We have all heard the generic rules concerning CV writing. Keeping page numbers down and being job specific are all things job hunters have to consider, however, the nature of contracting means that freelance professionals need to fit a lot more experience into their CV, which can become a tedious task.


Furthermore, a contractor’s skill set is arguably their best selling point, which needs to be presented properly in order to grab the employer’s attention straight away. A good contractor CV can make the difference between landing the perfect contract job and joining the unemployment line, here are contractjobs.com’s top CV tips to avoid the latter:


 Recent reports show that on average, employers will take only 20 seconds looking over one contractor CV, so it is vital that all the important information is readable and placed on the first page. It is up to the contractor to determine what their most important and relevant skills are, but overall, recruiters want to see that:-

• The contractor has the right skills required for the role
• The contractor has adequate experience of using the skills required for their contract job
• The contractor has had a positive impact upon previous projects and past contract jobs
• The contractor has researched the role and understands the task at hand

 ‘Permie CV’s’ tend to show previous employment in reverse chronological order, including an outline of the position held and the key skills gained. With time scales of contract roles ranging anywhere from 3 to12 months, including previous contracts is important but at the same time. Contractors shouldn’t risk sending any future employers to sleep from excessive reading!

Many contractors may find that their previous contract jobs appear quite similar on paper, if this is the case; time would be better spent grouping together skills gained from previous contracts and labelling them under longer time periods. For example if a contractor has had 6 contracts over the last two years, their CV could include their key skills gained from 2009 to 2011. This way, the relevant aspects are highlighted whilst keeping the document down to a preferable 1 to 3 pages.

 Don’t forget about the basics. Although reminding contractors to check their spelling and grammar may sound patronising, far too many job hunters make the same common mistakes. Contractors should get at least one other person to proof read their CV before they submit it, because even the perfectionists among us can miss the most obvious mistakes.

 Contractors should learn how to use employment gaps in their favour. Gaps in employment aren’t rare and in many cases are understandable. However, gaps between contracts sometimes need to be explained. There are multiple ways contractors can tackle this, but the key is to do it in the simplest way possible in order to not attract more attention to employment gaps. One way of doing this is filling any empty time periods with any relevant activities and training relevant to contracting and/or the contract job that is in question. Contractors have the advantage of being able to take their training in their own hands, so any courses or certificates gained are major bonus points to add to a CV.

Failing this, contractors are advised to focus on what they have done, rather than what they haven’t. Any further explanation of employment gaps can be kept for the meeting/interview stage. The likelihood of this being a problem by this stage is rare, a CV is a contractors ticket to an interview, so contractors should rest assure that if they are requested for one, they have done a good job!