Hello Soph,
Here is what I see in your profile and a few ideas to improve it:
Title: Titles work best when they are focused on a specific skill category or related skill categories. Degree titles and previous job titles typically do not get much attention. Most freelancers use something like: Writer | Editor | Proofreader or Professional Writer, Editor and Proofreader or similar.
Overview/Summary: Your summary has good information, but I think it can be more client-focused if you use your experience to reveal your services. For example:
| I am a social worker by training but have a passion for professional writing, editing, and proofreading especially essays, grammar and sentence structure. I can help students prepare university essays and assessments, and provide private tutoring on essay writing, formatting, grammar, and messaging. Having previously worked as a private tutor and with experience proofreading assessments across a variety of degrees, I help students craft compelling academic papers, reports, essays, research documents, and other writing to communicate their ideas smoothly and clearly with correct vocabulary and grammar. |
You can change this (or remove it completely), but notice how I focus on services first. The reason is because when clients search for freelancers, only the first 200-225 characters of your summary are shown. This means you have very little space (approximately two short sentences) to get their attention. You want clients to see their goals (your services and results) in this small space.
You can talk about your background later or weave it in, but clients are more concerned about your services and the results.
Portfolio: The proofreading and suggested edits document looks great. If possible, I would add one more item to your portfolio. The portfolio is a chance to make a positive first impression on potential clients, and clients seem to like visuals.
Your skills list looks good and based on your experience, I think your hourly rate is good.
You may want to add one or two Specialized Profiles that focus on specific services or completely unrelated services. Having a specialized profile can help increase a freelancer's searchability.
Good luck!
