Emphasize Accomplishments Over Tasks
After choosing a self-employed resume format, populate each work entry with relevant accomplishments, not simply tasks. For example, instead of listing that you “,” give a sense of the scope, volume and impact of these work products. Did your work allow your client to boost their digital presence or lead to increased online sales? If so, express these accomplishments in your resume with available data to back your claims.
Self Employment Skills Section In A Resume
Core Competencies: Key Skills and Strengths
- Ability to design strategies and observe performance metrics
- Cross-functional team management experience: Experience cooperating and working with cross company Executives
- Leadership and charisma
- Excellent organizational, presentation and negotiation skills.
- Networking
Give Yourself A Job Title
You may think you dont need an official title since you are your own boss. But theres a reason this is important on any freelancer resume. Assigning a job title makes it easier to reflect the nature of your work.
Be clear with what you do. Are you doing consulting work? Do you own a small business? Are you a contractor? Once youve made this clear, give yourself a title in line with what you do. You may note that you work as a freelance consultant or entrepreneur.
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What Are The Good Business Ideas
Explore this list of business ideas you can start making money with this year:
- Start a dropshipping business.
- Design and sell print-on-demand t-shirts.
- Launch your own book.
- Create digital products or online courses.
- Sell print-on-demand posters, greeting cards, and prints.
- Start a charitable business.
- Sell a service.
Should I Put Self Employed On Resume
Q: Should I add my self-employment to a resume? The short answer is yes!You can and should add self-employment experience to your resume! Self-employment and other forms of freelance work are great additions to your resume, especially for anyone whos dealing with employment gaps in their work history.
Besides, How do you start a business resume?
Start a resume writing business by following these 10 steps:
As well as What should I put on my self-employed resume? How to write a self-employed resume
Furthermore How do you write a resume for a small business owner?
Sections to include in a business owner resume
Is Self Employment considered work experience?
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What Defines A Verbal Contract
A verbal contract refers to an agreement between two parties that’s made âyou guessed itâ verbally.
Formal contracts, like those between an employee and an employer, are typically written down. However, some professional transactions take place based on verbally agreed terms.
Freelancers are a good example of this. Often, freelancers will take on projects having agreed on the terms and payment via the phone, or an email. Unfortunately, sometimes clients don’t pull through on their agreements, and hardworking freelancers can find themselves out of pocket and wondering whether a legal battle is worth all the hassle.
The main differences between written and oral contracts are that the former is signed and documented, whereas the latter is solely attributed to verbal communication.
Verbal contracts are a bit of a gray area for most people unfamiliar with contract law âwhich is most of us, right?â due to the fact that there’s no physical evidence to support the claims made by the implemented parties.
Freelance Graphic Designer Resume Sample
Graphic Designer, Mark Alphonse Art, San Diego, CA | January 2018 – Present
Collaborated with a wide range of clients – in industries including but not limited to hospitality and tourism, food and beverage, education and government – to create powerful graphics and visual concepts that met their specific requirements and goals.
- Launched brand identities for 20+ clients, including logo development, color schemes and font selection.
- Designed product packaging for a new line of dog food, helping the client stand out in their specific niche.
- Delivered high-quality graphic design work on limited schedules through effective time management and client communication.
Are you ready for more? Download right below the pack with 5 extra resume samples!
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Should I List My Startup Or Business On My Resume
Absolutely! I don’t know why listing startup experience on your resume even comes off as a concern for some job seekers.
Working on a startup or small business shows a lot of effective skills and traits regardless of your outcome. It shows leadership, critical thinking, and determination. Most employers and companies also like to see an entrepreneurial mindset in their employees, because entrepreneurship is all about delivering good service and making money/profit.
The only drawback you may face from a prospective employer is that it’s usually unverifiable. You can claim marvelous skills and knowledge you acquired but it would be nearly impossible to verify for an employer or recruiter. You would really have to prove yourself during the job interview.
Show You Are A Team Player
For all their positive qualities, the self-employed are sometimes still viewed as renegades of the workforce who march to their own drum. For this reason, employers will gauge your willingness to work for someone else again. Prove that you are a team player by highlighting the collaborative aspects of your self-employment. Having the courage to strike it out on your own as an independent worker is undoubtedly a strength. But so is demonstrating that you can contribute to the overall vision of an organization.
