With the job market taking an interesting shift in the wake of Covid, the whole world has turned to non-traditional ways of earning money. While being entirely dedicated to a job was the status quo, freelancing and having a side hustle is the norm now — even with stable jobs, about 43% of full-time American workers are said to have side hustles.
Side hustles are anything that you put time and effort into and are a source of income for you. It might not be as official as a full-time or even part-time job, but it speaks a lot about your drive to commit to projects.
If you’re struggling to figure out how to fit a side hustle into a good resume format, don’t disregard it as something unacceptable or unconventional. It is more common than you think, and it can contribute to painting a picture of a passionate employee with the zeal to succeed.
Find the right structure
Evaluate the work you did on your projects and organize them depending on relevance and value to your targeted job. If you can, include all of your projects as they can contribute to building a positive image of your hard work.
Include all the necessary information about these projects just as you would with a full-time role. Quantify details wherever possible and mention the role you played at each of them to utilize the work you did to the maximum.
Highlight your skills
Side hustles are an easy way to exhibit your leadership skills and interpersonal qualities. While you describe your projects, make sure that you weave in such soft skills to build an impressive CV.
Use relevant keywords to make recruiters want to get to know you and your repository of skills better. You can include these skills in your experience section along with a designated skills section.
Some of the soft skills you can hone in on are:
- Problem-solving
- Time management
- Interpersonal communication
- Team leadership
- Multi-tasking
If you had to spend a considerable amount of time working on side hustles, it is only fair that you include them appropriately in your CV.
Avoid ambiguity
Side hustles can be of varying nature. Instead of beating around the bush and simply stating vague words like “freelancing”, you can dive into the specifics of your work and show recruiters that you are confident in the work you did.
You could be an Advisor, Consultant, Social Media Manager, but make sure that you include the appropriate profile title so that you do not undermine the nature of your work. Side hustles or not, the work you performed is as genuine as it can get, and you should state it proudly in your CV.
Present the data
The only way you can add credibility and legitimacy to your work is by providing clear evidence of the results of your work. It will clearly state your competence to recruiters with your work having such positive outcomes. Quantification can be of any nature, including but not limited to:
- Number of clients
- Budgets
- Percentage increase in performance
- Timeline
- Profits earned
You can add these into a designated professional experience section, as well as the personal profile section of your CV. Make sure that you highlight the accomplishments that stand out the most.
Side hustles are a great boost to your CV
It is commendable you have side hustles as a full-time employee because it is certainly not a cakewalk. Not only does it take hard work, but dedication to execute and complete projects, as well as handling the financial side of things. These skills are valued in any position, and they are what you should be enhancing in your CV.
Here is what you can take away from this blog:
- Include your side hustles by providing all details and describing them with great detail as with professional experience
- Highlight your skills in a designated section for skills and weave them into your CV to hook recruiters with your professional experience
- Refrain from using vague titles like “Freelancer”, as it is an underwhelming way of portraying your work, and use appropriate profile titles instead
- Provide numbers wherever possible to increase the legitimacy of your work and highlight the results of your hard work and dedication to your projects
Get maximum use out of your side hustles and use them to promote your work and further your career!
On a quest to help professionals across the world land their dream jobs, Aditya lives and breathes Hiration — a platform to help job-seekers find their way in the treacherous job market — where he’s a Co-founder and the unofficial CPO (Chief Problem-solving Officer). He likes to code away his days and nights when he’s not busy disrupting the career space.
