From entrepreneur back to 9-5 chump, need advice

**protogg** · 08-14-2006 11:29 AM

I've been self employed for the last 3 years. I abruptly quit a decent job then to go out on my own. I did pretty well when I first started, then business leveled off, then I started a new business to compliment what I was already doing, and I've nearly lost my shirt investing money, and namely time doing it.

I'm at the point where I'm going to need to go back to the 9-5 workplace, working for "the man", to keep my head above water. It's not what I want to do, It's just what I have to do.

I'm having real problems getting any response back from potential employers using monster, careerbuilder, and the local paper to search for jobs. For every 50 resumes and cover letters I send out, I'll get one call back, and it'll never go past a phone interview. When you're customizing each resume and cover letter, it becomes a huge investment in time.

I'm not sure what the deal breaker is, could be many things. Firstly, I only have an associates degree, and it's in Fine Art (and I now work as a software developer, go figure). That and I've only had 6 years out of school, the last 3 working on my own. One company I worked for before I went out on my own, has since gone out of business.

I have a bad feeling that having been self employed is bad on the resume because either:
A. They feel as though I could up and leave and become self employed again.
B. They think it's a bold faced lie about what I've been doing (that either I've been just unemployed or sweeping floors or something).
C. That I won't give up my current ventures, spread myself thin, and possibly cause a conflict in interest.

How can I sell myself to potential employers? I'd really like to think that if the right guy saw my resume and my skill set, they could really benefit from me. I truly am self motivated, and can take on a lot of complex tasks single handedly.

I really can use any input. Especially from those who have made the same transition, and also from those who are hiring their own help.

Any input, advice, ideas, truly appreciated, thank you!!

**NeeJam** · 08-14-2006 11:46 AM

Ok if your only getting 1 in 50 calls then you are going to have to do something about it. Well actually your going to have to do something about it, this can be done my making your resume sound more appealing and using better grammer becuase when they are long-listing your getting thrown out then before you even hit the part of short-listing. Now i would recommend you make your resume sound more appealing using better grammer etc so you can hit that short-list. Also if they are thinking its a bold face lie then back it up with a reference that will always help them(this is about your B.). Saying you were self-employed doesn't necessarily mean its a bad point it shows you've shown courage to enter into this market but then again they are gonig to wonder why your after a job now though, this is gonig to take abit of explaining but they will realise like you said your highly-motivated and if you go in confident, looking smart and have a few questions in your mid yo will sail trough the interview.

Also you could use your experience in other areas i.e spread your wings try something different you might even like it and end up doing something in this market.

Maybe you could get all your old customers and contact them, informing them that your services are available and if they want to hire you for anything(ignore this if its not the type of business you ran). Msybe you could try and re-build your business back up in your spare time, offload that new part and build up the old part and make it successful again maybe you could have done things differently i don't know but if you sit down and evaluate things you could work everything out. Maybe even creating a partnership so you can both carry the load ok, you wont get as much profits but you could get a decent profit and plus you could always generate more ideas form this.

Anyways i hope this helps,
n-james

**shawnman19** · 08-14-2006 12:31 PM

Dang man, getting a job being software developer is a hard position to obtain with only an associate degree. There are a lot of other tech positions out there that you would probably be great for. You did not mention what your business was that you were self employeed at, but if its software development you should be able to show you now all parts of the business by the fact that you had your own business.

Good Luck Man.

If you are really desperate check out Aerotek.com or Manpower.com they will find you a job but they take a portion of your salary for your first six months.

**protogg** · 08-14-2006 12:47 PM

@N-James: Actually is a good suggestion, keep trying to improve the resume. I'm considering paying for someone to write it for me. They might know how to put the spin on it. Also it's a really good idea to try to work within my own network to find jobs. The one rough thing in that vein is that my clientelle have been travelling sales people that usually only hire other sales people to travel.

@Shawnman19: I was indeed in the software development industry. I did a number of things, designed CMS's for e-commerce sites for small businesses, wrote a system for hosting content, and that "extra business" that I started was automated software for trading on the market (which could still be a possibility, but, it's a monsterous investment in time learning, building, and... yes, a lot of money to make mistakes with).

Many thanks on the links for the temp agencies, I have indeed used temp agencies between jobs in the past. They are great in a pinch.

I've been applying for a lot of positions as a developer, but, I'm starting to think that I may be better off as an account executive, or as a salesman for something technical. I can understand what goes into building software, and I don't mind dealing with people. In fact I like dealing with people.

...If I can't get a job in the next month or two, I'm going to take out hefty loans and just go back to school. It's really a last ditch effort though, because I'll just wind up sucking wind for like 3 more years to get a BA/BS.