Whether you want to express interest in working with a company, or send out a mass e-mail to various companies to ask them to keep your CV on file for potential positions, the one thing you’ll need to do is perfect your CV. And when initiating a conversation with a potential employer — especially online — we suggest that you do not even wait for them to ask for your CV. Attach it to your e-mail or to your proposal and save the employer the time and effort of circling back and asking to look at the document. 

Perhaps one of the biggest fears many freelancers have is the daunting prospect that one day we might end up without a CV we would be proud of. Thus finding a way to build an interesting CV that would stand out — especially if your career is in freelance — can be time-consuming and occasionally mystifying. But there are benefits to adding your freelance jobs on your CV. Here are a few of them…

• The wide skillset you will be able to show off — Have you been reading through job descriptions and the “desirable qualifications” sections lately? Those lists keep growing longer! Make sure you work on diversified freelance projects which can expand your skillsets. Don’t be scared to turn down a freelance job opportunity for another more interesting one that challenges you and could potentially fill a gap in your CV.
• Short-term projects are in no way less important than full-time jobs — Remember: it’s the way you showcase your work experience that matters most. Some people learn in three weeks way more than what others may spend a year trying to absorb (and sometimes never do). Don’t give too much thought to the time you must have spent on a job, but rather what you learned to do in whatever time you had.
• Freelancing can help you make your CV more adaptable — What is nice about that two-page document is that it will feature whatever you write in it. This doesn’t mean you can include false information (please don’t) but it is totally fine — preferable even — not to mention every single position you have filled starting kindergarten. Choose wisely and have several versions of your CV. If you’re applying for a writing job, for instance, you would want potential employers to be directly able to eyeball the amount of experience you have had working on doing research, conducting interviews, editing, and carrying out writing assignments. If you’re a freelancer, that experience will have been diverse, and likely large in numbers.

Needless to say, always remember to use the right CV style and put yourself in the employer’s shoes. What is it that you aim to achieve by sending out your CV to that specific person? Is it an interview you would really like to sit for, an informal meeting you would like to get with the person, or perhaps you would like your CV to motivate the person to make a certain decision? Do not only be the person who submits CVs, but put yourself on the receiving end, as well.

If you’re feeling inspired and want to kickstart your freelance career, reach out to Ureed.com, and become part of a network of 35K+ freelancers from across 150+ industries.