5 Ways to revamp your résumé if you’ve had a nontraditional career

There’s a lot of great job hunting, personal branding, and résumé advice, but most of it focuses on people who have held a series of traditional full-time positions. If you’ve made your living as a freelancer or contractor, or if you own your own business, some of the traditional advice might not apply to you. So whether you’re trying to get back into a full-time job or looking to land clients, there are a few things to make your résumé stand out and make sure you put all of your experience in the best light.

Highlight your accomplishments (not your “tasks”)

Reframing your experience away from tasks or verbs and into measurable outcomes is key. Lauren McGoodwin, founder and CEO of Career Contessa, recommends you “reframe your skills so you can share their results, impact, or accomplishment.” Highlighting the impact helps a prospective boss see how you can help them. 

If you’re a self-employed professional, a business owner, or consultant, show prospective clients what you can do for them and highlight the transformation they will see. Try to get written and video testimonials—turn your best clients into your best sales tool. Let those clients advocate on your behalf in their own sincere voice. Testimonials can go on social media, on your website, your Google reviews—the key is to put them somewhere visible.

Lindsay Pinchuk, founder of the acquired Bump Club & Beyond, who is now a consultant says that “results are a key driver in locking in a client. A founder wears many hats, but I always share that I grew my business to reach three million users per month and generate seven figures before leading to its acquisition. When someone hears how you grew anything in a business, their ears perk up because they want to experience that kind of growth, too.”

Show off your transferable skills and optimize your bio

Highlight and reframe any transferable skills. For my own business, I spent a decade as a TV news and lifestyle producer—a very versatile but nebulous title. I make it clear to clients my producer role involved me on-camera coaching thousands of people ranging from CEOs to professionals to regular folks to help them be calm and confident on TV. Not every producer does that, and it may not be immediately clear from a résumé or LinkedIn profile, unless I’m explicit. 

I also highlight that I built a video unit from scratch for Us Weekly magazine, and that I can turn my client’s business into a brand by creating a content machine, regardless of their budget, or that I can improve upon and expand their existing video content. Saying “I led a team” or that I was “an executive producer” doesn’t clearly show them how I can transform their business. 

Once you have your language of accomplishments and transferable skills clear, optimize your bio online (especially on LinkedIn) to ensure you’re making it clear who you help and how clients can work with you. Your goal to appear in search results for your target audience.

If you’re looking to pivot, get to know the new role or industry and tweak your résumé to make sure you’re using the right lingo. When I worked as a writer and producer in TV, to shift from news into lifestyle and hour-long crime shows (a nonstandard pivot), I had to show the hiring manager I could jump right in. I had informational interviews with people in that field to understand the “lingo” of that area, and tweaked the wording on my résumé; otherwise, it wasn’t immediately clear that my transferable skills were, in fact, transferable.  

One skill McGoodwin recommends highlighting right now is resourcefulness. “This year I think everyone is tightening their budgets and trying to push their dollars (and efforts) further. So, a great idea is to showcase your abilities to be resourceful . . . without burning out!”

Build a brand  

Many people—my clients included—struggle with the idea of creating a brand. Or they avoid the concept entirely. However, you should view this as teaching more people and opening yourself up for the right clients to find you. When you readjust your mindset from selling to educating, you will find yourself getting more responses to your messages and emails and you’ll start being on the receiving end of inquiries. 

Establish yourself as a thought leader in your field by sharing your thoughts and experience online. Show up on social media, with a content mix of video, photos, and text based content that showcases your knowledge and experience. LinkedIn is a great place to build yourself up as an expert. Don’t be shy! A dormant social profile doesn’t attract clients. Still feeling shy? Focus on the people who can use your services and how you can help them! Share client wins, personal wins, and your recent speaking engagements and engage with other people’s content (that’s key!).

As you market yourself and create social video to attract clients and partnerships, those brilliant ideas you’re brainstorming could also work as pitches for PR. If you have a timely story idea that you plan to make a video or article about, see if that could work as a local TV news segment or contributing article to a paper or site. Getting press is a great way to build up your credibility, whether you’re established or just starting out, and you’re working smarter by having your existing social video content do more work for your business.

Résumés don’t need to be cookie-cutter

You can batch your shorter-term similar experiences together to help the résumé reader understand how they can use your applicable experience. The more the reader needs to guess, the more they’re likely to zip past your résumé. List out your clients, especially if they’re recognizable names—it shows the breadth and caliber of the résumé. If you’re in a creative field, don’t use your accountant friend’s résumé template; be bold. Allow your résumé to visually represent your uniqueness. 

Network, network, network

Whether you’re happily self-employed and seeking clients or looking to jump back into full-time work, make sure to let everyone know what you’re looking for. Offer to speak at events and panels and get involved in your local business community.

Promote yourself both in person and online and connect, not only with your ideal clients but also with possible referrers and even with people you may initially see as competitors. They may have additional work they can’t handle and can pass on to you. They also could be good resources for information sharing. I’ve met many amazing other business owners through my podcast Mom’s Exit Interview that have shared everything from their pricing to their client funnel—many of them offer the same services as me.

I’ve had requests for proposals come from folks I haven’t seen in over a decade, all because I was posting my recent projects and accomplishments on social media. Connect strategically with others in your industry, potential clients, but also potential vendors or referrals who can send you business.

Don’t worry about your past: it’s all about reframing and highlighting your present and your client’s future. And of course, put yourself out there!

Kim Rittberg helps professionals be better on-camera and grow their business with video and podcasts, as the founder of the award-winning Henry Street Media. She launched the first-ever digital video unit for Us Weekly magazine and spent over a decade as a journalist and branded content executive. She also hosts the podcast Mom’s Exit Interview which helps parents craft the career and life they want.