Should I stick to being self employed or start building a resume?

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Jul 8th, 2012 1:35 am

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Jul 3rd, 2012 7:28 pm

Adevictus [OP]: Banned; Jun 2, 2012; 53 posts; 5 upvotes; MISSISSAUGA

Jul 3rd, 2012 7:28 pm

Should I stick to being self employed or start building a resume?

Hey guys just looking for a little advice. I'm 19 years old now and I've never had a real job in my life... This is mostly because I've been doing affiliate marketing since 2008 and always had very decent cash flow coming in since. I'm getting older now and going to be attending university and for some reason I feel worried about building a resume. If I were to give a resume to an employer right now, it would basically outline my skills and that's about it, I have no experience working for anyone where as all of my friends have had jobs at McDonalds or NoFrills or whatever. So now I'm stuck with the dilemma of giving up my affiliate marketing time to work a menial job making far less money in order to build a resume. What would you do if you were in my position? How important is building a resume?

11 replies

Jul 3rd, 2012 10:01 pm

C_C: Deal Addict; May 4, 2010; 1856 posts; 567 upvotes

Jul 3rd, 2012 10:01 pm

Play up the Marketing on your resume and apply to lower end gigs still in Marketing/Sales and build your resume that way. You don't need to work at McDonald's or Timmies to build a resume if you're already working a legit job making decent money.

Look at gigs on Craigslist - be wary of course, don't fall for scams theres plenty of them but a lot of decent stuff to - promotions and what not.
This stuff is all customer service based, the difference is you'll be getting paid a lot more then minimum wage.

Jul 4th, 2012 12:47 am

noplan: Member; Sep 2, 2007; 416 posts; 142 upvotes

Jul 4th, 2012 12:47 am

just stick with it if it's good money.

for people/industries that just don't get what affiliate marketing is, you can always lie about the position and duties on your resume and say it's a small company that you were working for. put in the urls of the pages you are developing as concrete examples of work you did.

for the ones that would understand, just state what you were doing as self employed. put in concrete numbers and metrics if it's impressive if you want to impress

Jul 4th, 2012 12:58 am

Jon Lai: Deal Expert; May 30, 2005; 44734 posts; 5326 upvotes; Richmond Hill

Jul 4th, 2012 12:58 am

noplan wrote: ↑just stick with it if it's good money.

for people/industries that just don't get what affiliate marketing is, you can always lie about the position and duties on your resume and say it's a small company that you were working for. put in the urls of the pages you are developing as concrete examples of work you did.

for the ones that would understand, just state what you were doing as self employed. put in concrete numbers and metrics if it's impressive if you want to impress

Lying on a resume is never a good thing.

IMO, affiliate marketing is not a real "job", unless you can start a "business" doing it, with all the business stuff to back yourself up. Then you can easily put your company name on your resume. Entrepreneur sounds a lot better than McD's. OP, can't you just do that on the side while doing a part time or full time job? No need to give up anything.

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Jul 4th, 2012 12:54 pm

Elfer: Member; Jan 27, 2010; 440 posts; 48 upvotes

Jul 4th, 2012 12:54 pm

Being successful with affiliate marketing is actually decently impressive, and if it's all you've been doing it definitely deserves a place on your resume. Just put it under a general "Experience" heading and explain the basics of what you did and how successful you've been.

Jul 4th, 2012 1:13 pm

HTTP04: Deal Fanatic; Feb 16, 2010; 5200 posts; 167 upvotes

Jul 4th, 2012 1:13 pm

noplan wrote: ↑just stick with it if it's good money.

for people/industries that just don't get what affiliate marketing is, you can always lie about the position and duties on your resume and say it's a small company that you were working for. put in the urls of the pages you are developing as concrete examples of work you did.

for the ones that would understand, just state what you were doing as self employed. put in concrete numbers and metrics if it's impressive if you want to impress

What is wrong with you.

Yes, you can embellish a little (especially if your boss likes you and you know he/she will back you up) but fabricating duties/position...good luck with that.

Please, we dont need any more Jeffrey Chiangs

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Jul 4th, 2012 1:50 pm

chevron: Jr. Member; May 2, 2012; 192 posts; 43 upvotes

Jul 4th, 2012 1:50 pm

Does the job you ultimately want involve marketing? Because if it does, finding success in affiliate marketing is clearly a more relevant experience than getting some job working at NoFrills. Point to a site you've built that's been successful and give some idea of the cashflow you're generating. If you're concerned about a lack of people to use as references, maybe try reaching out to some other people in the affiliate marketing community, doing a collaboration and provide references for each other.

Jul 4th, 2012 3:48 pm

Abel4Life: Deal Addict; Feb 5, 2010; 2764 posts; 178 upvotes

Jul 4th, 2012 3:48 pm

You read about a ton of these kids as early as 15 years+ running businesses in the past (primarily IT/Web/Software) based and are quite successful in new jobs without having to 'build a resume'.

Jul 4th, 2012 5:34 pm

driddles: Deal Addict; Mar 16, 2011; 3412 posts; 627 upvotes; Where am I?

Jul 4th, 2012 5:34 pm

You are 19 and have been making money since 2008. So you started earning when you were 15/16. I would say you are:

- A self starter
- Show great initiative
- Willing to take on unique tasks

Did you do any volunteer work? At 19 it looks good on your resume (even if school made you do it)

I'm curious why you are wondering about resume building vs self employment at 19. Are you continuing your education in the fall or have you finished with school for the time being?

https://twitter.com/david_riddles

Jul 5th, 2012 3:25 pm

Elfer: Member; Jan 27, 2010; 440 posts; 48 upvotes

Jul 5th, 2012 3:25 pm

Jon Lai wrote: ↑Lying on a resume is never a good thing.

Yeah, especially if the lie is less impressive than the truth.

Jul 7th, 2012 7:38 pm

Adevictus [OP]: Banned; Jun 2, 2012; 53 posts; 5 upvotes; MISSISSAUGA

Jul 7th, 2012 7:38 pm

Thanks for the replies guys. I do mostly media buys and I don't really have any websites that provide me with income. I'm a bit weary of sharing my affiliate marketing experience on my resume due to the fact that I won't have anything to show them or refer them to except for ads I currently have running. The nature of my ads are also a bit questionable considering I promote a wide range of things from penny auction sites to viagra.

Jul 8th, 2012 1:35 am

crazlunatic: Sr. Member; Sep 19, 2007; 633 posts; 25 upvotes; Scarborough

Jul 8th, 2012 1:35 am

Your resume will be impressive for the most part, although it depends on what you want to get into for internships. I'm sure you are making more money than your friends, work less, and it definitely sounds better what you did versus McDonalds.

I've been down the same path as you and just wanted to offer my two cents. If there is any reason why I wished I had a job at No Frills or some sort of a retail sales job, it would be for the opportunity to build my communication skills and having experience working in a team environment and with people before diving into a co-op or summer job once you start University. That would be my only consideration for getting a job like that other than what you already have.

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