Beeing a contractor and an entrepreneur

[HeadOfTesting]

I have active plan B stuff going on and wouldn't dream of mentioning it - even in a contract interview - having finally come to terms with how narrow-minded people generally are a long time ago.

Good luck with it.

HeadOfTesting

[nomadd]

I have active plan B stuff going on and wouldn't dream of mentioning it - even in a contract interview - having finally come to terms with how narrow-minded people generally are a long time ago.
HeadOfTesting

+1

I realised all this 15+ years ago, 5 years after starting contracting.

Permies are sheep; anything outside of the "norm" scares the life out of them. So best keep quiet and not scare them.

Nomadd

[centurian]

This was disastrous! Although I did manage to get interviews, the recruiters were very much hostile to the fact I was also leading a genuine business on the side.

Why the hell did recruiters accept to give me an interview if it's to toast me about the fact I am a business owner.

Because they don't see you as a business owner. They see you as a disguised employee that has no rights, whom they can fire on the spot. They are not interested in business owners. The procurement department deals with those folks.

They might be happy to agree to contracts that say we are not disguised employees, but be under no illusions, that is exactly how they view us.


All the time I've been at ClientCo, I've been doing other consultancy work and am also developing full blown applications that I aim to flog for pots of money.

ClientCo are generally aware of this, but don't have a problem because I have proven that I have never, ever let it get in the way of my "day job".

However, if I leave ClientCo and go somewhere else, I definately wouldn't mention it on the CV and probably wouldn't even mention it for the first month of the contract until I had sussed out the environment and established myself.

[MrMark]

Whatever happened to "can you do the job?" If you have "gaps" on your cv, the agent/client holds it against you; if you undertake Plan B in your bench time it seems they will also hold it against you.

[RichardCranium]

I was involved in a business startup that ran for 15 months then died due to the traditional cash shortage. (Got sales, not been paid, can't afford to pay the bills.)

I now have that on my CV as being a permie.

I have never been able to make someone understand that being involved in a failed business does not make you incompetent at everything else. It was definitely a killer at interviews.

The experience made me realise that single-handedly running a £1m IT project and getting it in to time, cost and quality +/- 10% is far, far easier than trying to run a small business. It also taught me how to sell, gave me confidence, made me a better negotiator, a better understanding of accountants and 101 other skills and experiences.

But I do NOT tell permies about it any more: "If it didn't make you a millionaire, you must be a life-long loser". That's the kind of lie permies tell themselves as a way of coping with their petty working existence.

[Durbs]

Although I did manage to get interviews, the recruiters were very much hostile to the fact I was also leading a genuine business on the side.

I'm going through exactly the same thing. Had 3 permie interviews recently and this area of my CV was brought up each time as a cause for concern. I produce a vaguely well known ecommerce app, run an auto classifieds and also produce and maintain numerous sites for various clients.

The first interview for a permie role, the agent contacted me afterwards and said: "can I tell them you will be closing all your business if you are offered the role as they have concerns about a conflict of interest". My reply was abso****inlutely not. After i explained what myCo was to the agent and assured him that this is something i've done for many years and it never crosses into any full time or on-site role i may have then they seemed ok with it.

Interviews 2 and 3, i brought it up first before they did and explained it in reassuring terms. They said fine and stated they had flagged it as a concern so were glad i had explained what i did. Interview 2 thought my extra-curricular activities were actually a plus point (and it helped that one of the interviewers had heard of one of my apps!).

So basically, i dont hide it but try to use it as a positive selling point. I'm sure this is going to block me from certain roles but i'm just upfront about it.

[jim2406]

I agree with most of the things said here.

I am involved in a start-up (to be honest, it's not really a start-up any more - 2 years old) and since our core product is written and 'out there', some of us are doing contracts to top up the kitty whilst figuring out the next stage in our plans.

Me and another guy, both devs, are both contracted (direct) through ltd co at the same client, who know about the business.

They raised concerns about commitment to the 9-5 contract on account of having 'extra curricular' activity.

I mitigated this by saying to them 'let us provide our services to you for 2 weeks - if you're not happy we wont bill you anything'. This seemed to make them happy.

Now they're OK with it, and I quite often pop out on my phone to sort things out during the day, as there are some things that simply have to be sorted out during business hours . However, I make a point of putting in an extra hour or two every day to cover the time spent.

So, sometimes it can be done - but I accept this particular company are small-ish, very understanding and I get on well with the directors. I don't think for one minute it would have flown with large banks as the OP spoke about, but if you're dealing with a smaller company it may be worth trying a similar approach.

On a side note, I also agree with the sentiment about being involved in a failed business making you a much (much) better person, professionally - you are challenged to work & think in ways you never have before.

[NetwkSupport]

according to my CV i spent 12 months travellign around europe last year (but i was actually concentrating on my plan B).

Unfortunately entrepenurial spirit isnt something that 75% of employers like as they prefer to employ/give contracts to people that will be 100% dedicated to the company.

The remaining 25% of employers see it as a huge skill.

Pot luck therefore leave it off the CV and mention it once employed if you think they will like it!

[GreenerGrass]

according to my CV i spent 12 months travellign around europe last year (but i was actually concentrating on my plan B).

You could just say you were being paid by a client to develop a system, and put down the technical stuff on your CV, but say you had to sign a non-disclosure agreement if they ask anything too probing.
I think that would look better than a 12 month gap to be honest.

[darmstadt]

Although I don't have a plan B nor do I have a product but I do have an entry on my CV which is ongoing. I support(ed) a product in EMEA for a company in the USA which not only involves me traveling a lot but also 2nd and 3rd level support for it. This comes up in every interview but there have been no problems with it. Partly because the product is interesting and I can use it on the job so it complements the work I'm doing for them at no extra cost plus I always make pains to reassure them that their work takes priority. Possibly because of the area that I am in it doesn't really matter.