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Choose Fitting Job Titles
The self-employed are often prone to under-inflate their job titles. For example, the labels “consultant” or “freelancer” alone do not convey the scope of your experience or depth of your expertise. Instead, use a more fitting title for the work you performed, such as social media strategist or mobile app developer. In addition, highlight your managerial role in the business. For example, instead of writing “owner,” you can list what the role would be if you were hired by someone elseâ “owner” could be “president” or something equivalent.
Sample Job Description For Freelance And Self
I’ve listed below a sample freelance work description. Please note that, in this example, the client names were purposely excluded. However, you may want to name-drop the brands you’ve worked with, especially if they are relevant to your goals and well-known in your industry.
Communications & PR Consultant , San Diego, CA | 2016 Present
Offer communications and public relations support for clients in the pharmaceutical sector. Address clients’ needs, from message development and media outreach to materials creation and planning. Handle media relations, medical meeting support, competitive intelligence, and materials development for OTC health and pharmaceutical clients. Key projects include:
-
Increased consumer awareness for cervical cancer by developing campaign materials, including banner ads, print collateral, and copy for the microsite.
-
Doubled coverage and blog backlinks for a client with an OTC treatment for acid reflux by developing a new blogger sweepstake.
-
Researched, hired, and media trained new spokesperson to represent biotechnology company’s new treatment for exercise-induced asthma.
For more information on how to list self-employment, such as freelance assignments, independent contract, or other consulting work, check out the article, Resume Tips for Freelancers.
Read Amanda Augustine‘s answer to “Should I add my self-employment to a resume?” on Quora.
Need a gut check on your updated freelance resume? Request a free, objective resume review.
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When Should You Not List Your Startup Or Business
The only time you wouldn’t want to list your startup is when you’re still active or you were in the same industry as the company you’re applying for.
Why?
You don’t want to highlight a startup that you’re still running because if it eventually takes off, your hiring manager would expect you to leave. The last thing an employer wants to do is spend all that money hiring someone who may leave in a few months. They also want you focused on your current job and not your startup.
You also don’t want to mention your startup if it’s in the same exact industry. The hiring manager will think that you either want to grow your knowledge or obtain trade secrets to grow your own startup.
Even though these situations may not be your goal, it’s best to leave your startup off your resume in this case and focus on other relevant skills and work experience. If you have a large gap in your resume because of the startup you may want to use the functional resume format. You can read more here on how to deal with employment gaps on your resume.
Discuss Your Work Experience
Next, create a list of all work experience that is relevant to your field, starting with your most recent job. Mention the name of your employer, your role and your employment dates. Then, create a bulleted list of your primary responsibilities and contributions. Use action-oriented verbs to showcase what you did and what you accomplished.
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Take Pride In Your Experience As A Freelancer
Its only natural to experience disappoint when a self-employment opportunity doesnt work out the way you intended. Almost everyone experiences employment setbacks during the course of a career, and you should always take pride in your time spent as a freelancer. Use your resumes objective statement to highlight your passion and ambition, and explain how these traits translate to your new role with the prospective employers company. The fact that you ran a business makes you a more desirable candidate not less in the eyes of many hiring managers.
Because most employers want to know why youre making the switch from freelance to in-house, its a good idea to address this question head-on in your resume or cover letter. Instead of saying you started your own company to escape a bad work situation or for the opportunity of being your own boss, stress the fact that you wanted to seek new challenges and improve client services. Since supervisors may worry about you striking out on your own again, strive to reassure them that youre ready to build a long and lasting career with their company. Employers want to feel confident that theyre your first choice, so let them know youre ready to leave freelancing behind and join the corporate world once again.
How To Write A Self
To create a resume that highlights your self-employment history effectively, use the following formatting guidelines:
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How To Write A Cv When You’re Self
Adding gig work to your CV can play to your creativity and strengths.
Just because you’re self-employed, it doesn’t mean you can’t add this valuable experience to your CV. Whether your freelance work is your primary job or a side gig, it deserves to be documented on your CV, not only because it’s a fundamental component of your employment history, but also because it plays to your strengths.
