Personal Narrative Examples

3 years ago   •   9 min read

By Zekeriya Mulbay

Social Manager Narrative Example

I started my career in social media management by working for my university's communications office. From there, I moved on to a marketing agency that helped small businesses and startups build their online presence.

My favorite part of the job was helping businesses grow their audience and get more customers; I learned how important it is to have a strong digital presence if you want people to find you online. After three years of doing this work, I decided I wanted to focus on one client at a time instead of juggling many at once, so I began freelancing as a social media manager.

For me, freelancing means being able to focus on each client's needs without having to worry about other projects or clients vying for my attention. It also means having full control over my schedule and being able to work from home when necessary—which is one reason why I like working remotely!


Mechanical Engineer Narrative Example

My career as a freelance mechanical engineer began when I was fed up with working in the corporate world.I had been working as a project manager at a large company for three years, and while there were some good things about it—the salary, the benefits—the company itself just wasn't a good fit for me.

When I started freelancing, I had no idea what to expect. How would I find clients? Would they be able to pay my bills? Would they respect my time as an independent contractor?

After just three months of working for myself, though, these fears melted away. I've been able to work on projects that interest me and make money doing it—and even better: nobody tells me what to do!

The only thing I need to worry about is getting work done on time and making sure that the client is happy with their final product. It's amazing how much more free time this gives me than working for someone else!


Financial Analyst Narrative Example

I've always been interested in finance and accounting. I finished my degree in Accounting and Finance from [college] and then worked for several years in the financial industry. After a few years, I realized that I wanted to be more hands-on with my work, and that's when I decided to become a freelance financial analyst.

I started by building up my portfolio of past projects and searching for clients who might be looking for someone like me. I also went to local networking events and talked with people about what they were looking for in a financial analyst. Finally, one of the companies where I had interned during college called me back and asked if I'd like to work with them as an independent contractor.

The first year was difficult because there was so much going on at once: learning how to work independently, building up my portfolio, finding clients and getting started with them… but it was worth it! Now that I've been doing this for a couple years, it's much easier because I already have clients who are familiar with me and know what they're getting when they hire me.


Copywriter Narrative Example

I became a freelance copywriter when I realized that I didn't want to work for someone else.

I was in my second year of college, and I had landed an internship at a marketing agency where they were hiring full-time employees after the internship ended. It sounded like a great opportunity—I'd get to use the skills I was learning in school and put them into practice while also making bank!

But then it hit me: What if the job wasn't what I thought it would be? What if they didn't treat me well? What if they wouldn't let me work on projects that interested me or challenged me?

And so I decided that instead of signing on for a full-time position with this company, which would have limited my opportunities for learning and growth, I would take a chance on freelancing instead. And it worked out so well! Within only two years of starting this career path, I've been able to build up my portfolio and client base enough that now freelancing is pretty much all I do.


Graphic Designer Narrative Example

I have been a graphic designer for over 8 years now, and I love it. I started out in the corporate world, working as a graphic designer for an advertising firm in Los Angeles. This job was a great opportunity to learn about different aspects of graphic design, from print to web design.

After a couple of years, I began to realize that I wanted more freedom in my career and decided to quit my job and become freelance. This gave me the opportunity to be able to pick and choose projects that interested me, instead of just taking on whatever came along because it paid well. Being freelance has allowed me to build up my portfolio and gain valuable experience working with clients all over the world!


SEO Expert Narrative Example

I've been interested in SEO since my early days as a web developer. I was lucky enough to get an internship at [company name] when I was still in college, and after five years of working there, I decided to go freelance.

The company was great and all, but it's hard to make a real impact when you're part of a large team. Plus, the pay was not great for what we did—we were basically just hired to be the eyes and ears of our clients' marketing departments.

So I started freelancing full time about three years ago, and it's been great! I'm able to work on bigger projects than ever before—and at much higher levels of complexity—and I'm getting paid more than double what I used to make at [company name]. It's amazing how much more value companies place on SEO these days!


Data Analyst Narrative Example

I have always been interested in data, and I have always been interested in writing code. That's why I decided to become a freelance data analyst.

I studied computer science in college, but when I graduated, I found that there weren't many jobs for programmers. So instead of taking a job at a company, I decided to be my own boss.

I started out by doing freelance work for friends who needed help with their websites or databases. Then I started getting requests from strangers on sites like [site name] and [site name]. Finally, one day someone asked me if I would be willing to analyze some data for them, and that's how I became a freelancer full-time!


Illustrator Narrative Example

I started as a Freelance Illustrator in 2017 and have been working as one since then. I began by creating illustrations for my own portfolio and ended up doing freelance work for clients.

This is how I became a freelancer illustrator: I started off by learning about illustration, practicing my skills, and building my portfolio. After that, I got an internship at an advertising agency where I was able to hone my skills even more. The first project for which I was given credit was one that had been done by another illustrator.

