How Often Should You Update Your Resume?

A resume is an important job search tool for freelance writers. Not all prospective clients ask to see one. For those clients who do, we want to present ourselves in the best possible way, and an updated resume is a must if we want to do that.

How often should this important document be updated? Ideally, you will update your resume when you have new experience or updated skills to add to it. I’m the first person to admit that I’m not always right on top of things when it comes to my resume. I do take a look at it very few months and make changes as necessary, though.

When you take a look at your resume, do more than just add your new experience to it. Go through the whole document carefully. You may want to make changes in the way you have described your previous work experience or other parts of your resume. As you add more freelance writing work experience, you may want to shorten or change the descriptions of your previous employment experience to keep the employer’s focus on your experience with writing, editing, blogging, etc.

If you have been applying for a lot of freelance writing gigs that you feel you are a good fit for but you aren’t getting hired, it may be a sign that you need to revamp your resume. This document may be the only opportunity you get to show a potential client who you are and what you can do for them, and you need to make sure that you make the best first impression you can.

If it’s been awhile since you’ve gone over your resume, review it and make changes as needed. This step is just as important to your business as any of your other marketing efforts.

Listing Multiple Clients on Your Freelance Writing Resume

Preparing a freelance writer’s resume is a little different from writing one where your goal is to find a job. A functional resume, where you focus on your skills and achievements, is a style option that you may want to consider. Can you make the more traditional chronological style work for you? Sure you can.

The Challenge With a Chronological Format for Freelancers

The challenge (notice I didn’t say problem) with preparing a chronological resume when you are a freelancer is that you may be juggling multiple clients at once, do a few one-time-only assignments, and have some dry spells in between. If this sounds like your professional life; relax, it’s not uncommon.

You may be reluctant to list everyone you have done work for in chronological order because of the gaps in the time, or (gasp) because you only worked with the client on one project. Working freelance and having a series of assignments of different lengths is not an indication that you “can’t hold a job.” It’s the way that freelancers roll.

Listing Your Writing Experience on Your Resume

What you want to do with your resume is to tell the person reading it about your experience so that they can determine whether you would be a good fit for their project. My suggestion for listing your experience looks something like this:

2002-Present
Self-Employed Freelance Writer, Blogger, etc.

Provided freelance writing services to several clients [including....]
[You can name names or choose not to - your preference]

Assignments included [SEO articles, web copy, ebooks, blog posts....] on the following topics [list them here]

I have used this strategy on my resume, since it also lists the work I did before I started freelancing. The point where I started my business is listed like another employer – except the employer is me.

If you use a chronological resume, how do you set out your freelance writing experience?

Transferable Skills and Your Resume

We get lots of questions from our readers about resumes for freelance writers. Whether you are looking for your first freelance writing gig or you have some experience under your belt, it can be challenging to figure out exactly what to include in your resume.

Your writer’s resume will list your writing experience, and I include other work experience on mine as well. I want the person reading it to get a good idea of who I am and what skills I bring to the table when I’m applying for freelance work. I also want to make sure that I include transferable skills in my resume and cover letter when I’m looking for work.

What are transferable skills? They are ones that you can use in many jobs, and they apply to freelance writing gigs as well. Here are a few transferable skills that you will want to focus on when you are communicating with a potential client:

• Ability to Work Well Under Pressure
• Analyzing
• Computer Skills
• Conducting Research
• Editing
• Organizing
• Problem Solving
• Proofreading

You will also want to point out to someone in a position to hire you that you have these desirable skills as well:

• Ability to Follow Instructions
• Attention to Detail
• Flexibility
• Good Communication Skills

Freelance writing is more than just stringing a few words together, and you need to tell potential clients about all the skills you bring to the table. It gives them a better idea of who they will we working with when they decide to hire you.

Which transferable skills do you think are most important for freelancers?

Non-Paying Work and Your Resume

When you are preparing your writing resume, do you include work that you have done for free? You should!

The purpose of sending a prospective client your resume is to share some information about your background, education, and work experience. All the writing you have done, whether you have been paid for it or not, is part of your experience, and you should add it to your resume. When someone is considering whether they want to work with you, they care about your experience, not whether you actually got paid.

If you had to write papers in college, then that is writing experience. Many jobs have some element of writing in them, and this is also experience that you can put on a resume. You may have been responsible for contributing to a newsletter for your church or another organization on a volunteer basis, and that counts as writing experience too.

Your resume is not a static document that you prepare once and then you’re done. (Yes, I can hear the collective groan as you read this.) Every so often, you need to review it and make changes as necessary. As you gain experience and have more information to add to the resume, you can update it to focus on your more recent work.

When I was starting out, I wrote for a couple of web sites on a volunteer basis. The experience gave me some samples to show to prospective clients. I still list them on my resume and no one has asked whether (or how much) I got paid for writing them.

Do you include paid and non-paid writing on your resume or do you list paid work only?