Working as a self-employed freelancer has its benefits and drawbacks. on one hand, there is the chance of working from home, in your own environment, staying up as late as you want, waking up when you feel like it, work as you like it or not and so on. And you don’t need to thrust your way in the crowded streets and buses.

You may just need to put your profile or resume in the freelancers’ websites like Elance, Odesk and Freelancer. And waiting to apply or bid when suitable comes.

You may think their relationship with clients doesn’t begin until the clients get in touch with you via mail or phone.

Actually, the client relationship starts before the project starts. Even more, it starts before you know the client or meet him. Usually, the client reaches freelancers through their websites; portfolios or through resumes that you submitted to different hiring sites. This is actually how the relationship starts.

The client usually draws a first impression on you, your work and experiences through these two methods: your portfolio and resume. This is the reason why you should consider this before you start to prepare your website or work samples. The client will filter you from different candidates based on number of factors as the job requirements. But there are general guidelines that you should consider when you start advertising yourself such as:

Resume

Client does not have enough time to read about your life and the different achievements you did in school. The client wants you to know that he needs to see your skills related to the job you are applying for. However, it is a good practice to keep focused and prepare your resume in good order when the client sees the most important information first than the less important. you can put education background and related work experience first.

Work samples

Your portfolio or work samples are the fastest way to introduce yourself to the client even without looking at your resume yet. Let your work speak about you and tell about your skills and experiences. You do not have to show every single design you’ve done, just point to the client your best works that are related to the job needed.

Language that used in your resume

It is obvious that you cannot say to your client that you have good language or communication skills when your resume is full of typos and slang language. This will give an impression that you are not a professional and you are a careless person not a detail oriented person that they are looking for. Even if you insist in your resume that you are an expert in your career, you cannot prove it with all of those mistakes that they have seen.

Though I just got Resource Manager about two months, I have read hundreds of resumes. And when reading a resume, I always focus on their work experience and education background and their language.

I have read some resumes which I though they have rich experience in my first glimpse, but then when I read them carefully, I could hardly figure out what they were talking about. Their language was so obscure that it is hard to understand.

So the more attention the freelancers pay to their resumes, websites, blog, etc. all these job related info, the more opportunities can be gained from clients!