In this lesson, we will be discussing freelance developer career advice.
Now let's discuss everything that you should be including in your resume.
The first is a summary.
So you want to include a 2 to 3 sentence summary of your entire professional career as well as the goals
that you have.
Next is your skills.
You can include both your soft skills here, such as communication, collaboration, etc. as well as
your hard technical skills as it relates to the specific type of job that you are applying to.
After that is including your work history, so you want to add your relevant work history that aligns
closest to the type of client projects you are applying to.
If you don't have work experience that is very relevant, this is where you can include any projects
or hands on experience that you've gotten and worked on.
And this is where you can also link to an online portfolio which can showcase your experience in more
detail, as well as go above and beyond just a simple resume.
After that, you want to include any education and certifications that you have.
This can also include any formal education you have, any other certifications you have with third parties.
And it doesn't always have to be a college degree if you did not get one.
But the most important part is that you include some sort of education on your resume to show that you
are a learner, you're a doer, and you've been out there, you've gotten these skills and you're continuing
to learn as well.
And lastly, you want to include your contact information because it's vital.
That's the whole point of the resume is so a client can get in touch with you and hire you if they're
interested.
So include your relevant social media profiles.
As long as of course you follow the suggestions in this course and you make all of them appropriate
and professional.
Now let's go over some different resume tips so you can create the most impactful resume possible.
The first is keeping it to one page.
You need a brief document describing who you are as a professional.
And even though it's not the funnest part, it's very important because you need to be able to get your
point across in a concise manner.
Next is customized.
You want to customize your resume for each different type of job that you are applying to.
You also want to customize your resume by including the company name and specific words from the job
description in your summary section of your resume.
Next, you want to bring up different, relevant keywords.
So try to use keywords that the potential clients are looking for.
And, you know, they may actually be using an AI algorithm to sort through different digital resumes
and to look for specific keywords and phrases and throw out resumes that don't have them.
So it's very important to not only customize the resume, but to also customize it and use the specific
keywords, skills and different buzzwords that the client wants to hear.
And lastly, you want to include a link, because if you can link to an online portfolio, a website
or a freelance profile that will help drive potential clients to take action, and it will help you
become more memorable so you can stand out from the pack and increase your likelihood of getting hired.
When you are going to create your resume, you can use a few different online options.
One of them is resume maker online, which helps you build a professional resume for free.
You can also use Google Docs if you want to go the more simple route.
And they have a handful of different resume templates that you can choose from and customize to your
liking.
Next is a website called Cake Resume.
You can take a look at other programmers and engineers resumes to get some inspiration for your own.
On this website, it's really cool because you can select the exact industry you're looking for and
then you can go down and look at other people's resumes to get an understanding of what you should be
doing on yours.
Based on who is similar to you, who has similar experience as well as which ones, just look the most
visually appealing to you.
I'll see you in the next lesson.