There are few universal truths in this world, and these often become deterrents to professionals who just want to make a living. Freelance professionals, like writers and photographers, are a dime a dozen. There are so many of them, it seems that the opportunities out there for employment among them are very few. This is not the case – there are just a great deal of freelance professionals out there, and they’re all competing for the same jobs.
Most freelancers are out there searching for the same jobs that appeal to self employed professionals. When there is one job available and twenty applicants rushing to get their teeth into it, competition in self employment can be difficult to deal with. There are some tips for freelance contractors that will help them learn their craft…but what should they do about all the other freelancers out there?
There is little that can be done about competition in self employment. All those other people aren’t going anywhere, and even those self employed professionals who have plenty of work routinely search for new opportunities – that’s the nature of the work at home business. Serious self employed professionals know that it’s important to do job hunts regularly in search of bigger projects, more money, new contacts – but it make the work at home field even more highly competitive among freelancers. The trick to landing the gig is learning how to be different, how to stand out…how to impress employers who see hundreds of applications from self employed professionals every single day.
Even experience in a certain field doesn’t always carry the day with employers looking for freelance, self employed professionals. Writers who know only how to write on a single topic or in a certain style have fewer chances at impressing potential customers – not when there are so many freelance writers out there who know how to write in several different styles and have portfolios featuring all kinds of different writing techniques.
Capture their attention with a great query letter by learning what to avoid. Beef up resumes by showing experience in many different areas and fields – most employers find employees who have varied experience more valuable than those who know only a certain field or topic. Self employed professionals who have trouble gaining experience might consider doing pro-bono projects, for free, just to gain something for their portfolios or resumes. If pro-bono work today helps self employed professionals land bigger, better gigs in the future, it’s worth it.
There’s nothing like a funny opening in a cover letter or eye-catching skill on a resume to make employers gain notice. What makes you different from all those other dozens and dozens of self employed professionals out there? Find it – and put it out there for all employers to see.
