This is a guest article from Alex Toll
Freelance writing, as an occupation, has its own dangers for health, as does any other occupation. In terms of health problems, they are equivalent to those of most office jobs. Let’s talk about some of these. Continue reading
Our Linked In group is expanding day by day, with currently close to 300 freelancers, recruiters and employers as members. But don’t just join and then forget about it – there are some useful things you can do with it:
Whether you’re looking for new Linked In connections, looking for an agent, or checking out other freelancers – you can do it all within our group. This is a very handy and powerful tool for research or networking within the creative agency freelancing sector.
How to do it
On the group page, go to Members under the More tab. There is a search box on the left hand side – just start searching for people or keywords. If you use the Advanced search option you can filter the results by location, industry and previous companies etc.
Got a freelancing problem or question? Or want to openly discuss something about freelancing? You can get the opinions of our members by posting a Discussion in the group. Members can answer your question or give their thoughts and advice in the comments of each discussion thread.
How to do it
Starting a discussion is easy – just use the Start a discussion link under the menu on the group page. Remember to make the subject line interesting and keep the body of the discussion as brief as possible. That way more members will be likely to take the time to read and respond to it.
You can advertise specific freelance roles in the group too. Not many people are aware of this feature, but it’s free and you can potentially be targeting all the freelancers who are members. Also, if you are a freelancer looking for work, the Jobs tab in the group page is a good place to check frequently. Often there are ome specific and urgent positions advertised there.
How do I do it?
On the group page, just go to Jobs tab. Then you can simply use the Post a job link in the left hand sidebar and follow the instructions.
So there you are – hopefully some useful tips for getting more out of our group. But if you haven’t already joined, please do so today and start making use of it. The more members the better for everyone, and please let your freelancing friends, clients and agents know about it too.
Editor’s note: Want to sponsor this article? Details are on our Sponsorship page.
Getting your portfolio right is important as a freelancer, as you need to market yourself well. And if you work for creative agencies you will probably need both an online and and offline version.
To help you, I’ve gathered this big list of great resources:
Free tools
Read How to get a free online portfolio – our own definitive article on the free tools available on the web.
Portfolio inspiration
Folio Focus A gallery of portfolio websites
DesignM.ag 50 excellent designer portfolio sites
Folio Stars A gallery of portfolio websites
How to build an online portfolio
Spoon Graphics How to build your own single page portfolio website
Net Tuts How to build a website from scratch
Woo themes Themes for WordPress blogs
Smashing Magazine Guide to using WordPress for a portfolio
Think Dave Recommended PSD to WordPress service
Net Tuts Design and code your first website in easy steps
Portfolio tips
Freelance Switch Build a killer online portfolio in 9 easy steps
Webdesigner Depot Creating the perfect portfolio
Webdesigner Depot 10 characteristics of excellent portfolio sites
Smashing Magazine 10 steps to the perfect portfolio website
Webitect Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Portfolios
Designious Times Top 10 websites to submit your design portfolio
DesignM.ag 9 Ways to Get Your Design Portfolio Seen
PSD Tuts Preparing and talking about your graphic design portfolio
Just Creative Design The Innovative one page resume & portfolio
Flaunt A book about designing effective, compelling and memorable portfolios of creative work.
Do you know of any other good resources or have tips? Please share them in the comments below.
In this article I have gathered together some useful guides to CVs (resumés), along with a few suggestions for making them more effective for freelancing at creative agencies.
The following are some good articles I have found, giving advice on CVs and resumés for people in the creative industry:
David Airey
I’ve mentioned David’s article before, which gives useful insight written by a senior designer at a London design agency who receives three or four of them every day.
Stopgap Group
This blog article by a recruitment group from the UK and Australia is about future-proofing your CV.
Eye Magazine
An article by UK creative recruitment agent Mike Radcliffe on simple CV guidelines.
Freelance Switch
A useful blog article by this popular freelancing website. Also take a look at their Part 2 article.
Periscope
Some good pointers from another UK creative recruitment agent.
So now you have your CV in good shape, what can you do to make it more effective when looking for freelance work at creative agencies? Here a few simple changes I suggest from my experience:
Simplify
Do not including your whole career or life story – keep it strictly to the most recent and significant details.
Structure
Employers have (or expect to spend) less time to look through CVs for freelancers. Make it even easier to scan – it should be easy for them to find the top pieces if information on you in one glance.
Update it
The one thing that you must do as a freelancer is update it regularly. Clients and recruitment agents are always interested in what you are up to and it makes you stand out if you have news.
Promote action
The employer must know how to take action (find out more about you, or get in touch). The top ways of getting in touch and a link to your online profile or portfolio should be immediately obvious.
If you have any other suggestions, ideas or know of other good guides, please share them by posting them in the comments below.
Main image by SOCIALisBETTER
As this event is drawing nearer there seems to be quite a buzz going on in the freelance world here in the UK – so I thought I would just update you on a few developments that have been happening.
As I mentioned in my previous article, the Professional Contractors Group (PCG) have nominated 23rd November as National Freelancers Day with events all over the UK to support and celebrate freelancers and contractors.
A dedicated National Freelancers Day website has now gone live. On the site you can now find out:
There are many ways you can join in, get involved and support the event. These include:
Please do what you can to support this event and celebrate freelancers and contractors in the UK.
Related articles
Further reading