During your long-term job search, taking on freelance projects is a great way to stay afloat as you work toward your career goals.

Not only does it pay the bills, but it helps you remain competitive in the job market, through keeping your skills sharp, helping you develop new skills, making connections and building your portfolio.

If you’ve decided freelancing should be your next career move, you may need some help getting started.

Here are some steps for becoming a successful freelancer and using your experience to land a full-time job:

For most job seekers the longer you search for a job the more financial stress you’re under. Not only that, but long employment gaps also raise red flags for hiring managers. So how do you take time to find the right job and stay afloat?

If you’ve been on a long job search and need a way to make money that doesn’t include the phrase “Do you want fries with that,” consider becoming a freelancer while you look.

Freelancing will do more than help you pay the bills during your job search. Here are five ways freelance work, during your job search, can actually help you land your dream job:

Negotiating your salary can be a nerve-wracking experience, especially if you’re new to the job market. The good news – most managers are open to a little back and forth. The bad news – they have a lot more practice than most job seekers.

If you’re coming close to landing a job or you’re getting ready to negotiate your new salary, follow these 7 tips to give yourself the best chance of scoring the the salary you want:

What’s your spirit animal? If you were the size of a dime, how would you get out of a blender? Are you more of a hunter or a gatherer?

Hiring managers can ask some pretty crazy interview questions, and, whether you like it or not, you need to answer them if you want the job. Answering them is a little more involved than saying the first thing you can think of. For the most part, hiring managers are trying to break through the polished answers you’ve prepared, to learn more about how you think on your feet.

While a number of these questions have seemingly “correct” answers, most of the time it’s the thought process that goes into them that hiring managers are actually evaluating. Here are a few strategies to implement when a hiring manager asks you whether or not you believe in bigfoot:

You already know, in order to land your dream job, you need to stand out in all aspects of the job search. Whether you’re looking to impress a hiring manager, connect with people in your industry, or share your knowledge with the world, a personal blog might be the difference between ending your job search, and getting your resume tossed in the “no” pile.

If you write your own blog — or you’re thinking about starting one — here are a few dos and don’ts to make blogging work for you in your job search:

In the name of finding a job, job seekers are often instructed to “ignore” poor interviewer experiences, wait to hear back from recruiters or hiring managers, and take the best offer on the table — no questions asked. But over the last few years, the power has slowly shifted. According to MRINetwork’s 2014 Recruiter Sentiment Survey 83 percent of recruiters acknowledge that candidates hold the power in today’s job market. This new candidate-driven job market puts job seekers in the driver’s seat, allowing them more freedom to make the first move, negotiate and find their ideal jobs.

If you are looking for a position in this candidate-driven job market, consider taking advantage of these 6 strategies, to help you find the right position for you:

If you are a recent college graduate or have spent any time looking for a job, you know how difficult it can be to figure out exactly what hiring managers are looking for. Even when a job description lays out what skills are necessary to land the position, your personality still plays a huge role in whether or not you succeed. Understanding what character traits employers are looking for could bring you one step closer to landing the position of your dreams.

Here are five personality traits to emphasize on your resume, and in your interviews, in 2015:

If you told your relatives about your job search over this past holiday season, you probably heard these great pieces of advice, at every meal: “Just go to the office and ask to meet with the hiring manager,” “Why don’t you just call and ask if they are hiring?”

These “old-school” job hunting tactics may sound ridiculous, now that technology and social media have changed the job search landscape, but several old school tactics can still be very effective in a modern-day job hunting.

A job search can be a long and difficult process. If your search is dragging on and you see no end in sight, review your efforts and make sure you’re not making any of these seven common job search mistakes.

Almost every job seeker knows they should be on LinkedIn. But do they really know how to use it to their advantage?

To get started, here’s what your profile should contain:

• A professional headshot
• Contact information, including social media profiles
• A link to your resume
• Your educational background
• Details about your job experience
• Relevant industry skills
• Any volunteer experience you have

Once you have your profile created, you can use it to your advantage in your job search. Here’s how: