Fulfilled Freelance-Writer Resume Examples, Template & Top Skills

The good part about being a freelance-writer is we have technical advantages compared to typing on a typewriter. Additionally, we also have job boards like UpWork and Fiverr to help aspiring freelance-writers get on board from scratch. To do that you need an updated freelance-writer resume.

In this article, we will discuss freelance-writer resume examples. Hence, if you are a freelance-writer then this guide is for you. So hang on for a minute and you will get to read the freelance-writer resume.

The word meaning of freelance-writer works online individually for many potential clients. The platform through which a freelancer writer works can be online job boards like UpWork or Fiverr or it can a personal website.

In other words, a freelance-writer is not a 10 to 6 employee since time restrictions and fixed monthly salary don't apply to a freelancer. The amazing fact about the freelance segment is that any individual with job-related key skills can become a freelancer.

For example, if you know programming languages then you can become a freelance programmer or even a freelance website developer. The potential is unlimited.

Freelance-Writer v/s Other Writers

The primary differences between a freelance-writer and other writers are as follows.

Freelance-writers draw monthly income whereas normal writers get a salary if they are working in an online marketing company or some other industry.

Other writers are bounded by time limits whereas freelance-writers have flexible working hours. Not to mention, freelance-writers can be extremely productive due to adjustable work timings as they can take frequent breaks. That's a huge difference.

The earning potential of freelance-writers is unlimited because they have the liberty to work for more than one potential client simultaneously. On the contrary, other writers are employed in one place serving a single employer with a fixed salary. Their growth is premature.

With the above-mentioned points in mind, here's a freelance-writer resume example for your reference.

Freelance-Writer Resume Example

Writing a Freelance-Writer Resume

Now that you have an idea of what a freelance-writer resume looks like let's see how individual resume sections of a freelance-writer are written. Below you will read section-wise detailed explanations along with examples.

The examples will show you how to write that particular section using comparative samples. So here's the freelance-writer resume writing part for you.

Resume Format of a Freelance-Writer

A resume format is an essential part of a freelance-writer resume. It primarily focuses on two critical parts - the work history and the education of freelance-writers.

Before that, you need to know what types of resume formats are available and which one is best suited to write a freelance-writer resume. Following is the list of major resume formats.

• Reverse chronological format
• Functional resume format
• Hybrid or combination format

To create a freelance-writer resume we will use the reverse chronological resume format. This format is particularly used by certified professional resume writer across the globe.

Freelance-Writer Resume Structure

After format, the resume structure is the next big thing and is much easy to follow. Without much ado let's list the critical component in a resume structure. Here we go.

• Resume header (with job title)
• Resume summary
• Work history
• Education
• Key skills
• Additional details

All in all, there are six crucial sections in a freelance-writer resume.

Resume Header in a Freelance-Writer Resume

A resume header is the starting point when you begin writing a resume. This is the easiest part therefore let it be simple and readable. Mention details like name, job title, city, state, and contact information.

There are no reasons to make an easy task a complex one. Further, if you do that the hiring manager will simply put your resume aside citing it as a difficult one to read. To help you we have good and bad examples of resume header sections to write in a freelance-writer resume.

Right

Donald E. Edwin

Freelance-Writer

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

+1 717-333-5285

donaldedwin@dayrep.com

Wrong

Donald E. Edwin

Freelance-Writer

Food & Marketing Niche

3261 Stout Street

Harrisburg, PA 17101

+1 717-333-5285

donaldedwin@dayrep.com

kookymoi.com

Height 5' 7" (170 centimeters)

Weight 133.5 pounds (60.7 kilograms)

Professional Summary in a Freelance-Writer Resume

A resume summary comes immediately after the resume header but beware that both of them are completely different from each other. In the header your write personal information whereas in a professional resume summary, you describe your experience, key skills, achievements, and eligibility for a particular job.

Since this section is essential there are certain critical aspects of writing it smartly so that your freelance-writer resume passes through the application tracking system. First, read the job description carefully published by potential clients or employers to whom you are making job applications.

Second, search and mark keywords mentioned in the job description related to job duties. For example, Microsoft word, writing samples, etc. These keywords could be a phrase or action verbs.

Note them and include them in the professional resume summary. You can also make a separate skills section first and then integrate skills in the summary. Most importantly, don't stretch the summary statement to more than two or three sentences.

The good and bad examples of a professional summary below explain how it is done in a freelance-writer resume.

Right

Devoted, diligent freelance-writer with 8+ years of experience having exceptional writing skills in generating quality content for niche blogs and websites. Focused on creating value, increasing monthly visitor counts, and keeping bounce rate in control. Increased visitor engagement for food blogs as much as 1 million hits monthly.

Wrong

Devoted, diligent freelance-writer with 8+ years of experience. I have exceptional writing skills in generating quality content. Increased customer engagement by up to 1 million hits monthly.

Work History in a Freelance-Writer Resume

Ahh! The most-read resume section by hiring managers. Your past work experience is the turning point where either you will make it to the finishing line or skid. It's tricky, however.

To write an engaging freelance-writer resume follow the steps mentioned above. Do not limit the employment history to two or three sentences. Scan the job description for key phrases and action verbs or make a separate skills section beforehand.

Include the keywords or action verbs in the job experience segment to convince not only hiring managers but also to make your work experience ATS-compatible. Refer to the good and bad examples of work history down under and see how it is written to create an effective freelance-writer resume.

