How I Got Hired After 8 Years of Freelancing (And Exactly How I Optimized My LinkedIn to Do It)

I got a full time job.

Surprise!

I started searching back in April. I applied for 48 jobs. Got recruited for 1. Did 12 interviews (7 first rounds, 2 second rounds, 1 third round, and 1 fourth round). And ended my search with 2 offers.

I'm now the Performance Creative Strategist at VKTRY Gear.

Ever since I posted about it on LinkedIn, I've gotten the same questions over and over in my comments and DMs: how did you optimize your profile, what was your job search process, why'd you stop freelancing, how'd you translate freelance work into an in-house role. So here are those answers all in one place, in case you’re curious.

The mindset that got me here

When you're in that position (at least when I was), it's really hard to set goals and have a plan. I think it's more helpful to keep an open mind and experiment.

I did a lot of experimenting with my LinkedIn profile, my portfolio and website, learning new skills on the side that I could see were missing from my resume when I was applying, sending DMs to people I thought I wanted in my corner, and generally shooting my shot from as many angles as possible wherever I could. I applied for a bunch of jobs I never even considered as titles I could've applied for. I attracted recruiters with my optimized profile. And I tried to track as much of it as possible so I could follow up wherever I could.

Part of it is just making sure people know what you want. If your profile, your portfolio, your posts, and the people you're talking to don't know what you want, you're never going to get it.

The wish list

Before I even started my job search, I made a wish list on paper (in my ‘lil journal) of what I wanted out of a job. Funny enough, this job I got checks all my boxes even though it's not exactly the industry I thought I'd be in and the office is a bit further away than I'd prefer – but it's a fantastic team, it's a good growth opportunity for me, and I get to be in person and collaborating on a team, which is so nice.

The wish list really helped me dial in on what was worth applying for and what wasn't. This was my list:

• being able to be myself at work (in a professional way)
• salary that covers my expenses, paying off my debt (student loans & credit cards) ASAP, enough to save a little every week, and contribute to my retirement in a meaningful way (my ROTH was lacking seriously after freelancing for so long)
• being able to use skills I already have (data analysis, iteration, creative direction) while still getting to grow new ones (media buying, UGC, management, influencer marketing).
• collaborating on a team
• being in an office with my coworkers, traveling with my team, or being able to see people from work in person at least a few times a year

This new job is a mix of everything – things I'm already good at with proof I've done them well

Why I stopped freelancing

I decided freelancing was just not right for this chapter of my life.

For the past two years, I've done my taxes in April and realized I didn't get anywhere close to my income goals. I've also been carrying credit card debt and student loans for the better part of 4 years now.

I'd lost a lot of the excitement and passion freelancing used to give me. It enabled me to live a life of adventure and figure out some serious health issues I was having. But now that I'm healthy, living in a house, engaged, have a dog, and thinking about having kids – a stable paycheck, maternity leave, and paying off my debt became a bigger priority.

I think I also just felt burnt out on the chase. The chase to get clients. The chase to offer the right things in coaching that would appeal to the market, earn me enough, and help people who need it. The competition with AI. Doing everything on my own. I was tired. And I'm really stoked to have one "client," one north star, and some structure in this chapter of my life.

I still think, if I wanted to, I could've been a successful freelancer this year and into the future. I just didn't want to anymore. And that's okay.

And yes, for those of you wondering: I did feel scared to stop freelancing and coaching. Oddly, I also felt a bit guilty? It did feel like a big change. But when I thought about what would happen if/when I got a job. I felt relief. I knew it would be a big adjustment and I’d now have to ask for time off and be more consistent with my schedule. But on the whole, I’m really excited and relieved to have a full time job and to be able to make consistent strides financially.

How I optimized my LinkedIn profile

Here's what I actually changed:

I got on top of my profile SEO. I optimized my headline, about section, experiences, and skills tags on each experience. And I played around with things almost every week: I tried 5 different headline variations, each for a week, and stuck with the one that got the most search appearances. This is, in the end, what led a recruiter to me and me to a job.

I updated my headline, about, and featured section. I tried to optimize my headline with the keywords I was noticing in the job descriptions I was applying for and the things I noticed in my discovery calls when I was talking to potential freelance clients. I picked the keywords to optimize for in my headline based on the things I heard repeatedly as gaps in the market: UGC and paid media (and these were the skills I really wanted to grow the most, too). My about section clearly stated what I was looking for in a job, what I’d previously achieved for my clients, and how to get in touch with me.

I didn't make it overly professional. I showcased my personality. My profile stands out because I have a well-designed banner and a photo that shows both my face and my personality in vibrant color. Your banner should act like a billboard: your top 3 skills, your niche/industry, and your brand colors or personality should be front and center.

I filled in as much as I possibly could. I updated my experiences to be more detailed and include stats from my past work, and added links wherever I could to relevant portfolio pieces. The more experiences, skill tags, and links you fill in, the better. More experiences means more keywords, means more visibility, means more credibility.

My job search process, step by step

For every job I applied to, I:

1. Logged it in a Notion tracker I set up
2. Created a custom resume using claude and my LinkedIn profile PDF
3. Wrote a cover letter myself using keywords from the job description. I had claude ask me 5 questions for each job, answered them using Wispr Flow, and then strung it all together myself so it really sounded authentically like me and was something people might actually want to read.

