Career · 2026-08-22 · 12 min read

Freelance or self-employed CV when you want a contract

How to turn clients and projects into experience a company ATS understands, without looking like “a bit of everything”. ClarCV.

A self-employed CV aimed at a permanent contract hits the parser: “Freelance 2019–present” with no clients looks like a gap. A corporate recruiter fears you will go back to your book. The fix is not inventing a payroll job. It is packing projects as roles (client, dates, stack, outcome) and a summary that names the target job, not “multidisciplinary”.

Career-format change: career change. Achievements: metrics. LinkedIn aligned: LinkedIn and CV. ClarCV: a one-column PDF. Free: 3 analyses and 2 downloads / 30 days, no card. Pro €7/month. We do not turn invoices into a fake “Head of” title.

Projects as experience (without lying about the contract)

Before: “Self-employed. Design and marketing for various clients.” After: “Freelance designer (self-employed) — Client A (retail, 2023–2024): identity and 40 assets/month in Figma, print handoff. Client B (SaaS, 6 months): Webflow site, +22% leads (client figure).” Title: Freelance / self-employed. The client is not your employer if they were not; do not put their logo as if you were staff.

• 3–6 strong projects, not 40. The rest on a portfolio URL.
• VAT and “CEO of my LTD” do not help an ATS for a specialist seat.
• Tools from the ad if you actually billed them.
• Availability: a date you wind down the book, or “30 days’ notice to clients”.

The hiring manager’s fear

One line in the summary: “Seeking a contract; book winding down in order.” That guarantees nothing, but it beats a PDF that looks like an agency leaflet. Do not promise exclusivity you cannot keep.