Resume Question: How to List Self-Employment?

Many people work as freelancers nowadays and it can be confusing to know how to properly not only list but also highlight your entrepreneurial experiences on your resume. Sometimes these experiences raise more questions than Many people work as freelancers nowadays and it can be confusing to know how to properly not only list but also highlight your entrepreneurial experiences on your resume. Sometimes these experiences raise more questions than answers for recruiters and hiring managers. They worry you are trying to cover up an employment gap. The best way to market your own self-employment is to explicitly answer these known questions/doubts.

You should absolutely list self-employment on your resume and the rule is to treat it like you would any other kind of employment. With that in mind, it might be helpful if you consider a business name and to give yourself a job title. Try to avoid “Self-work” here and help contextualize what you have actually done; whether that is consulting, writing, photography, web design, etc. Just as you would with any employment, add bullet points to your experience and explain what you have done within this role with a big focus on accomplishments and outcomes. If you can quantify these results even better. Some even suggest adding in dollar amounts for your freelance work in statements like, “Completed development projects ranging in scale from $1000-$10,000.”

Another section which might help highlight self-employment on a resume is a “Projects” section. You can list project names and if you partnered with any external clients. Often times, within this section you can also note great transferable skills for future positions.