Your resume is a landing page. You're the product. HR is the target audience.

Reader attention isn't guaranteed. The first "reader" of your resume isn't human. It's an ATS: an algorithm that decides whether your document reaches a living recruiter.

95% of Fortune 500 companies use ATS for initial screening. Your resume is an SEO page. Keywords, structure, format—everything affects whether you pass the filter.

Run your resume through Jobscan before sending. Target a 65-75% match rate.

How to describe work experience

Name your position like a human would

No law requires you to copy HR documents word-for-word. Write clearly. But here's the catch: ATS looks for matches with the job posting.

Resumes with exact job title matches get interviews 10.6x more often. "Marketing Manager" in the posting ✅ "Marketing Manager" in your resume.

Not "Head of Brand Communications."

Copy the job title from the posting. Literally.

Show the quality of your work

Demonstrate how you think and act. Formula: problem ✅ process ✅ result with numbers.

A freelance designer writes: "I design voice-first interfaces that increase retention by 27%." Not "responsible for UX."

An advertising consultant: "Brought on a digital advertising agency. Three days in, I noticed traffic was landing on a 404 page. Rebuilt the campaign, added a landing page checklist to the report, set up verification in Google Analytics. Bounce rate dropped from 45% to 12%."

This kind of story shows your thinking: spotted the problem, fixed it, prevented it from happening again.

Every bullet point: action verb + numbers. "Increased sales by 20%" instead of "responsible for sales."

Cover letters: when you need them, when you don't

Applying through LinkedIn or Upwork? No letter required.

Writing to someone's DMs or email? Briefly introduce yourself. But "brief" doesn't mean "templated."

Upwork coach Evangeline shares hooks that actually work: "Hey John! What if I told you I could help you close 23 clients this month as your appointment setter?" or "I recently helped a Telehealth brand grow their followers from 500 to 10,000 in 3 months. I can help you too."

The key: a specific metric + personalization.

Strong move: record a video

Explain how your experience helps this specific company. Video shows you as a real person—with personality and tone of voice.

Career consultant Christine Covert recommends Loom: "Record a short video tailored to the specific company, role, and hiring manager. Share your screen if you're showing portfolio work. End with a clear CTA: schedule a call, send an email, check out the portfolio."

Loom lets you add links directly in the video and see who watched. The hiring manager opened your video three times? That's a signal.

For important applications, record a 60-second Loom video. Share your screen with a project. End with a specific ask to connect.

The million-dollar hack

Templated outreach is poison.

Include details specific to each employer. Freelancer Victoria, who worked with UGC creators: "Say something personal about them—check their posts and find something specific." One personalized email turned into a paying client.

Generic pitch = spam. Personalized pitch = results.

Simple test: if you could send the same message to a different company, it's bad.

Before hitting send, find 1-2 details about the company. Mention them in your first two sentences.

For freelancers and consultants

The traditional resume is a tool for full-time employment. If you're a freelancer or consultant, the rules are different.

Portfolio beats resume

78% of design recruiters use AI to screen portfolios before resumes. Clients want to see work. Not a list of employers.

3-5 deep case studies with metrics beat 15 surface-level screenshots. 800 words max per case. Structure: problem ✅ process ✅ tools ✅ metrics ✅ client testimonial.

LinkedIn is your homepage

80% of B2B leads from social media come through LinkedIn. For freelancers, your LinkedIn profile is often more important than a traditional resume.

Your headline isn't a job title—it's a value proposition. "I help SaaS companies reduce churn by 30%" works better than "Freelance Marketing Consultant."

Upwork and Behance are a different game

On freelance platforms, you don't need a resume. You need a strong profile with reviews, a portfolio, and a specific description of your services.

Figure out where your clients look for talent. LinkedIn profile, Upwork profile, Behance portfolio—pick 1-2. Make them perfect.

What doesn't work

Three years ago, these approaches seemed standard. Now they kill your conversion rate.

❌ A beautifully designed resume with tables and graphics.

ATS can't read tables, graphics, or non-standard columns—your resume gets filtered out before a human sees it.

✅ Single-column format, standard headings, .docx file.

❌ One universal resume for every application.

ATS looks for keyword matches with the specific job posting. A generic resume gets a low match rate.

✅ Customize for each application. Copy keywords. Check through Jobscan (target: 65-75% match).

❌ A list of duties instead of achievements.

"Responsible for marketing" says nothing about results. Recruiters see thousands of resumes like that.

✅ Action verbs + numbers: "Grew organic traffic by 150% in 6 months."

❌ AI-generated templated letters.

Anyone can generate a letter in 10 seconds. Templates have become spam. Recruiters recognize ChatGPT text from the first paragraph.

✅ AI for the first draft—fine. Personalization, specific details, your voice—that's manual work.

Bottom line

Your resume is a marketing document. First filter: an algorithm. Second filter: a human with 30 seconds of attention.

For freelancers and consultants, a portfolio and LinkedIn profile often matter more than a resume. Find the channel where your clients are. Optimize it.

Personalization is the only way to stand out in the age of AI-generated everything. If you can send the same message to another company—it's bad.

Show results with numbers. Show your thinking through stories. Show your personality through video.

Try it. Measure the results. Report back.