understand way on a resume often presents a challenge. Independent contractors do not want to sell themselves short, but they also don't want to include pages and pages on every detail of their work experience. There are strategies for designing a winning resume for independent contractors.
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Skills Section
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A chronological resume works well for someone who holds a long-term, steady job with a few companies, but it simply does not work for an independent contractor. Contractors should create functional resumes, which organize their experience around skills rather than jobs. This way, they can showcase their work without it sounding like a laundry list of short-term projects. For example, a contract technical writer can separate her work experience into projects, like "Technical Manuals" or "Instructions and Help Files," or skills, like "Aviation Technical Writing" and "Software Technical Writing."
Work Experience
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Although the focus of an independent contractor's resume should be on skills, not companies or positions, a potential employer will want some information about a contractor's clients or employers. Therefore, it is essential to include a work experience section on the functional resume, below the skills sections, that lists work history. This section can be a simple bullet-point list listing the position, organization, location and dates of employment.
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Gaps in Employment
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Independent contractors might have more gaps in their employment history than traditional employees. They might work on multiple contracts at one time for several months and then have a break until the next contract begins. Fortunately, the functional resume design makes these gaps in employment less noticeable. Rather than reading the job tasks associated with each job, the potential employer will be focusing on skills developed over a long career. While employment dates are a part of this resume design, they are less of a focal point than on a chronological resume.
Contract Work and Full-Time Work
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Independent contractor resumes might feature a mix of contract work and more traditional full-time work. This mix of work might be challenging to present. However, independent contractors following the functional resume style can focus on skills and then list their contract and full-time positions chronologically under work experience. If the independent contractor chooses a chronological resume format instead, he can divide his jobs into two sections, such as "Professional Experience" and "Freelance Experience."
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