Most people think that once they become entrepreneurs and start a business, they will never need a resume again. You may still need a resume as a solopreneur when looking for partners or clients.
Things change, and you may need to return to the job market, albeit for a short while. Moreover, being an entrepreneur or solopreneur (self-employed) helps you learn valuable lessons that you cannot learn in a regular workplace.
Resumes are vital for solopreneurs because they show clients or employers your accomplishments and capabilities.
The following are ways to use your experience as a solopreneur on your resume:
What The Client Wants
As a business owner, you learn pretty quickly that it is all about what the client wants. Therefore, when creating a resume as a solopreneur, you should tailor the resume to the recipient’s wants.
Make sure you present your resume in a conventional format if that is what the receiver wants. A tool that can help you create such a CV is a resume maker like ResumeBuild. It has custom templates to make various resumes depending on your needs.
Do not forget to cover the basics in your resume no matter how much you have accomplished as an entrepreneur. It is still a resume, which is what the recipient wants to see, as is the case in business.
Focus On Achievements
As a solopreneur, you know the importance of various milestones that lead to success. You take pride in them, and they give you the motivation to push on even when your business is struggling.
It’s crucial to tailor your CV to each job application you submit. If your resume exists on a service that doesn’t have an easy way to edit your resume on a per-application basis, it may be time to look at upgrading and canceling your subscription. Make sure that you list whatever achievements seem most applicable to the job that you are applying to.
A grave mistake that many entrepreneurs make is focusing on their title as founder, owner, or CEO of a company.
You will be better suited to concentrating on experience and achievements as it will significantly improve your resume. Depending on the position you are applying for, you can use your expertise and achievements to show how you can contribute to the solution.
Careful With The Title
When creating a resume as a solopreneur, you should be very careful with titles. Consider yourself as the hiring manager evaluating candidates’ resumes. You would not like to see someone with many fancy titles, probably better than yours, applying for a job. Therefore, it is best to choose titles that showcase the roles you played in your company rather than stating you were the owner or listing titles that appear braggadocious.
On the other hand, it will be helpful to include titles that showcase your leadership abilities and management skills. Creating a resume as a solopreneur is a tightrope to walk, but you will easily beat out the competition if you can successfully walk it.
List Your Business As an Employer
When you list your business on your resume, be sure to include the years you’ve been in operation. This will show potential employers that you have experience running a business, which is a valuable skill.
If you’re just starting out, don’t worry – you can still list your business and include the date you started it. This shows that you’re a go-getter and are willing to take on new challenges.
Including your business on your resume also allows you to control the narrative around your work experience. Rather than having someone else describe what you do, you can write your own job description and highlight the skills and experience you want potential employers to see.
Show What You Can Do For The Company
As an entrepreneur looking for people you can hire, you will be interested in how they can help your company. Use the same experience when creating your resume and showcase what you can do for a client or possible employer.
It would be best to show the lessons you learned as an entrepreneur and the experience you gained. Describe the various obstacles you faced and how you overcame them. Obedient employees are not as valuable as creative ones who take the initiative.
Use your resume to showcase your ability to learn quickly and adapt to new situations, which is a valuable skill. Make the reader know you can solve any problem and provide value for them, and they will only have to read your resume once.
Utilize References
As a solopreneur, you know the value of relationships in business. If the right person vouches for you, you are good to go. Therefore, you should include references in your resume to prove your credibility.
Pick clients or employers with whom you have a great relationship and will likely offer you the best recommendation. It is good to choose the most esteemed individuals and organizations for your resume as their word holds more water than most.
Contact them to tell them you include them in your resume so they will be ready when they receive a call or email.
Writing a resume as a self-employed business owner is quite different than as a job seeker. You can leverage your experience as a solopreneur to create an outstanding resume.
You will have an incredible resume by including what the reader wants, focusing on achievements, carefully selecting your titles, utilizing references, and showing how you can benefit the company.
