Becoming Your Own Boss (BYOB, 4.3)

In the first series, Becoming Your Own Boss (BYOB, 1.x) "Introduction, Today's Employment Picture", you learned some of the facts related to the current employment picture and examined some of the choices that were available to you. In the second series, Becoming Your Own Boss (BYOB, 2.x) "Examining Your Situation", you answered some key questions to figure out if starting as an independent contractor was a good idea for you. In the third series, Becoming Your Own Boss (BYOB, 3.x) "Preparing for Business", you examined the numerous topics (from taxes and insurance to your need for equipment and an office) that need to be considered before you take the step to establishing an independent contracting business.

This series of articles (BYOB, 4.x) covers the many requirements involved in operating a business. This fourth article in the series goes into detail about the forms of resume that you should have as marketing-type literature for your business. At a minimum your marketing literature should include an introductory letter and a resume crafted to support your business. The following sections cover several resume types and provide examples.

Business Marketing Literature - Resumes

Prepare a good resume. Spend some time on it. It represents you to a prospective client and will remain to represent you long after you have left. It must be of high quality. It is your most effective piece of advertising. It is clearly your most important document at the start of business, and it will remain important during your entire business life.

If you are not skilled at writing a resume, get help. If you are not skilled at graphic design for laying out the resume, get help. Don't be embarrassed about needing help. Not everyone can prepare a good resume. It is a rather specialized talent.

If your resume is a page and a half or more in length, attempt to edit it down to one page. If it cannot be edited down to one page, prepare two resumes: an outline resume and a detailed resume.

Outline Resume

See Figure 1 for an example outline resume keyed to show the important areas.

Compose your outline resume according to the following general guidelines:

Include the following in the title block:

OUTLINE RESUME
Your Name
Your Title

If it is applicable and you can devise one that is both tasteful and purposeful, it might be appropriate to include a statement or motto just below your title. An example might be: "96 Years of Software Engineering Experience".

Compose the body copy so that the resume fits tastefully on one side of one sheet of paper.

Divide the body copy into two general areas:

In the first, list the kinds of tasks you have performed, without detail. If you have performed many different kinds of tasks on many different kinds of systems, it might be advisable to divide the experience section into two subsections. An appropriate heading for this section is simply: "Experience:". The subsections might be called something like "Concepts For:" and "Hardware For:", or "Software For:", or "Documentation For:".

In the second section, list the clients or employers for whom you performed those tasks. For purposes of the outline resume, there is no difference between a contract client and an employer. In both instances, you completed a task and were paid for the effort. If the prospective client wishes to know which were which, that can be the subject of a later conversation. An appropriate heading for this section is simply: "Clients/Employers:"

Include your address and telephone number at the bottom of the resume. If you have separate FAX and cell phone numbers, list them along with the telephone number.

Include the date or a date code on the resume, both for your records and those of the prospective client. The bottom right-hand corner is an appropriate place for it.

Detailed Resume

See Figure 2 for an example detailed resume keyed to show the important areas.

Compose your detailed resume according to the following general guidelines:

Include the following in the title block:

DETAILED RESUME
Your Name
Your Title

If it is applicable and you can devise one that is both tasteful and purposeful, it might be appropriate to include a statement or motto just below your title. An example might be: "96 Years of Software Engineering Experience". If you prepared an outline resume and used this line in it, use the same one here.

Divide the body copy into at least two sections: experience, and education. As appropriate, you might also include sections on honors, patents, associations, et cetera.

In the experience section, describe your work experiences in reverse chronological order. In each entry, include the job title, client or employer, beginning and ending months, and brief description of the task. If the resume will not thereby grow to more than two or three pages, you might also include important facets of the task, but do not include details. Do not include the reason why you left. Doing so will merely make the resume longer or take up space that you could better use for experience information. If the reader wishes to know, that can be the subject of a later conversation in which you can better explain circumstances. To differentiate between contract clients and employers, use the word "for" to indicate contractor status and the word "with" to indicate employee status. If you were an employee of a contract house (job shop), use both "with" and "for" to differentiate between the job shop and the actual client for whom you performed the work.

In the education section, include degrees, schools, and dates.

Any information on honors, patents, associations, et cetera, should match the style of the experience and education sections.

Include your address and telephone number on the last page of the resume. If you have a separate FAX and cell phone numbers, list them along with the telephone number.

Include the date or a date code on each page of the resume, both for your records and those of the prospective client. The bottom right-hand corner is the most appropriate place for it.

Print your resume on the same paper stock as your letterhead, but not on your letterhead. Do not print your detailed resume on both sides of the paper. A resume printed on both sides of the paper is more difficult to read, more difficult to copy, the reader cannot see both sides at once, and the reader cannot make notes on the back. It is quite possible that a client might not even look on the other side, and thus believe that your resume is incomplete, or worse, that you lack experience or training.

True, these might be considered niggling points, but you can't afford to give away even the smallest point on your resume when that resume is often all that represents you.

Store your resume(s) in your computer so that you can make changes and print copies as required on the same paper stock as your stationery.

The next article in this series (BYOB, 4.4) addresses the creation and content of an introductory packet as an important part of your business marketing literature. It also presents detailed information on several miscellaneous business forms you will need for your business.

To read the rest of the series click here