Last Updated on September 20, 2024
Should You List Contract Work On Resume?
Working as an independent contractor is a great way to gain more experience. The projects you worked on might also be adding a unique skill set that may provide increased value to a future employer.
Before you invest hours into strategically planning and including your contract work experience on your resume, you should know if it will be beneficial and effective at grabbing the attention of recruiters.
So before you try to convince recruiters that you are the Rockstar they have been looking for, it may be a good idea to understand how your previous contract work can help you do that.
Emily Rushton, the CEO of Hire Integrated says:
"There is nothing wrong with contract or temporary work on your resume. But if you want to increase your chances of being hired, find a way to show that you are capable of a long commitment to the company."
In other words, don’t shy away from your contract work experiences. But to show that you are not a “quick quitter” and are worth investing time and money into, you need to follow a couple of ground rules for listing contract work experiences on your resume.
5 Tips On How To List Your Contract Work On Resume
Now that you know that you should include your contract work on your resume, let’s find out the best ways to do that.
Place Them In Chronological Order
This may be a no-brainer to some, but it needs to be said. List your contract work in reverse-chronological order, starting from your most recent experience. It will help hiring managers see the full picture of your professional experience.
Besides, if you have any employment gaps, your contract work should fill them and show continual growth and development. As Emily mentioned before, recruiters don’t want to invest time into someone who’s not going to stick around.
If most of your work consists of contract employment, It might be a good idea to include a note explaining why you are looking for long-term commitment with that company.
List Your Achievements
The value you created is more important than the time you spent with the company. Think carefully about what you’ve accomplished and list it on your resume.
According to a Google Recruiter, “using the “X-Y-Z Formula” on your resume will improve your odds of getting hired.” Laszlo Bock, a former Google senior vice president of personnel operations, goes on to talk about focusing on your accomplishments and portraying them on your resume. This will give you the chance to stand out to recruiters and highlight the value you added during your time at the company.
The X-Y-Z formula is as follows, “Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y], by doing [Z].” To learn more about how to quantify your bullet points, click this article to see more examples.
Group It Together
If you want to grab the recruiter’s attention, your resume should be crisp, precise, and professional. Let’s be honest, if a recruiter can’t scan through your resume and understand it quickly, it will go to the “no” pile.
When listing contract work on your resume, group it together. You can do it by industry, project types, companies, etc. The purpose is to show the experiences that are relevant to your next position.
Tailor Your Resume To The Job Description
You can’t use cookie-cutter resumes for every position. Adjust your skills, achievements, and maybe even your entire bullet-point depending on the job. Often, you can find clues about what to include in your resume in the job description and company website.
Contract work often requires you to be an all-round worker, handling several different projects at a time. After thinking of a few of your experiences and achievements, choose a few that will qualify you for the next opportunity.
Showcase Your Skills
You never know if recruiters will read your cover letter or jump straight to your resume. Make sure to showcase your skills on both.
To get an idea of skills an employer may be looking for, search for job-related keywords on the job posting. There are many resources online that may prove to be useful to extract skills, experience, and responsibilities from the job description you may want to include on your resume.
The “leaderships” and the “teamworks” on both your resume and cover letter can land you the job your want.
BONUS TIP: Use Your Contract Work To Your Advantage
Think about the advantages you have as an independent contractor. For instance, temporary workers often wear many hats and can adjust quickly to a new work environment.
Address the strengths you have gained from your experiences in your cover letter. The cover letter might also be a good place to explain why you want to settle at their company.
Written Examples Of Contract Work On A Resume
When listing your contract work on your resume, you should follow the same advice as with regular resume experience. Again, listing your responsibilities is not impressive. Instead, you should follow the advice in “List Your Achievements” section that will help you list quantifiable, result driven bullet points that showcase the value you brought to the company.
Here is an example of how to list contract work on a resume:
Example 1: Single Contract Work Experience
Hire Integrated LLC; Salt Lake City, UT
Digital Marketing Manager; contract (Jan – Apr 2021)
- Created and executed SEO plan through blogging, increasing website’s traffic by 13% over a two month period
- Conducted a backlink outreach, finding and securing 27 backlinks for our new blogpost
- Increased Instagram following by 40% through creating engaging and educating content
When working on multiple projects with the same company, list the company name just once, but separate the projects to show specific skills or achievements.
Example 2: Multiple Contract Work In Agency
Staffing Agency, Salt Lake City, UT
Contract work with the Staffing Agency provided a consistent flow of unique projects within multiple companies in the Greater Salt Lake area:
SMM Optimization; Muffins & Co (Mar. – May 2021)
- Analyzed engagement on Instagram and suggested content plan that would increase it
- Created content calendar for two following months with posting times and days
- Increased conversions on social media by 12% after two months of having new plan implemented
PPC Specialist; PestControl LLC (Jan – Mar 2021)
- Improved ad quality score and bidding to gain #1 spot for paid ads in Google
- Optimized keyword matching and relevancy, decreasing cost per lead by 21%
- Increased overall average CTR by 5.7% in three months
Local SEO Analyst; SLC Lawyers (Sep 2020 – Jan 2021)
- Conducted SEO audit for local rankings
- Discovered 25 untapped local keywordsÂ
- Increased rankings by average 2.3 positions in local searches, bringing us in top 5 results for 6 pages
Need More Clarification On Your Resume?
Your contract work is an important addition to your resume. You can use it to fill in employment gaps, or if it’s your main source of income, show your experience.
Organizing and quantifying your contract work experience on your resume can be overwhelming. Remember to show consistency and ability to adapt to new situations based on your experiences and explain your desire to transition to full-time in your cover letter so that the employer doesn’t see you as a potential quitter.
If you’re still looking for opportunities for improvement on your resume and potentially utilizing a staffing agency, reach out to Hire Integrated today for help in your job search.
Emily Rushton, Founder and CEO of Hire Integrated, has over a decade of experience in recruitment, helping companies solve high-volume hiring challenges. Her unique, storytelling approach has made her a trusted leader in the industry, helping both businesses and candidates succeed.
