Thanks again for your work,
John

I know I’m late in finding this one, but I just wanted to say thank you for a great post. I’m breaking into freelance, and it’s really helping me out. I think my “new and improved resume” looks a lot sharper and cleaner. Thanks again!

- Tanya

Also, is it a good idea to include published books you have written. I self-published a book. However, it has not really sold many copies. I’m continuing to work on my niche. Perhaps I should leave it off?

All and all, this article was very helpful indeed!
Lizjul

Those tailored letters will hopefully get you more writing work so you can later build a resume that will not be just full of money-making fillers, but one that will IMPRESS.

For resumes that are requested by email, I submit my links as active so they can just click on them – rather than have to type out or try to copy and paste. I think it looks a little better, but that’s just my opinion.

By ‘active’ I mean I type up the title of the piece and insert the url in the popup box (in Thunderbird click on ‘insert’ then ‘link’). Voila! An active link with no messy url stuff, but they know what they are clicking on.

For printed resumes – I don’t know a way around it. I have just put the whole darn thing in there.

Is there a more professional way to list the website where most of my work is archived? I did not have it listed on my resume because the link is pretty long. Any advice on how to do this?

Thanks.

Kimi

@ Dani: I still draw on idea and things I learned from my first job today, so all experience can be used as part of your freelance writing repertoire. I actually got hired for my first article writing job with no clips and no resume. The client gave me a test article and I went from there. I did make a mistake with it; it was much shorter than what he had asked for. But he did give me the chance to fix it (and prove that I could actually read instructions) and I wrote for him for several months.

You are right that one thing leads into the next and everyone starts somewhere. And thank for the kind comments about FWJ! The people who visit here are truly special.

I update my master resume as I get significant items to add to it, and I then update the appropriate topic and genre specific resumes. This post by Jodee has given me some ideas as to how to revamp the format style I have been using into something that may well be more effective in presentation.

On my website, I have the master copy, with links to sections so that anyone accessing it online may just click on relevant heading links rather than having to read a bunch of stuff that doesn’t apply.

Its funny how many writing jobs I have seen that actually want other experience and skills as well. I have even seen a few that seem to stress certain education, degrees, and work experiences more than writing experience. It reminds me of that saying about if you sit somewhere long enough everyone will pass you (I’ve heard several versions of it). If you search writing job ads long enough, you will see something for everyone at every skill and experience level.

All of us started somewhere – if you are new to writing, just hang in there and keep trying. Just as it did for us, something will come along for you! There are lots of ways to get clips, and even certain content mills and blogging can lead to bigger and better things.

One of the best things I did was find this site and apply the advice given by the writers here and many of the community members. There is a lot of true talent around here – and a lot of very helpful and kind folks.

Good luck to the newbies!

If I’m going to be including my non-writing work history on my writing resume (I don’t have a lot of writing experience quite yet), how far back should I go, and how much should I include? I have the problem that semi-relevant work history (library clerk, office assistant) is sandwiched between completely irrelevant work history (retail, janitorial). If I include everything, then my resume is going to get pretty long, but if I skip over the irrelevant jobs, I have big gaps in my work history. (It’s not that I intentionally did a lot of job-hopping, it’s just that I had different work-study jobs every year in college.)

How long is too long when it comes to a resume? I’ve always heard that it shouldn’t be longer than one page, but I can’t imagine how a person can possibly fit everything important onto one page, especially not if you’re using TNR 12 and appropriate line breaks for readablity.

Hope that helps.

One question: Your resume here sounds an awful lot (or at least gives the same information) as what I would write in a cover letter, particularly for some blind craigslist ad (i.e., “Large company needs web content on a variety of subjects, send resume and clips”). I generally try to tailor my cover letter for each application, but sometimes they don’t make it easy. In that case would you skip the cover letter? What would you write in its place? Seems like I should write more than just, “I saw your ad on craiglsist and I would like to apply. I have attached my resume and three clips.” But at the same time I don’t want to repeat everything I say in my resume…

@ Lynn: I would include your previous employment and your writing credits, paid or not. All of those details help give the employer an idea of who you are and what you can do.

I rely more on clips than a resumé… which can be limiting but that’s how I do it for now, as I’m building myself. (Like I said, not an expert on this, but just sharing.) I include one clip that’s very descriptive and the link to it online, and then include another that’s very long and thorough and well-researched, and mention that I’m passing it along to demonstrate my research skills.

Tailoring the first letter shows them your writing skills, as do the clips; giving them a chance to research how great local newspaper x/publication y is, – if they are gonna take the time to do that – doesn’t necessarily. I think it’s your skill that should get you the job, while experience is like icing… because there are great writers with limited resume experience to list (feel like it will look unimpressive? Impress with the cover letter/ application letter), who need to impress otherwise. If you have a lengthy resume, great, but if you don’t, I’d say make your ‘recent clips’ bangin. (I read about this in Six Figure Freelance, the book that got me started, excuse the plug, but it really did help me).

Vague language can sometimes be helpful to get you in the door. And I amp up my interest in the subject – genuine, as I try to write about things that interest me – and mention my work ethic and passion for what I do. *I never say anything untrue,* but sometimes I’m more general or more specific, depending on the job. I try to come across as confident as possible, even if saying I’m honestly less experienced. That often means saying: “My experience in x is limited, BUT I HAVE DONE y, and hope to do more of x at (name of publication).”

IMHO, you have to show them that you care; resumés can do this, but not necessarily; it depends who you are, and I think we all just have to figure out what works for us. I am building my resumé, though, and hope to make it work for me more in the future and this post was very helpful!

I wanted to mention that my resumes includes a short list of my home-office equipment (strange as that may seem, it’s helped a few times). That way a client already knows I have additional tools that may be needed for the job (DSL, a full-function fax machine, laser printer, etc.).

I read you every time you post because I have alerted google on the keyword Freelance writer and you appear in my inbox.

HOw about adding your website address, if you have one, at the end of the resume if your list of articles published is really long but you want the client to know? The website can be an updated one.

For my own resumes, I actually have three different ones — one for literary writing, one for copywriting and one for internet marketing/e-writing. I think it’s important that when you’re vying for an assignment, that you brand and position yourself as specifically suited for the type of work that’s being advertised, instead of throwing a generic resume and list of writing credits their way.

Also, I keep a word document of both my publication credits as well as a list of links to my online samples. This comes in very handy — just make sure you stay on top of this and keep it current each week.

Thanks for the timely and topical post, Jodee!