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Northie · Newbie Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 2 Career Advice: +0/-0

Ok, the title outlines my concerns, now I'll explain a little more

I graduated in June 2003 with a BSc in Physics but wanted to go into web development.

A year later I had the job I wanted

Come late 2005 I left that company and started to work for myself, within the same sector.

Now I'm thinking about returning to 'regular' employment - again in the web development industry (I specialise in SEO, 10 to a penny these days!).

So, in this situation, what are the concerns of prospective employers? What would lay rest to their fears?

many thanks

safri · Expert Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 213 Career Advice: +1/-1

What fears? There should be no employer's fear if you show yourself skilled in the domain. So what if you were self-employed? Everybody needs to try doing something on their own, right? Besides, even if you were self employed, you still got the experience and a portofolio. Sure, they will ask you "Why turning back towards employment?" What to answer? Don't say "I've been unsuccessfull", say you couldn't survive the system on your own. You're good at what you're doing but you can't take care of everything a small business implies. Or something like that.

Northie · Newbie Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 2 Career Advice: +0/-0

I know that there shouldn't be any fears.

In this particular case I'm communicating through a recruitment consultant, and I was told that the company have a concern that was something similar.

That is, I still have a directorship in another company. My role is minimal, the company isn't making enough for me to live on.

They're now trying to arrange a date for interview. I know I will be asked, "What will you do if your business starts to make more money?". Answering this will be a tricky one.

At the moment, I'm not sure - After all this time I'm looking forward to a stable income from 'regular employment'. I'm also looking forward to working with other people again.

I will be continuing to put time into my own business, maybe an hour a day or so, may be less (unlike the occasional 90 hour weeks I've had to do so far).

I don't want to lie and say 'No more involvement' but at the same time I know they have nothing to worry about.

So, I've been asking myself, "What do I want to get out of this (new) job?". I'm ambitious, but slightly inexperienced with working in larger companies. Everything so far has been a stepping stone and I can't see the other side.

I can imagine that this perceived lack of direction could also be worrying.

In the small companies I have worked for (generally less than 10 staff) everyone has been encouraged to work hard, be entrepreneurial. One boss even offered me venture capital. Although i would probably be the same if I was to employ people, I can not say as I've never been in that position.

With my experience in the world of work, how do all these things present themselves to a prospective employer in a larger company? Someone who probably just wants someone to come in, sit at a desk and do their job and isn't worried about that person's sense of the bigger picture (I've worked for those sort of people before as well).

The main question here is, What are employers looking for? That way i know what to offer.

[I hope some of this made sense]

Ola · Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2006 4:55 pm Post subject:

Hi team, employers do sometimes think..hey this candidate may some day..go off again to make money for himself -- (he was once self-employed), small to medium size companies..do sometimes (not always)..have this at the back of their mind, large companies don't -- my advise is target more large employers, if you secure an interview with a small company then convince them you are looking to stay long-term....so their investment is not wasted.

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