Independent Contractor Sample

Independent Contractors need a well-written resume, just like someone who is applying for a full-time corporate position. You may not punch a clock or head to an office every day, but you’re still going to be hired based on your ability to showcase relevant qualifications, experiences, skills, and achievements. 

The only way to prove that you have what it takes to get projects done and meet client expectations is with a compelling Independent Contractor resume that sings your praises. What’s more,  you have to tailor your resume to each client – and sometimes to each project – to increase your likelihood of securing contracts. 

Thankfully, you’ve come to the right place. Here, you’ll learn a bunch of tips and tricks for crafting a well-written independent Contractor resume and even an example that you can use for inspiration. 

How to write a resume

The most important thing to remember when writing your Independent Contractor resume is that you must ensure that potential clients or employers can quickly (“quickly” being the keyword here) see the value you bring to the table. 

As far as impressions go, your resume is likely to be the first one you make. Let’s make sure it’s a good first impression by addressing specific client needs. You do this by demonstrating achievements and building trust to stand out from the competition. 

When written properly, your resume will be the key to unlocking new projects. Here are some tips and tricks you need to know to do that!

1. Start with a headline – not a title

Every Tom, Dick, and Harry out there will be putting “Independent Contractor” at the top of their resume. So, after you put your contact information (name, location, phone, email, and link to online portfolio/social media), you’ll want to include a headline that goes beyond the ‘Duh’ factor and sets you apart from the hundreds of other people who are applying for the same role as you.

Some examples of great headlines you can use on your resume include:

• Independent Contractor Delivering Expert [YOUR SPECIALTY] Solutions

• Versatile Independent Contractor with {NUMBER OF YEARS] Experience

• Independent Contractor with a Proven Track Record in [YOUR INDUSTRY]

• Freelance [YOUR ROLE] with Expertise in [YOUR SKILL]

• Client-Focused Independent Contractor Making Your Success a Priority

• Adaptable Independent Contractor | Navigating Complex Projects with Ease

Each of these headlines goes above and beyond to give the hiring manager or client immediate insight into what you bring to the table. It’ll encourage them to continue reading your resume.

2. Write a power profile summary

The profile summary on your Independent Contractor resume should be a testament to how your experience and achievements set you apart as a candidate. It works with the headline to grab the attention of the hiring manager because it speaks to what they need to get done. 

It will be three to five sentences that highlight how much experience you have, at least one major career achievement you’ve reached, and a balance of hard and soft skills. In the Independent Contractor sample resume in the next section, you’ll see the paragraph at the top of the page uses phrases like “out-of-the-box thinker” and has a list of things the person is an expert in, like “business development, relationship building, and inventory management.” 

3. Use metrics to quantify achievements

As you go through your career history and start to list the companies and projects you’ve worked on in the past, be sure to add numbers as often as possible. Whether you’re talking about how many clients you’ve worked with or the percentage you’ve increased revenue for Client A, those numbers will help set you apart. 

That’s because achievements provide concrete evidence that you were successful in the past, so hiring managers will make the assumption that you’ll be successful for them, too. Here are some examples:

Don’t write this:

• Worked on marketing initiatives for big-box clients

Write this instead:

• Increased client revenue by 30% by overhauling marketing strategies to convert passive consumers into active clients

Not only are you demonstrating competence with marketing in the second bullet, but you also show that you’re a client-focused problem-solver who can make big waves. 

4. Use action words

Before you put pen to paper – or fingers to keyboard – mentally delete the phrases “responsible for,” “charged with,” and “accountable for” from your resume-writing vocabulary. There isn’t a hiring manager or prospective client alive who will care what you were supposed to do in the past. All they want to know is what you did and how your actions brought results. You’ll be better served by using power verbs in your Independent Contractor resume. 

Each sentence and bullet of your resume should start with a strong action verb. It’ll make your resume more dynamic and emphasize your active role in past projects. 

5. Get past the ATS

Yes, the applicant tracking system, or ATS, is generally going to be a thorn in your side. But since you know it’s a thing, write your resume in a way that ensures you’ll get past it. The main reason that people get ghosted by companies is because the ATS rejected their resumes. The resume ends up in a digital la-la land and is never seen by human beings. Therefore, human beings don’t know you exist.

The most important thing you can do to ensure you make it past the digital gatekeepers is to use relevant keywords in your resume. You’ll find those in the project or job description. As boring as it is, try to use the exact language from the job description in your resume, as that’s how those phrases will be programmed into the ATS. 

Independent Contractor resume example 

Now that you know some of the tips, it’s time to practice what we preach. Here is an example of an Independent Contractor resume that you can use as a guide in crafting your own. Treat it as a template or use it for guidance.

Key hard & soft skills for Independent Contractor

Remember how we mentioned that you need to have a balance of hard and soft skills in your profile paragraph? Well, technically speaking, you should have a fair mix of both skill types throughout your resume. 

• Hard skills are the things you know how to do because of education and experience. They’re the core duties you fulfill every day to get the job done.  

• Soft skills are personality traits or characteristics that make you good at what you do. These are skills that allow you to get along with others and solve problems. 

By using a mixed bag of both skill types, you are able to show that you have the capacity for things like meeting deadlines, liaising with clients, working in teams, and negotiating contracts. At the end of the day, you want your resume to demonstrate that you’re a well-rounded professional rather than someone who simply buries their head in a computer and never looks up. 

Examples of hard skills for an Independent Contractor:

• Technical proficiencies (the programs, tools, and tech you’re capable of using)

• Project Management

• Project Coordination

• Data Analysis

• Inventory Management

• Scheduling

Examples of soft skills for an Independent Contractor:

• Communication

• Cross-functional Collaboration

• Critical Thinking

• Time Management

• Self-motivation

• Flexibility

Remember to think of your resume as a professional narrative – a story of what you bring to the table. You can’t tell a story without some flare and flair. That should help you stay away from creating a document that is simply a dull recitation of past jobs and projects. 

Summary & last words

When you follow the tips and tricks in this guide to write your Independent Contractor resume, you’ll certainly improve your chances of landing the job you want. Especially if you keep with the notion of story-telling by tailoring the language of your resume with keywords that resonate with what hiring managers seek in candidates. 

Introduction to ZipJob: Professional resume writers

Another thing to consider is the invaluable advice of professional resume writers. As an Independent Contractor, you know how important it is to have a professional take on a task that they’re specifically geared to do. The writers at ZipJob are experts at elevating Independent Contractor resumes by extracting critical components from your career history that will make you stand out from the crowd. In fact, their experience has been utilized by professionals in over 65 industries.

Why you should make use of our resume writing services to land your next job as an Independent Contractor

The resume you get from our writers will be specifically tailored to the role you want and completely customized based on your specific career history. What’s more, your new resume will be jam-packed with quantifiable achievements that provide tangible evidence to future employers as to the value you have to offer. Also, we know how to get your resume past the ATS, which is, after all, the first and most critical hurdle in securing an interview. 

Resume writing service for Independent Contractor: Let us write your resume

With a resume from ZipJob, you are 200% more likely to get hired and are guaranteed to see more interviews within 60 days. Our resume writing service consistently gets 5-star reviews on Trustpilot mostly because we make the whole process easy-peasy. All you have to do is choose your service, get matched with and collaborate with your writer, go through some revisions, and start applying for jobs.