9 Tips How to Write A Properly and Technically Correct Resume for Freelance Writers

By Dante Munnis

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As a freelance writer, your portfolio of work will be what speaks the loudest to a potential client or agency, however many of the higher paying writing gigs will also require to you send in a traditional resume as well. 

This is nothing to worry about though, as the type of resume you’ll want to create as a freelance retire is essentially the same as a standard resume, the only real difference being that as a writer, you’ll want to place a greater emphasis on your skill set, previous clients, specific projects you’ve worked on, and to some extent, your educational background. 

However, since you are in fact a writer, by presenting the relevant information in a way that shows off your superior skills, you will give yourself a much better chance of being offered the freelance job you’re applying for. So let loose and put your writing talent to work creating an impressive, top-flight resume. 

Here are some tips on how to write a proper and technically correct resume that will get you hired.

1. Keep It Brief

Something that professional writers understand that others do not is how to effectively get the most impact from as few words as possible. This syncs up perfectly with how human resource experts say that you want to keep your resume under two pages long. You want to give your potential client or employer with a quick, easy read. 

Remember, a resume is designed to intrigue an employer into wanting to learn more about you, not as an endgame.  If your prospective client likes what he sees, he will then ask to learn more about you.

2. Make A Good First Impression

It takes about three seconds for someone to get a first impression of a person, and when looking over a job site a potential client can decide if she likes what she sees even faster than that. So it’s essential that your resume be nice looking and well organized. Also, include a professionally shot photo of yourself, or at least a well-taken picture in order for give your resume a personal touch that will draw clients to you.

In the case of creating a hard copy resume, the texture and thickness of the papers used can play a significant part into the resume’s overall presentation. Go with classic 8.5 x 11” sized, 24 or 22 pound white paper.

3. Use Proper Format

Although you might feel the urge to get creative with your resume, you want to stick to basics. Your only concern is to create a document that both informative and professional. Avoid underlining or bolding words, keep your use of italics to a minimal and only use caps when necessary. Numbered or bulleted points can be a big plus, but you want to make sure you apply them correctly.

4. Create Headings

While writing headings seems simple, and maybe not even that big of a deal, it’s crucial that your headings are both consistent, clear, and relevant to the information below them. Make sure your headings are all aligned at the same margin and maintain identical line spacing between each heading and the content below it, the last thing you want if for your resume to appear sloppy or awkward.

5. Select A Proper Font

As with formatting, you want to keep things nice and conventional with your font selection. Employers can smoke out an amateur if a resume uses different fonts, so make sure you go with something classic and stick with it. You want your wording to sell your professionalism and skills, so do not try to impress anyone by getting cute by being creative or changing things up.

6. Be Careful About Which Content You Include

You want to always be customizing the content of your resume based on the particular job you are applying to. Pay close attention to the requirements included in the job description and then shape your key objective around what your resume needs to have in it to impress the potential employer. Your primary concern is to show the employer what they want to see, and if you need to, using a professional writing site can give you a big boost. Loading your resume up with content – no matter how amazing it is – that does not match the what an employer is looking for is a great way to get your resume quickly tossed aside. 

7. Highlight Your Top Accomplishments

The part of your resume where you can really capture the interest of a potential client is the achievements section because it is the chance to show off all the great writings you have done for your previous clients. But as I mentioned in the section about content, make sure you only include achievements that a client would consider relevant, i.e. you’re presenting yourself as a strong writer with the skills and professionalism that will make your employer very happy – nothing more, nothing less.

8. Stay Away From Useless Jargon

As a writer, you will naturally be held to higher standard over the words you choose. However, an effective resume does not call for big, fancy words; a client wants to see a resume that gets its information across in a clear, concise way with practical, commonplace words. Remember, you want to present yourself as someone who is easy to work with and how easily your resume reads will be a potential client’s first experience with that. 

9. Proofread

With all the work you have just put in to create a top-notch resume, you want to give your resume a solid read-through to check for any simple punctuation or grammatical mistakes. Get rid of any extra spaces between words and watch out for any typos that the spell-checker will not catch. Do this, and you can be confident you are sending out a cohesive, flawless piece. 

Summary

It is never a lot of fun writing or reworking your resume, and when you are a freelance writer, you sometimes might feel a little extra pressure to impress with your words. However, as I have laid out above, there is no need to get fancy or try to dazzle. Clients and agencies just what to see what your skill set is and that you are a trustworthy professional.  So just follow the tips laid out above and you will create a great resume that will impress anyone.  

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