The company liked it so much that they asked me to do another one similar to it. That's when they realized how talented I was, and how much potential lay within me as an illustrator. They offered me a full-time job, but instead of taking it up right away, I decided to work on building my skills further.


Video Editor Narrative Example

I have always been interested in the art of filmmaking and video editing. When I was younger, I would watch movies and TV shows on Netflix, and I would often pause the video to take screenshots or look at the credits to see who did the editing.

I started my freelance career by working with a friend of a friend who needed help cutting together a music video for his band's new album. After that experience, I knew that this was what I wanted to do with my life!

Since then, I've worked on projects ranging from corporate videos to wedding videos to home videos shot by friends' parents. Every project is different—and every project is fun!


Blockchain Developer Narrative Example

I am a freelance blockchain developer with over five years of experience, including two years working at an investment bank and three years as a full-time freelancer. I have experience in multiple programming languages and frameworks, including Python, C++, Golang, and JavaScript.

I was first introduced to blockchain technology in 2017 when I started working at an investment bank. There, I worked with a team of developers that were tasked with building a blockchain-based system to support the company's trading activities. We used Python to build this system and deployed it on AWS.

When I left that job in 2020, I decided to start freelancing as a blockchain developer. At first, it was difficult to find clients because there was still so much uncertainty about what blockchain could do for businesses. However, as time went on and more companies realized the potential of blockchain technology, my client base grew steadily until it eventually became stable enough for me to work full-time as a freelancer in 2022.


Mobile App Developer Narrative Example

I am a freelance mobile app developer with a passion for building apps that solve real problems. I am passionate about solving problems and building apps that have a real impact on people's lives.

I started my career as an iOS developer at [company name] where I worked on a wide range of projects, including the redesign of their flagship product [product name]. After a year at the company, I joined [competitor] as an iOS engineer. In my time there, I helped build out their entire iOS development team and oversaw multiple projects from start to finish.

I'm currently working as a freelance mobile app developer because I want to continue working with small companies and startups who share my entrepreneurial spirit. As a freelancer, I get to choose where I want to work—and when!


Shopify Developer Narrative Example

I have been Freelance Shopify Developer for over a year now. I started off as a full-time developer, but when I had the opportunity to take on freelance work, I jumped at it and never looked back.

When I was looking for new opportunities in my career, I knew that this is what I wanted to do. I wanted the flexibility that freelancing would give me, so that I could enjoy my life outside of work too. Freelance Shopify Developer is something that has been growing in popularity recently and there are plenty of opportunities out there for developers who want to make this their career choice.

I am currently working on projects for clients all across the globe, and it's been an amazing experience so far!


Python Developer Narrative Example

I became a freelance Python developer by working hard and being willing to learn new things.

I began my career as an entry-level software engineer at [company name]. I worked there for about three years, and learned a lot about the industry and how it operates. After that, I decided to take on a freelance role so that I could be in charge of my own schedule and work from home. This has been great for me because it allows me to spend time with my family, but also means that I can take on projects around town or even internationally if I want to!

In my first year as a freelancer, I focused on building up my portfolio of work experience with small clients. That helped me get more jobs later on and build up my client base. Now, most of my clients are people who found me through recommendations from other satisfied customers!


WordPress Developer Narrative Example

I became a freelance WordPress developer through years of learning and practice. I started out as a design student, but quickly realized that my passion was coding. I took an introductory HTML class in college and got hooked.

From there, I took every opportunity to learn more about coding, including completing an internship at a tech startup where I learned how to build prototypes in HTML5/CSS3 and JavaScript.

After graduation, I worked as a junior front-end developer at a large advertising agency for several years. During this time, I continued to hone my skills by teaching myself new languages and frameworks, like Ruby on Rails and PHP. This experience helped me gain confidence in my abilities as well as develop an eye for what makes good code clean and easy to work with.

After several years of working at the ad agency, I decided it was time for a change! So I quit my job and started freelancing full-time as a WordPress developer—and haven't looked back since!


JavaScript Developer Narrative Example

I have been working as a freelance JavaScript developer for over two years now, so I feel like I can share some of the things that helped me get to where I am today.

I started out by taking a lot of online courses. When I was first getting started, I found it difficult to find good books and resources on web development—or at least ones that were relevant to what I wanted to do and could understand. So instead, I just took a ton of online courses via platforms like Udemy and Coursera.

This allowed me to learn about different aspects of web development without having to spend money on books or even go into the library (which is how most people learn).

Once I had an understanding of how the internet worked and knew some basic programming skills, it was time for me to put those skills into practice! Luckily for me, my university had plenty of opportunities for me to work with real clients who needed help building their websites or apps.

These projects were great because they gave me experience working with clients and helped me build up my portfolio before starting out on my own as a freelancer--something that many people don't realize is extremely important when looking for new jobs in this field!


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