Right

Freelance-Writer

Content Writing & Online Marketing

May 2015 - Ongoing

• 580+ blog articles written for food blog ninjafoods.io with an average word count of 8000+ words per article.
• 500+ video scripts written for Ninja Foods YouTube channel including SEO-charged title descriptions, keywords, tags, and subtitles.
• Creating content for online marketing blogs like listicles, short articles, and highly researched lengthy blog posts having an average word count of 2000+ words per article.
• Developed newsletter content for Super Design Zone and managed the in-house blog page of the company. Average 4 articles per week having a word count of 2000+ per blog post.
• Successfully launched a personal blog in the Wellness niche and ranked it on top of SERPs in 8 months using a unique content strategy and digital marketing best practices.
• Developed 12+ WordPress websites for diverse clients using Divi themes providing services like performing research, content writing, and SEO following tight deadlines.

Wrong

Freelance-Writer

Content Writing & Online Marketing

May 2015 - Ongoing

• 580+ blog articles written for a food blog.
• 500+ video scripts written for a YouTube channel.
• Quality content written for online marketing blogs.
• Developed newsletter content and managed blog page.
• Successfully launched a personal blog in the Wellness niche.
• Developed 12+ WordPress websites for diverse clients.

Education Section in a Freelance-Writer Resume

After the header section, the second easiest segment in your freelance-writer's resume is none other than adding the education details. Let's quickly show you the academic information in resume templates instead of discussing it. Here it is.

• Name of the degree
• College/university
• City, state
• Year of graduation
• Major subjects
• GPA

For demo purposes the list above is in bullet points otherwise it is not. Major subjects and GPA are optional. Moreover, you must not write your GPA if it is less than 3.0. Go through the job ad carefully to find out the minimum qualification for a freelance writing job. Hence, here are good and bad examples of the education section in a freelance-writer's resume.

Right

Bachelor's degree in Arts & Literature

Harrisburg College of Arts

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

2010-2013

GPA 4.0 (last 2 years)

Wrong

Arts & Literature Graduate

Harrisburg College of Arts

Year of Graduation 2013

Skills Section in a Freelance-Writer Resume

A freelance writing job is not limited to a set of only key skills. You need to have a little technical understanding of tools like Grammarly, WordPress, Keyword research tools, Google Analytics, and a lot more things.

If you go through the freelance-writer resume example above you will find a list of technical expertise written in bullet points in the skills section. This is to make a hiring manager believe that you have all the competence they are searching for in a freelance-writer.

Read how you should be listing your skills in freelance-writer resumes using the good and bad examples of the skills section.

Right

Technical Skills

• Competitive analysis
• Word processing
• Drafting newsletters
• Niche research
• Keyword research
• SEO knowledge
• WordPress CMS expert
• Theme installation
• Hosting setup

Soft Skills

• Time management
• Strong research skills
• Self-motivated
• Disciplined
• Ability to work for long hours

Wrong

Key Skills

• Competitive analysis
• Word processing
• Drafting newsletters
• Niche research
• Keyword research
• SEO knowledge
• WordPress CMS expert
• Theme installation
• Hosting setup
• Time management
• Strong research skills
• Self-motivated
• Disciplined
• Ability to work for long hours

Additional Details in a Freelance-Writer Resume

A prospective client or hiring managers will focus on details that are directly related to the content development segment. For instance, what style of writing does the freelance-writer have? It is conversational, error-free, and readable enough. Does he have the capacity to handle new topics and can he justify it?

Hence all these questions can come up while writing a freelance-writer resume. This is why we have included good and bad examples of writing additional details in a freelance-writer resume.

Right

Writing Style

• Expository
• Descriptive
• Narrative
• Persuasive

Avid Follower

• ProBlogger - Darren Rowse
• BackLinko - Brian Dean
• Smart Passive Income - Pat Flynn
• Neil Patel
• Gary Vaynerchuk aka GaryVee
• CopyBlogger

Wrong

• The narrative style to write that I have learned from online bloggers.
• Follow world-famous bloggers like Neil Patel & GaryVee

Freelance-Writer Resume Objective

An objective statement is written only if the applicant is not experienced. In short, beginners use resume objective. So how will you write a freelance-writer resume objective?

The process is once again the same. Start with the job duties mentioned in the job ad published for a freelance writing job. Not all the action verbs and key phrases. Now formulate an objective statement that is 2-3 sentences long. Avoid long paragraphs otherwise a hiring manager or potential clients won't even read it.

Must-Have Action Verbs and Words in a Freelance-Writer Resume

You have been reading that note action verbs and keywords from the job ad and adding them to freelance-writer resumes. But what are these key phrases and how do they look? To get you familiar with them we have listed some must-have terms.

• Content creation
• Past work
• Unique skills
• Quality content
• Increased customer engagement
• Strict deadlines
• Grammatical errors
• Experience writing
• Microsoft word
• Diverse clients
• Content marketing
• Online portfolio
• Performing research
• Press releases
• Prospective client
• Organizational skills
• Writing samples
• Writing services
• Time management
• Writing portfolio
• Freelance writing career
• Soft skills
• Writing skills
• Freelance-writers

FAQs about Freelance-Writer Resume

Who is a certified professional resume writer?

There's a difference between a certified professional resume writer and a freelance-writer. The latter has key skills to write on a plethora of topics whereas a certified professional resume writer has core expertise to write resumes in microsoft word, Google docs, or other tools. However, both of them have experience writing for a prospective client.

Do I need to send a cover letter with my freelance-writer resume?

Although a freelance writing career is not bounded by time and place still if you need to write a resume that means you are planning to make job applications for a particular job at distinct places. Under that condition, a cover letter is a must. Either learn how to write it from scratch just like a resume or use a resume builder to write a cover letter for yourself.

How to include writing samples in a freelance writing resume?

Writing samples are indeed a preferable source for hiring managers and potential clients when they are either hiring or purchasing the writing services of a freelance-writer. In other words, an online portfolio can also substitute samples if you are a seasoned writer. Add site links, screenshots, or Google drive links. You can also send PDF samples along with the job application and cover letter.