Freelancers & Contractors - how to write a CV that isn’t 6 pages long!

In my capacity as a Career Consultant, I have worked closely with freelancers & contractors for many years and two challenges keep rearing their ugly head: Firstly, how does a freelancer write a CV that isn’t six pages long; and secondly, what happens if you want to apply for a role that draws upon skills gained in a contract that isn’t the most recent piece of work that you have done. I anticipate lots of nodding heads at this stage and you’ll be glad to know that there is a solution! The CV & Interview Advisors (my company) have developed a unique methodology which allows freelancers to present their careers in a much more concise and effective way. The premise of this methodology is to move away from the traditional chronological CV and to break your career down into individual pieces of work. You may identify 30 pieces of work and decide that 15 of them are up to date and relevant. Once you have identified the key pieces of work, write them as short case studies (no more than 6 lines long), ideally using the STAR or CAR methodology. The CV then becomes a portfolio of case studies and you are able to change the order around depending on what roles you are applying for. Of course, recruiters will still want to see your dates of employment so put a career chronology section after the case studies with the date, company name and your job title. This framework will provide you with much more flexibility and allow you to tailor the CV to the roles you are applying for in a much more effective way.

For free advice on how to write case studies and how to ensure that you have provided evidence that you succeeded, feel free to contact me on 01274 408 222 or email info@cvandinterviewadvisors.co.uk.