On the Basics: Résumés for today’s communications pros

© Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, Owner

An American Editor

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I wrote about “Résumés for Today’s Freelance Journalists” for a recent presentation about that topic for the Freelance Community of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), and it occurred to me that the tips apply to other colleagues as well. I hope this version is helpful to An American Editor subscribers.

Paper résumés are almost a thing of the past these days (although they can still be needed). Most of today’s résumés will be sent and seen as digital versions, which have their own requirements. Luckily, you can use the same content for both that traditional version and today’s digital one. The difference is less in what you present than in how you get it into the hands of potential clients.

Some standard rules still apply: Keep a résumé to what would be two single-spaced pages if it were printed out. Use the active voice. Leave out family information and non-relevant hobbies. Send your résumé as an attachment only if asked to do so; messages with unsolicited résumés are usually discarded as potential spam or viruses. Don’t include salary or project fee information. Update it regularly and keep a current version on hand/on your computer(s) so you don’t have to panic about whether it’s ready to be seen by prospective clients or employers, or miss an opportunity because it takes too long to do an update. 

Organizing your info

The first step in creating, revamping or updating your résumé — whether for print or digital use — is organization.

Traditional résumés for full-time positions are organized chronologically, often starting with education information (at least for recent graduates), followed by experience, with your current or most-recent job first.

A freelancer’s résumé starts by presenting assignments and projects, even if some were done quite a while ago or when you were (or are) in school. Recent students usually put their education info first. For people with substantial experience, education is less important and can be moved to the end.

Do not include family/personal information and only include hobbies if you write, edit, proofread, index, photograph or broadcast, etc., about them. This goes for both freelance and in-house searches.

Pro bono projects can contribute to your image as someone with skills and experience in various fields or topics, especially if you’re new to whatever editorial/publishing work you do or want to do. If you’re aiming for traditional in-house work, label those as pro bono, volunteer or community service. If you’re a freelancer, you can include such projects as part of your experience or freelance business section because no one has to know whether (or how much) you’re paid for them; the work itself is what matters.

You probably don’t need to include a street address, although it’s a good idea to keep a city and state for potential clients who might want you to handle onsite assignments — that’s probably more important for journalists, who are expected to cover events in person, but could relate to other types of work and projects. Nowadays, many colleagues leave phone numbers out of their résumés, using only e-mail addresses and social media handles as their contact information.

You still will include any full-time or in-house work, and those should still start with the most-recent position. Include links to published work (as long as you have client permission to do so) and the testimonial or portfolio section of your website.

Don’t forget to include membership(s) in professional associations, especially if you’re active and visible in one or more of those groups. And do include any work-related training you’ve taken. Both can go under a Professional Development heading. Your teaching and speaking experience, if any, should also be featured.

The process

1. Create your résumé in Word.
2. Keep the design simple: All-black “ink,” no more than two typefaces/fonts (and those should be common ones —good choices are Georgia or Cambria for serif, and Verdana or Calibri for sans-serif), ideally at 12 pt but no smaller than 9 pt; no photo; no boxes, shading, rules (lines between items) or other fancy graphics other than italics and — for headings — bold type.
3. Include your e-mail address; website URL and blog URL if you have one; and social media connections: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram — whatever is current and professional.
4. Skip the traditional Objective; it’s assumed that you’re looking for a job or for freelance gigs. Start with a list of skills you offer and software you can use.
5. To include freelance work when aiming for in-house positions, group those projects under their own heading — the name of your freelance business or, if you haven’t come up with a business name, something like “Freelance/Independent Projects.”
6. Bullet out projects in list form and active voice, by client or outlet. Rather than “Assigned to cover …,” use “Covered X beat with stories about Event X, Person Y, Issue Z, for Newspaper Name,” etc., or just “Wrote/Presented … for Publication A/Outlet B.” You can use general categories, such as news, feature, profile, etc., but do include names of subjects if your work includes projects for or about celebrities!
7. Ask a colleague to proofread your résumé — it’s hard to check our own work to perfection because we know what we meant to say or have tinkered with a résumé so much that we could misspell our own names or those of our clients or employers (trust me; that happens). Having another pair of eyes on your résumé will ensure you haven’t made any blunders that will disqualify you from getting freelance gigs or new jobs — especially if you’re an editor or proofreader!

Keep the Word version handy so you can revise the résumé as needed for specific opportunities, usually by rearranging the sequence in your project list to put the most-relevant projects first, and to add new projects as you complete them.

Use cover letters to go into why you’re a great pick for specific assignments or listings by parroting the language of opportunities you’re responding to with how you fit those requirements, but keep them short — no more than a single-spaced page.

Getting to digital

The digital aspect comes in once you organize your information.

• Create and keep your résumé as a Word document but use the Print function to save it as a PDF, and send the PDF version to prospective clients on request. A Word document can be changed by whoever receives it; a PDF is safer from such interference. The PDF also retains formatting and fonts if you’ve used something that clients might not have.

• Post, or announce the availability of, the PDF to all of your social media outlets.

• If you have a blog and/or website (and make creating one your priority if you don’t!), post the PDF there and describe your freelance business or professional background in more detail. Focus on what makes your work important or interesting, your experience and skills, what you’d like to cover, how you can help a prospective client, etc.

• Where possible, post the PDF to your professional association profiles and membership directories. If résumés aren’t allowed, use the content of yours to flesh out your directory profile(s) and, again, include links to published work (as long as you have client permission to do so).

Back to business cards

And by the way, especially now that in-person events are coming back: Business cards are still important! They could function as mini-résumés and will always have value as introductions. You can save yours on your phone to exchange with the more digital-savvy, but keep a stash of the paper version in every pocket, handbag, briefcase, camera case, etc. You never know when or where you might meet someone who would ask for your card. Some of colleagues’ best connections and freelance clients have come about from offering a business card at a party, in the grocery store line, at a highway gas station, on a plane or train …

For a previous post about business cards and résumés, check out:

On the Basics — Biz card, résumé tips as workplaces and in-person events return

Do you have any additional tips for effective versions and uses of résumés? Feel free to comment!

Ruth E. Thaler-Carter (www.writerruth.com) is an award-winning provider of editorial and publishing services for publications, independent authors, publishers, associations, nonprofits and companies worldwide, and the editor-in-chief and owner ofAn American Editor. She created the annualCommunication Central Be a Better Freelancer^® conference for colleagues (www.communication-central.com), now co-hosted with the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (www.naiwe.com) and sponsored by An American Editor. She also owns A Flair for Writing (www.aflairforwriting.com), which helps independent authors produce and publish their books. She can be reached at Ruth@writerruth.com or Ruth.Thaler-Carter@AnAmericanEditor.com.

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2019 C-C Conf Topics and Speakers1