Freelance Proofreader Resume Template
A freelance proofreading resume is read by somebody deciding whether to send you a file this week, which makes it a different document from a career resume. What they need is your specialty, the style guides you work to, your capacity and your reliability. A chronology of unrelated jobs is not what is being looked for.
See the coursesEverything on this page is yours to copy and adapt. The courses cover the decisions behind it: what to charge, what to promise, and what to put in writing.
What yours needs to cover
- ✓ A one-line summary naming your specialty and your buyer type
- ✓ The style guides and dictionaries you work to, listed plainly
- ✓ Software and markup methods, including tracked changes and PDF markup
- ✓ Capacity, in words per week, which is what a scheduler needs
- ✓ Relevant experience framed by document type rather than by employer
- ✓ Training and any memberships, stated accurately and without inflation
How to use it
- Put the specialty and the style guides in the top third, above anything chronological.
- Describe experience by what you worked on, since document types transfer and job titles do not.
- State capacity honestly, because overcommitting once costs more than the work was worth.
- Keep it to one page and proofread it as carefully as you would a client file.
Freelance Proofreader Resume Template FAQs
How do I list a certificate?
Name it accurately, with the issuing body and the year, and let it sit alongside your samples rather than in front of them. Our own certificate is a private credential from a private institute: it says you completed this course and passed its examination, and it is not a license, a degree, or membership of a professional association. Presenting it as more than that will not survive contact with anyone who hires proofreaders for a living.
What if my background is in something else?
That is usually an advantage rather than a gap, and it should be on the resume as a specialty. Somebody who spent a decade in medicine, law or engineering can proofread in that field with a confidence a generalist cannot, and that is what the higher rates in this trade are actually paid for.
Should I include rates?
Not on the resume. It is a document about capability and fit; price belongs in the quote, where it can be tied to an assessed sample rather than to a category.
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