• Submitted the application and kept up with it in my tracker if I interviewed, got rejected, or got an offer.
• Connected with anyone relevant at the company on LinkedIn or DM’d anyone I was already connected with (if any) – this step turned out to be less fruitful than I expected but I’d still recommend it if you have time/energy.

I also built a Claude skill that assisted me through the whole process every time:

1. Evaluated each job I was interested in for fit, based on criteria from my wish list and my LinkedIn profile pdf
2. Asked me questions to help me flesh out what to put in my cover letter and resume
3. Wrote my resume and outlined my cover letter (I wrote the actual cover letters myself, not with AI)

I spent about 5–10 hours a week applying. I got really specific about what I wanted first, and then I systematized my process as best I could.

Each week, I updated my LinkedIn to try to improve my inbounds and show up in more searches.

I looked at where my gaps were versus the jobs I wanted, and started filling those by learning new skills and experimenting on my own and with new freelance clients where I could. I honestly did some free work for about 3 months to build out the UGC and paid media side of my resume and get experience quickly.

As for where I actually applied: I almost exclusively found jobs through Basecamp: Outdoor Jobs, Freelance Gigs, Networking. I wanted to be in the outdoor industry or something adjacent, and I tried a few other platforms like Idealist, but the only jobs I got interviews from – or got excited about – were from Basecamp.

The job I ended up accepting, though, found me. A recruiter found my LinkedIn and emailed me. I applied via their link, and they moved me through the interview process over a couple of weeks.

It also helped that I was applying in an industry that doesn't lean heavily on ATS – I think only about 10 of the 48 companies I applied to used it. I wrote all my cover letters by hand so they'd actually sound like me, and I customized my resume for every role based on the job description and I think those factors definitely helped. As a freelancer, you kind of have to customize your resume every time, in order to fit everything on one page. Claude helped me do that part.

How I translated freelance experience into an in-house interview

It's not always obvious how freelance work maps onto an in-house role. This seems to be what a LOT of freelancers get hung up on when they’re applying for jobs, but I didn’t really struggle with this for some reason…

In my portfolio, I have case studies for each client and project I worked on with stats, a description of what I did, a testimonial if possible, screenshots where necessary, basically a who-what-where-when-why rundown. On my LinkedIn profile, I have a quick description of what I did and the skills I used for each client.

During my job search, I noted the gaps in my marketing career so far. Over the past 8 years I really tried to learn as much as I could and stack new skills and services to become a well-rounded marketer. But when applying, I found I was missing the paid ads experience most of the jobs I wanted were looking for. So that's where I focused my learning since October 2025 when I started pivoting my freelancing into the Outdoor Industry.

A lot of that groundwork did the work for me before I even got into an interview. I also customized my resumes and cover letters for each individual job based on the JD, to make sure the most relevant experience showed up in a light that matched what they were looking for.

Once I was in the interview, I used stats and my interactions with clients to show how my freelance experience made sense for them. I was honest, and I tried to really be myself so I'd find a good culture fit. I wasn't ever trying to put on a front or lying about how my experience could translate.

For the things I was less experienced in, I was upfront about it. In some interviews that didn't fit what they were looking for. In others it was a perk, because they got to shape how I do those things. I was clear about what I was doing to learn, what I already felt comfortable with, and what I'd like to learn from them.

There were definitely interviews that didn't feel like they went well. I'm kind of glad about that now – those weren't a good fit for me, and I wasn't a good fit for them. I'd rather be honest and myself and be comfortable at work than end up somewhere I'm not happy and that expects something I can’t do.

What I actually do in this role

I'm a Performance Creative Strategist, which means I'm building strategy for our paid media (social media ads). That looks like:

• Seeing what's performed well and coming up with iterations of that to keep it performing
• Coming up with new ideas, testing them, and using data to decide what we keep doing, what we change, and what we stop
• Analyzing key performance indicators to adjust strategy
• Managing agencies so we can get the volume of ads we need
• Collaborating with our creative team to produce ads

Day to day, I'm mostly analyzing numbers in marketing dashboards – Meta Business, TikTok Ads, TikTok Shop – to figure out how our ads are performing and how to get them to perform better.

In the past, I've done UGC, sold via organic social, gotten sponsorships and collabs for my own social media, and run email marketing campaigns. I also got certified on the top performance ad platforms over the past 9 months – Meta, TikTok, and Google – so I know the ins and outs of how they work.

In all of that past work, I used data analysis, ideation and iteration, content briefs, and collaboration to do my job. Those same skills apply here, just applied to paid ads instead of the mediums I was operating in before. That's why I feel confident going into this that I can do it, and do it well.

FAQ

Did the job come through LinkedIn or an application?

It was inbound. A recruiter found my LinkedIn page and emailed me. I applied via their link, and they moved me through the interview process from there – 4 interviews total, and it ended up being the role that worked best for what I wanted out of a job.

Did you have an in with someone?

No. I didn't have a connection who got me this job. I spent about 5–10 hours a week applying, got specific about what I wanted, and systematized the process as best I could.

How long did it take?

I started applying in April 2026 and landed the job in August of 2026. ~5 months from when I started searching to landing this job. A lot of people I've talked to have said 6+ months for them, so if your search is taking longer, that doesn't mean you're doing something wrong.

Questions I'm still happy to answer

That's everything I've been asked so far – but if there's something I didn't cover, drop it in the comments or DM me on LinkedIn. I'm always happy to talk through this stuff.