Did That Time Even Count?
By Aimee Ure
As a Human Resources Professional, it becomes apparent very quickly that creating resumes and interviewing for jobs are skills that every job hunter needs to master. It isn’t enough to have the experience that a position requires, you need to be able to effectively communicate it to potential employers from the moment your resume lands on their desk.
In a desire to make a better life for your family, and make some money while having “time freedom”, you pursued the dream of unlimited income potential and the girl boss dream. However, if you are like the other 99% of people who lose money, your dreams were dashed and you found yourself needing to enter the workforce. For all of the negativity girl bosses put on a boring “9-5”, there is something incredibly validating about being paid for your time, given benefits, retirement, and even paid time off.
When you begin to create your resume, the big question is if you should include your time in MLM. I am going to give you my best, non-committal answer. It depends. When I began looking into this for my own resume, I was confused by the answers. Some HR Professionals say to include it for the valuable experiences you may have gained. Others will say to leave it off due to the stigma that is attached to MLMs. So how do you decide? Let me give you some basic advice for evaluating it, but, ultimately, the decision is up to you.
What jobs are you applying for? Is the experience that you gained in MLM relevant to it? One of the people that I spoke with, stated that the social media experience she had gained from her MLM time helped her to land a job doing social media management for a restaurant. If I was updating my resume for Nursing, it really wouldn’t be applicable. A prime field to consider including MLM experience for is a Sales Specialist.
How do you explain a gap in employment? When I completed my resume, I had a 12 year gap, if I did not include any MLM information. There is a fairly easy explanation, family responsibilities necessitated me leaving the workforce a number of years. As more women are reentering the workforce after taking a time period to raise their children, employers are not overly surprised by breaks in employment for them.
If you decide to include your MLM experience, how do you avoided the stigma of MLM? Although your upline tried to convince you that you owned your own business, that is patently false. What was your actual title? That is right, you were a 1099 Independent Sales Contractor. For myself, I was actually in several MLMs (I know, I was a slow learner!), so I would be creative. Job Title? 1099 Independent Sales Contractor. Company? A variety of multimillion dollar health and wellness companies. Job Duties? Build brand recognition by creating social media posts utilizing a variety of tools. Speak with potential customers and represent the company through providing information and answering questions to drive sales.
How do you answer questions about your time in MLM if it comes up? Many companies will now search for your social media footprint prior to interviewing you. MLM is all about building a strong social media following. If they are to find your MLM posts, how will you address their questions? For me, I find that honesty is the best policy. I would acknowledge that while I was staying home with my children, I searched out potential opportunities that I could do from home. A friend approached me with an opportunity and I decided to try it. However, after beginning with the company, I began to see that it was not actually what had been represented to me. I researched the company and discovered that approximately 99% of people lose money and I realized that I had made a mistake.
Coming out of an MLM is hard! You have likely put your family in a worse position financially, lost friendships when you tried to recruit your friends, then lost all of the “friends” that you found inside of your MLM. There are varying degrees of anger, shame, guilt, and sadness. Those are all valid. However, there is also strength, perseverance, integrity, and critical thinking skills that you learned. Try to focus on those things and move forward. There are amazing things waiting for you on the other side of MLM.
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