Self-employment figures have been growing over the last number of years. Self-employed people now make up 13% of the total workforce in the UK.
There are lots of reasons why you might have decided to take the plunge and become self-employed. Running your own business allows you to work flexibly in a way that fits your family commitments. You have control over your schedule, can build relationships, and most importantly, follow your passion.
But sometimes, being self-employed just isn’t the right fit anymore. Plans and priorities change, and you may decide that you want to move back into a more collaborative team environment or attain a fixed and stable income again.
If you are in a position where you are ready to go back to full-time employment after a period of going it alone, you might not be sure how to demonstrate your experience and skills on your CV.
Luckily, we are here to help. Keep reading to find out how to update your CV when moving from self-employed to employed.
What’s In a Title?
As with full-time positions, you need to give yourself a job title that explains what you did while you were self-employed. Take a look at the kind of work you took on – could ‘Consultant’ or ‘Contractor’ be a good fit?
If you tended to work for clients on a less formal or regular basis, perhaps the word ‘Freelancer’ is what would sum you up best.
We would also recommend including the name of your company, just as you would name your previous employers.
Explain Your Change in Direction
Just because your business isn’t the right fit anymore, that doesn’t mean it is or was a failure.
But there is no doubt that regardless of your reasons, moving from being self-employed to searching for a full-time role is a big change. Naturally, employers will want to know why you are interested in working for them after a period of working for yourself.
You don’t need to give a large amount of detail or personal information away – focus on the future, rather than the past. Give a little explanation for why you have decided to change direction and then focus on what you want from your new role, and the amazing experience you can bring to a company.
Highlight Your Transferrable Skills
When you are self-employed, you have a lot to juggle at once.
As a result, you pick up a lot of qualities that are very attractive to employers. To run your own business, you will have to have been self-motivated, highly organised, proactive, and able to overcome obstacles.
Make sure these qualities are highlighted in the ‘Skills’ section of your CV.
Look Back on Your Achievements
Being fully responsible for yourself means you take on a lot of tasks that would normally be delegated across a business. This helps to differentiate you from someone who has traditionally stuck to one kind of role or skill set throughout their career.
Alongside the specific services you offered your clients, here is some of the other experience you will likely have picked up in the process of being self-employed:
- Managing a team
- Running your social media
- Hitting financial targets
- Client relationship management
Think about any significant events you have been involved in, awards you have won, and any work you have had published in prestigious publications.
Pick the most relevant experience to the kind of role you are interested in and include tangible examples to show the success you had in each area – facts and figures are particularly effective. This is not dissimilar to what you would do talking about a full-time employed position you held in the past.
You should also highlight any big names or key players in your industry and the work you did for them.
Demonstrate You Are A Team Player
One thing we would recommend you focus on is any teamwork experience that you had while self-employed.
Recruiters could falsely believe that you might be difficult to manage because you had so much autonomy running your own business. Dispel this fear by positively highlighting how you collaborated with others.
You have so much to offer employers! All you need to focus on is getting your amazing experience and skillset across in the most engaging way.
References
While full details of references should not be included in a CV, it is worth having a think about what these would be should you be asked. If you have been self-employed for a while, a previous employer’s reference is probably too out-of-date. Plus, you will have picked up so many other skills since you worked for them!
When you need to provide references – whether this is in an application or upon offer of employment – we recommend using a long-standing client, business partner, or collaborator. This is because they will have much more recent experience of working with you, which will be more relevant to employers.
Just make sure you let them know before you note their details – nobody likes an unsolicited phone call or email.
We hope you have found this blog about how to update your CV when moving from self-employed to employed helpful.
Ultimately – regardless of your reasons for making a change – you have learned so much from your time running your own business. So many of your skills are transferable to the workplace. You just need to feel confident in highlighting all of the attributes you have to offer, and how helpful they will be for a business.
If you feel like you need some help getting your value across – or if the thought of majorly updating your CV is overwhelming – we are here to help.
Our CV Writing Services will give you the confidence that your documents are selling your experience in the right way, making the transition into full-time employment as seamless as possible. Plus, we offer unlimited amends, so you can feedback to us as much as you like until everything is perfect.