Understandably, it can seem a little tricky adding self-employed work to your CV because it’s somewhat untraditional. But CVs are relatively flexible in structure and formatting they can be tweaked and tailored to display your winning traits in the best possible way and impress a prospective employer.
With that in mind, here’s what to consider when including self-employed work on your CV. This article gives answers to all of the questions you may have on how to list self-employment and freelance work.
How To List Contract Work On Resume
Questions Answered
Should you add self-employment to your resume?
How to list contract work on a resume
Self employed job description example
Freelance resume sample doc
Can you put your own business on resume?
Freelance work is growing at a crazy pace.
Over a third of the US workforce has done freelance work at some point in their career, and it currently contributes $1.4 trillion to the US economy .
With a good majority of us working these side gigs, its crucial to document it within your resume correctly. But how?
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C Write Inclusive Dates
The reason behind this tip is to avoid the employment gap on the resume. Patching this up is better than leaving your work history with gaps. These are clearly red flags to employers, especially if you dont have a valid reason behind them.
Your self-employed years are evidence of your career progress. So, before writing your resume, check out our resume writing tips.
List Your Technical And Soft Skills
Next, list all relevant technical and soft skills you possess. Depending on your field, you may want to include the software platforms you use, the computer languages you know or other keywords that potential clients and employers seek. Mention your level of fluency when applicable.
Related:10 Best Skills to Include on a Resume
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When Is A Verbal Agreement Legally Binding
For any contract to be binding, there are four major elements which need to be in place. The crucial elements of a contract are as follows:
Therefore, an oral agreement has legal validity if all of these elements are present. However, verbal contracts can be difficult to enforce in a court of law. In the next section, we take a look at how oral agreements hold up in court.
Including Your Startup Self
It’s really hard to emphasize your enthusiasm to join a company after a failed startup on your resume. This is why a cover letter is a great place to state your case.
Remember that one of the biggest questions the hiring manager will have on his mind is “how long until this guy starts his own company again”?
This would be better explained if you’re called in for the interview. You want to emphasize that you want to stay and grow with the company for the long term. There are some points you should include on the cover letter which will help lead to the interview.
You want to emphasize these two points on a cover letter:
-
You’re excited for the opportunity to work for the company and be part of a team
-
Your skills and knowledge gained from your startup are relevant and perfect for the position
Here is an example:
After working on my startup XYZ for the past 2 years, I’ve gained a deep knowledge of marketing, customer acquisition and sales. I’m very enthusiastic about joining where I’m confident that my skills and knowledge will help grow the company for the long term. I feel my experience fits in perfectly with the position open and would be grateful for the opportunity to interview.
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Link Out To Work Samples
Workers who are self-employed over a long period of time can build significantly on their old skill set. Mentally review the skills you have gained and add those that align with your target job to your resume. One of the best sources of self-employment resume help is your own personal portfolio of work samples. Include a link to your portfolio on your resume. Your work samples will not only offer tangible proof of the skills on your resume. They will also help document your self-employment as a period in your work history you are proud ofâ not one you want to hide.
Identify The Best Way To Structure Your Self
The layout of your CV is critical. If your employment history isn’t documented in a clear and consistent format, the HR manager may end up confused and shift their focus to the next candidate.
If you’ve swapped your nine-to-five for a full-time freelancing gig, it might be best to weave your self-employment into your Employment History section, like a freelance CV. Essentially, you would be presenting your self-employment as another role that sits neatly in your timeline of past positions.
Alternatively, if your freelance work is a side gig, you might like to introduce a new section outside of your career highlights that summarises the nature of your work and the projects you’ve undertaken.
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But Dont List Everything
While you certainly want to showcase the projects that youâre most proud of, be careful not to try to squeeze every single freelance project youâve ever worked on onto your resume. Only list the jobs that are strategically relevant to the job that youâre applying for. If youâre applying for a web developer position, you donât need to list the freelance transcription projects that you took on when you were just starting out.
Similarly, do not create individual headings for each project instead, summarize your freelance work within a single heading. The only exception to this would be if you changed your freelance career for example, if you started as a web designer but then moved on to web content writing.