Tips on Listing Self-Employment on Your Resume

Being self-employed comes with many challenges – determining your niche, finding clients, having adequate insurance, hiring additional help, etc. To succeed as a freelancer, contractor, or a new business owner, you have to have determination, passion and patience, much of the same characteristics you need to successfully hunt for a new job. So why is self-employment on a resume a concern for your potential employer?

Listing self-employment on your resume when looking for full-time job can raise questions for your potential employer. They will ask questions such as:

• Were self-employed because you were in between jobs, or because you wanted to start your own business rather than work for a corporation?

• Are you still working on your own, as a freelancer or a consultant? If so, do you intent to continue this work in addition to your full time job?

• Is your self-employment presenting a conflict of interest for the company?

• Are you working as a freelancer or a contractor on part-time basis, and never intend to have this replace full-time employment?

• Does your long-term career goal include owning your own business?

All of these questions are valid from your potential employer’s point of view. Companies do not want to hire you, train you and provide you with benefits only to have you quit after a year to start your own business. This is the main reason previous or current self-employment raises red flags for the hiring organizations. The best way to address any self-employment on your resume is to highlight the positives of working as a freelancer or managing your own business. It is important that your resume includes employment history that is honest and relevant to your career goals.

If you pick up a freelance project infrequently and do not intend to make this a full time career, you can omit any such experience from your resume. The only time you would list occasional freelance work on your resume is if it allows you to fill any gaps in your professional experience. If you have worked as a contractor for a period longer than three months, or if you have ever owned your own business, it is important that you indicate that on your resume. Highlight those attributes of the job experience that qualify you as a perfect candidate for the job that you are seeking. Your job responsibilities should be listed in the same way as they are for any other full-time job you’ve held; focus on those responsibilities which best meet your career objective and quantify your achievements when possible. Exemplify your self-starter attitude under the Qualifications section of your resume. Make sure to list any employability skills you have acquired or strengthened while you were self employed.

As a final indication of your commitment to the job you are seeking. Make sure that your cover letter or email addresses anticipated concerns of your potential employer. Make references to anything on your resume that may raise questions. If you still own your own business, but are looking for full-time work, for example, make sure to let your employer know what your long-term professional goals are and how you intend to balance your roles at both businesses. Don’t apologize for being self-employed. Your resume and cover letter should present you as a credible and passionate professional. Focus on the positive experiences and skills you have acquired as a freelancer, and make sure to let the employer know how these will benefit the company if you are their chosen candidate.

Your Job Title Doesn’t Match Your Job Responsibilities

A friend of mine asked for my help recently in composing her resume. She works as an Office Manager for a small business. In her role, she assumes all responsibilities of an Office Manager. In addition, she partners with the company owner to set policies, works with freelancers on marketing materials, serves as a liaison between vendors and shipping service companies, and conducts calls for sales leads that are collected at trade shows. In other words, her title doesn’t encompass all of her job responsibilities. Several potential employers have in fact had concerns about the difference in her title and her overall position in the company, wondering if she had exaggerated her responsibilities on her resume.

Many professionals run into situations where the title they have at their current job is so specific to the company that it carries no meaning outside of the organization, or it implies that they are a level or more below their actual work responsibilities. The difficulty we face in these situations is accurately accounting for our professional experience on our resume in order to advance in our careers. There is no easy way to address this as you want to remain truthful on your resume; you wouldn’t want your potential employer calling for a reference check and getting an impression you lied about your work history, do you?

There is a debate among professionals about listing job titles versus job functions on your resume. Some people prefer listing their title as it is, followed by a list of responsibilities, while others strongly prefer finding a way to rephrase your title to encompass your job function(s). The best option, however, is to find a happy medium and list your job title along with a few words that describe your job function, before you begin listing your job responsibilities.

First, let’s explore making changes to the job titles as you include them on your resume. If your title unusual, or very specific to the organization, you should try to find an equivalent title that is well accepted and understood within your industry. For example, if you work as a customer support representative supporting a specific product and your title contains the product name, you can simply list Product Support Representative on your resume. However, be careful not to exaggerate your title. Do not change your title so that it implies change in responsibility or salary level; do not change the area of the organization where you work, or change your title in a way that suggest you are directly reporting to a person in a higher position than that of your manager. Any such changes on your resume are dishonest, and will negatively impact your credibility with your potential employer.

If your title implies less responsibility than you hold, chose the middle ground option described above. List your actual title on your resume. For example, if you are a Product Support Representative but are also responsible for training new hires for your team, list your title as follows: Product Support Representative/Customer Support and New Hire Training. All you are doing here is elaborating on your job title by including a brief description of your job function. Following this title, make sure that your resume includes power statements describing your actual job responsibilities, in order of their importance and relevance to your career title. This method is preferred because you are honest about your title, but you are also indicating to your employer that your responsibilities are slightly different than what the title implicates. When background checks and reference calls are conducted, you will not have to worry about misrepresenting your title, or causing raised questions about your credibility. Above all, your resume must be honest. Do the best you can to remain objective when it comes to your job titles and functions – focus on the positives, and you are sure to have a winning resume.