Question

Topic: Career/Training

Self-employment On A Resume

Posted by Anonymous on 2/28/2005 at 12:02 PM ET 125 Points
It's an issue that's never been raised before by headhunters I've dealt with, but now a 'resume' specialist has raised my self-employment as a 'fatal' flaw on my resume.

So, I put it to the group. Would you be wary of hiring a person who has their own freelance business? (I do freelance work as a designer and writer, and am beginning to break into more strategic assignments.) Is this truly something that employer's fear and turns them off of hiring someone?

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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Janet O. on 2/28/2005 at 12:59 PM Member
    Hi Rob, at my previous company, we had our own design / editorial staff and also worked with freelancers. We worked with them when there were special assignments and / or too heavy of a workload for our internal staff to handle. If your work is good and timely, and you can work within the company's guidelines, you'll be fine. I would not listen to the resume specialist.

    The other good thing is that since you've probably worked on many different types of projects, you will bring a fresh approach and perspective to another company's assignments. Best wishes to you!
  • Posted by Janet O. on 2/28/2005 at 1:11 PM Member
    I meant to include this on my previous post. Companies may not be ready to hire when you're doing freelance work for them. But, if they are growing or employees leave, you have an advantage if you've already done good work for them and they're ready to hire. That is how we ended up hiring some of the freelancers that worked with us into full-time company positions. Hope this helps.
  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 2/28/2005 at 1:25 PM Member
    I agree with Square Peg - if the self-employment work was real work that paid your bills, that likely won't be looked down on. If anything, they may like the fact that you were willing to take a risk and be entrepreneurial.

    I suspect what the headhunter is worried about is the legions of people who put down that they are a consultant while they are between 'real' jobs. These folks are basically trying to downplay being unemployed by saying they are consulting.
  • Posted by steven.alker on 2/28/2005 at 7:54 PM Accepted
    Deborah’s advice is the most comprehensive I’ve seen. It’s a pleasure to see a sales and marketing professional actually applying sales and marketing principals to the task of getting a job in sales and marketing!

    Having hired sales people, acted for and used a top head-hunter and run my own company for 8 years, I have a lot of respect for people who have “self employed” on their CV. I want to know why they went into self employment, what the ups and downs were like and why they now want to work for me.

    If their business continues to run, I need a concrete assurance that they will not be distracted by it whilst working to fulfil the goals we agree to if they join up with me.

    Their results and reports will amply demonstrate this. Maybe their self employed business has collapsed – people learn from their mistakes and can come out stronger and wiser.

    Maybe it has reached a plateau and can be looked after by a friend or family member. Maybe it has an intrinsic value and might be part of the person’s pension plan.

    Maybe it has synergies with my business and I might want to buy it. These possibilities vastly outweigh the negatives of a potential distraction or the danger that the guy is too used to being his own boss.

    If you want some examples where self employment and multiple employment is a badge of success and achievement, then look no further than to the US Fortune 500 companies where the managers hold many directorships and consultancies.

    The same applies in the UK with the FTSE top companies. The directors get to these positions because they can market the diversity of their talent and their ability to hold down a complex portfolio of present and past positions. Come to think about it, you probably have one additional advantage over these business leaders. You’ve probably actually succeeded at most of what you’ve done!

    Failure in a previous job, for some curious reason has never been a bar to the board room of the next company when you are already at the top.

    Finally, if a particular employer really does have a big negative against self employment, and you are willing to take the risk that you really won’t get on, then form a limited company and employ yourself.

    You could of course join the 65% of candidates (Recent UK survey by Manpower) who lie about some aspects of their CV, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Only about 30% of UK employers rigorously check references but a lie is a lie and if a falsehood comes out later, due to an investigation into an unconnected matter (Say a spurious work related discrimination claim) you would be hung out to dry, your employer would suffer and you could find yourself being prosecuted.

    Much better to sell, sell, sell on the positive aspects the employer is looking for and answer any objections that arise just as you would in a sales interview. I’ve seen this done and the guy got the job!


    Steve Alker
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