FROM A QUESTION TO ME

*** begin quote ***

From: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
IT Professional
Greater New York City Area

Current:
* Sr. Business Analyst, Infrastructure at Wyndham Worldwide
* President/CEO at JLS Technology USA

Past:
* Project Manager, Infrastructure at IncentOne
* Regional IT Project Manager at Iron Mountain Inc.
* Sales Counselor at Circuit City

Date: June 30, 2007
To: John Reinke

Can I put the upstart consulting firm I own on my resume? If so how do I list it in conjunction with my current FT job?

I would like to update my resume and was wondering if I can put my small consulting firm on my resume? I have done some contract work through my consulting firm but am apprehensive because i don’t know if its taboo to do, or if it has enough “OOMPH” to list on my resume.
I’m the President of the company but would this be frowned upon by recruiters, looking at it as padding my resume?

Thanks for all your help and advice in advance!

*** end quote ***

Dear X,

Well I don’t see why not? I did. Even it before it was more frequent.

I was reluctant to be “president”; I like “owner / consultant”.

I think it is important to differentiate your “daytime” and “night time” duties. You don’t want it to look like you are “short changing” your daytime employer. You also want to avoid the the appearances that you are “competing” with your employer.

I know a tech exec who moonlights as a CICS coder. I knew a security exec who did fancy banisters for staircases. I knew a CEO of a major ad agency who moonlighted as freelance writer to unwind at night.

So, LinkedIn presents some interesting challenges. You can’t customize it like a resume for a specific opportunity. So it’s one size fits all.

Argh! Tough call. My advice is to put anything that is a significant adder that doesn’t detract from your value.

I’d include President of the Little League, Library, or ASPCA for a decade. But, I’d omit the President of your AA, KKK, or Democrat/Republican chapter for the same decade.

l8r,
fjohn