Career Change Resume: Where to Put Your Freelance Projects

James Walker

James Walker writes about career transitions. London-based career enthusiast.

Visual representation of the voice · not a photographic portrait

Quick answer: Create a 'Relevant Freelance Experience' section near the top, above your old jobs. Write each project like a real job: title in the new field's language, client type, dates, and two to four result-focused bullets. Then shorten your previous career to transferable skills.↗ Share on X

To list freelance projects on a resume during a career change, put them in their own section near the top called something like "Relevant Freelance Experience," written in the language of the job you want, not the job you are leaving. Treat each project like a real job entry: a clear title, the client type, dates, and two to four bullet points that show results. Then move your old career lower down and shorten it. This tells a recruiter, in the first few seconds, that you already do the new work, even if nobody has hired you full time for it yet.

Here is exactly how to set it up, with examples you can copy.

Why freelance work matters so much in a career change

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When you switch careers, your biggest problem is simple: your past job titles do not match the job you want. A recruiter scanning your resume sees "Retail Store Manager" and moves on, even if you have spent the last year building websites at night.

Freelance projects fix that gap. They are proof that you have used the new skills on real work, for real people, with real deadlines. That is much stronger than a course certificate alone.

But they only help if you present them well. Many career changers bury their freelance work at the bottom or list it as a vague "side projects" line. That wastes your best evidence.

Where should freelance projects go on your resume?

Put them where they will be seen first. A simple order that works well for career changers:

1. Name and contact details, with a link to your portfolio if you have one.

2. Short summary (two or three lines) that names your new target role.

3. Relevant Freelance Experience — your new work, written in detail.

4. Skills that match the job posting.

5. Professional Experience — your previous career, shortened.

6. Education and certifications.

This is sometimes called a "hybrid" resume. It keeps a timeline, which recruiters like, but leads with what matters for the new role.

How to write each freelance entry

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Use a consistent format so the projects look like real experience, not a hobby.

Format:

• Title: the role you played, using the target job's vocabulary
• Client or type of client
• Dates (month and year)
• Two to four bullets with action, task, and result

Example for someone moving into UX design:

Freelance UX Designer — Local bakery (small business client)

Mar 2026 – Jun 2026

- Interviewed 8 customers and mapped the online ordering steps that caused drop-offs

- Redesigned the checkout page in Figma, cutting the steps from 6 to 3

- Delivered a clickable prototype that the developer used to build the new site

Notice the bullets use specific numbers you actually know: how many people you interviewed, how many steps you removed. Use your own real numbers. If you do not have a number, describe the outcome plainly instead of making one up.

Should you group projects or list them one by one?

It depends on how many you have.

Grouped example:

Freelance Web Developer — Self-employed

Jan 2025 – Present

- Built 5 responsive websites for small businesses using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

- Set up online booking for a hair salon, replacing phone-only appointments

- Maintained sites monthly, fixing bugs and updating content within each client's budget

What if the projects were unpaid or for friends?

They still count, as long as you are honest. Real work is real work. A website you built for your cousin's landscaping business still required you to gather needs, design, build, and deliver.

A few rules:

• Do not invent a company name or job title that suggests employment you did not have.
• Describe the client type honestly: "family-owned landscaping business," "nonprofit," "personal project."
• Focus on the work and the outcome, not on whether you were paid.
• Be ready to talk about it in an interview. If they ask, explain plainly: "It was a project for a family business, and here's what I did."

Interviewers generally respect self-driven work. What hurts you is being vague or caught stretching the truth.

How to handle your old career on the same page

Your previous career is not something to hide. It shows reliability and real workplace skills. The goal is to shorten it and point it toward the new job.

1. Cut old jobs to two or three bullets each.

2. Keep only bullets that transfer, such as managing people, handling budgets, training others, solving customer problems, or working with data.

3. Rewrite them in the new field's language. A retail manager who "tracked weekly sales and adjusted staff schedules" can say "analyzed weekly sales data to plan staffing."

4. Drop details that only matter in the old field, like specific store systems nobody outside retail uses.

Words to use (and avoid) in your freelance section

Use:

• strong action verbs: built, designed, analyzed, wrote, launched, improved, delivered;
• the exact skill names from the job posting;
• tools the new field uses, if you really know them.

Avoid:

• "Side hustle" or "hobby" — they make the work sound unserious;
• "Helped with" — say what you actually did;
• long lists of tools you touched once.

Many companies use software called an applicant tracking system (ATS) that scans resumes for keywords. Matching the posting's words, honestly, helps your resume get to a human.

Mistakes career changers make with freelance work

• Putting it last. Your strongest proof should not sit under education.
• Writing duties instead of results. "Responsible for social media" says little. "Grew a café's Instagram from 300 to 1,200 followers over one year" says a lot (use your own real numbers).
• Leaving gaps unexplained. If you freelanced while unemployed, the freelance section fills that gap naturally.
• No proof link. If the work is online, link to it or to a portfolio.
• Overloading the page. Pick your best projects. Quality beats quantity.

How to talk about freelance work in the interview

Your resume gets you the interview. Then you need to explain the projects out loud. Prepare a short story for your best two projects using this simple order:

1. The problem: what the client needed.

2. What you did: the steps you took and the tools you used.

3. The result: what changed after your work.

4. What you learned: one thing you would do better next time.

Practice saying each story in about one minute. Recruiters often ask, "Why are you changing careers?" A good answer connects the dots: what you liked in your old job, what you discovered while freelancing, and why this new role is the natural next step.

Quick checklist before you send it

• [ ] Freelance section sits above old work experience.
• [ ] Each entry has a title, client type, dates, and results.
• [ ] Bullets use the target job's vocabulary.
• [ ] Old career is shortened to transferable skills.
• [ ] Portfolio or work samples are linked.
• [ ] Every claim is true and easy to explain in an interview.

Your next step

Open your current resume and a job posting you would love to get. Highlight the top five skills in the posting. Then write one freelance entry using the format above, making sure at least three of those five skills appear in your bullets. Move that section above your old job history. Once that first entry feels strong, repeat for your next best project.

FAQ

Can I list unpaid freelance work on my resume?

Yes, as long as you describe it honestly, such as 'nonprofit client' or 'family business.' Focus on what you did and the result, not on payment.

Should freelance work go above my full-time jobs?

During a career change, yes. Put the work that matches your new field first so recruiters see it right away, and shorten older unrelated jobs.

What job title should I use for freelance work?

Use a simple title that describes the role in your target field, like 'Freelance UX Designer.' Do not invent a company or imply employment you did not have.