Top freelance consultant sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
Writing a strong freelance consultant experience section
Freelance Consultant Resume Experience Section: Ultimate Checklist
- Use no more than 4-6 bullet points per position;
- List relevant positions and situations that add value to your application;
- Describe situations, tasks, actions, and results (the S-T-A-R method);
- Remember to include numbers in whatever form you like (e.g. the number of projects you’ve finished);
- Begin each bullet point with an action verb.
Check out the examples below when building your experience section. They will help you stand out!
- Advising local & international stakeholders in EE & RES issues
- Coordinate Joint Bioenergy project activities in BiH
- Develop and implement Energy efficiency & Renewable energy project
- Moderate public events
- Developed and implemented marketing strategies resulting in a 35% increase in client base.
- Conducted market research and analyzed data to create comprehensive business plans for clients.
- Provided project management support to ensure timely completion of projects within budget constraints.
- Created and delivered training programs to improve client employees' knowledge and skills.
- Maintained strong relationships with clients and generated over €2M in revenue.
- Led a team of 5 consultants in identifying and implementing cost reduction initiatives, resulting in a savings of €3M.
- Conducted time and motion studies to optimize processes, resulting in a 20% increase in productivity.
- Developed and implemented a training program for client employees resulting in a 15% reduction in errors.
- Managed client relationships and generated over €1M in revenue.
- Recognized as a top performer and promoted to Senior Consultant within 2 years of joining the company.
- Implemented technical SEO changes resulting in a 20% increase in organic traffic for a B2B client
- Developed and executed successful link building campaigns resulting in a 15% increase in domain authority for a law firm client
- Conducted keyword research and optimized content resulting in a 25% increase in search visibility for a healthcare client
- Provided monthly reports with actionable insights to clients, resulting in a 90% client retention rate
- Utilized Google Analytics, SEMrush, and Moz to analyze website performance and identify optimization opportunities
- Led the successful migration of a large e-commerce site resulting in a 30% increase in organic traffic and a 25% increase in revenue
- Conducted comprehensive technical audits for clients and recommended improvements resulting in a 15% increase in page speed and a 20% increase in mobile responsiveness
- Developed and implemented link building strategies resulting in a 10% increase in domain authority for a fashion client
- Monitored and analyzed keyword performance and made strategic recommendations to clients resulting in a 20% increase in search visibility for a travel client
- Worked collaboratively with clients to develop content strategies that resulted in a 40% increase in organic traffic for a non-profit organization
PRO TIP
In writing your Freelance Consultant resume, you will no doubt want to list your previous duties - as you should. But steer clear of just listing your duties, instead of your achievements. Make your resume stand out by communicating what you have done, and not merely what the job needed you to do.
Action verbs for your freelance consultant resume
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Writing a strong skills section for your freelance consultant resume
Checklist for your freelance consultant skills section:
- Include all relevant skills from the job description to pass ATS;
- Focus on skills that show your expertise;
- List your technical skills in a clear and concise manner;
- Leave room for transferable skills related to teamwork, communication, negotiation, and conflict management.
Top skills for your freelance consultant resume
Upwork
Quickbooks
Microsoft Office
Email clients
PayPal
Budgeting
Marketing
Design
Communication
Leadership and project management
Teamwork
Problem
Solving
Work Ethics
Flexibility
Adaptability
Interpersonall skills
PRO TIP
When describing your experience, don’t go too far from its terminology. Recruiters use ATS systems to filter resumes based on them having certain keywords, so make sure you use at least a few keywords mentioned in the job description.
Freelance consultant resume header: Tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your freelance consultant resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
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PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have policies about identifying information like photos on your Freelance Consultant resume. Be sure to check all the relevant rules before submitting yours. If you’re in doubt, you can always try contacting the company’s HR department to ask for their policy.
The ideal summary for your freelance consultant resume
Mastering the summary section: checklist
- Mention the total years of experience you have in the field;
- Focus on 2 to 3 of your top achievements;
- Highlight the things that make you the best fit for the position;
- Go for short, easy-to-read sentences to keep the recruiter’s attention.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
Highlight specific past projects that you’re most proud of in your summary. It sets an excellent tone for the rest of your resume. You can talk about all of your former jobs in your work experience section later on.
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Things to include in your freelance consultant resume education section
Freelance Consultant Resume Education Section Checklist:":
- Mention your highest education degree;
- Add the duration of your course and the institution you attended;
- List the awards you’ve received during your studies;
- Feature your certifications if they are relevant to the position;
- Entry-level positions: Share more about projects and classes.
Top Certifications for Your Freelance Consultant Resume
Become a freelance consultant!
Your knowledge will be required in the post Coronavirus pandemic world!
How To Charge For Your Services As A Freelancer/Consultant
A guide for freelancers, consultants and first-time entrepreneurs
Become A Highly Paid Consultant: Freelance Consulting 2022
Learn How To Become A 6-Figure Online Consultant And Get Your First High-Ticket Clients In Just 30 Days!
Become an Independent Business Consultant Today
A step by step guide to launch your work-from-home, freelance consulting business.
How to work from home as a business consultant...
The only certification that will have you working as a freelance consultant from home...
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PRO TIP
If you hold a certain major and a minor, your majors should be mentioned first.
Formatting your freelance consultant resume
What’s worse than a .docx resume? A resume with a poorly chosen format.
In general, there are three basic resume formats we advise you to stick with:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
Choosing between them is easy when you’re aware of your applicant profile – it depends on your years of experience, the position you’re applying for, and whether you’re looking for an industry change or not.
The reverse-chronological resume format is just that – all your relevant jobs in reverse-chronological order. It’s great for applicants with lots of experience, no career gaps, and little desire for creativity.
When working with less experienced applicants, we suggest the functional skills-based resume format. It’s great for recent graduates or people with large career gaps. Functional skills-based resumes focus on your personality, the skills you have, your interests, and your education. Ultimately, the idea is to show you’re the perfect fit without putting too much emphasis on your work experience (or lack thereof).
If you’re in the middle or are generally looking to make your resume feel more modern and personal, go for the combination or hybrid resume format. It offers the best of both worlds by combining sections focused on experience and work-related skills and at the same time keeping space for projects, awards, certifications, or even creative sections like ‘my typical day’ and ‘my words to live by’.
Freelance Consultant Resume Formatting Checklist
- Choose the resume format based on your level of experience and the company you’re applying for
- Go for a traditional 10-12p font
- Stick to 1-inch page margins to ensure high readability
- Match the length of your resume to your experience, but don’t go for more than two pages!
To take it a step further, check out how your resume can stand out without leaning too much on the creative side.
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PRO TIP
Sometimes you’ll want to go after a job which requires more experience than you have. Instead of using a typical Freelance Consultant resume layout, you can use a creative layout. Getting noticed is the most important challenge and a creative resume layout might help you get invited for an interview as most of other accountants have boring resume designs.
Additional sections for your freelance consultant resume
In some cases, especially when it comes to entry-level positions, adding more sections beyond the usual ‘experience’, ‘skills’, and ‘education’ works well in your favor. Such additional sections will help you paint a fuller picture of who you are in the recruiter’s head.
Here’s a list of fun yet informative additional sections for your resume:
Making your freelance consultant resume creative
We know too well that recruiters go through tons of resumes every day. The worse part is, they often need to hire people for different positions and teams. So how do you make yourself stand out in such cases?
By adding a dash of creativity to your Freelance Consultant resume. It can be in the form of a colorful layout, a section describing your typical day, or even a picture of your favorite book – you decide!
Just make sure that the levels of creativity match the industry, company, and position you’re applying for.
What makes a great freelance consultant resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
