It seems like this topic comes up again and again - as business owners [not employees] we don't really have need of a resume, but there will always be PCs who ask for one... maybe out of force of habit, maybe because they haven't fully realized the concept of a VA-as-business owner, or maybe because they want more info on why you're qualified to take on a partnership with their business.

Whatever the reason is behind being asked, I'd love to know how you reply when a resume is requested.
Do you hand over your resume, or do you explain why you don't offer one? Please elaborate.

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As I was searching for a traditional position as recently as last month, I have a resume that is up-to-date.

For the business, I have updated the Objective to include my elevator pitch and added my most recent position as the owner of my business with the list of services provided.

Also, I have modified the contact information on my resume to include; name, business name, phone, city and state, phone, email and web address.

This is the "business resume" I created and had several bites in using it -- but as you say those bites really did not understand the VA concept and did not work out.

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Cindy
www.eoseasy.comThe Chrysalis Plan

I took my current resume' and 'transformed' it into a document that has my company portfolio. Noting years of experience in different fields of expertise.

What I did originally was go to different websites of consulting firms to see what they used regarding the company back ground.

I am still perfecting it but have gotten some response from it.

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www.sageva.com
Shelley Halpain,

For those that are new and don't know what a portfolio is or why you should use it instead of a resume...read my article I wrote...you can find it here. I would be happy to assist if you need help.

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Rebecca Thompson
CLR Virtual Connection * fanTABulous fan pages

Great topic - I'll be interested to know what others do too. I understand I'm not an employee, but I also know the individuals I have as clients wanted to see something on paper prior to "hiring" me. I just don't think we'll ever get away from providing some kind of work experience/details. I don't really mind this - but, that's JMO. lol Anyhow, I modified my real resume to be "Qualifications" instead. At the moment, it's set up this way:

Header: Name, website, email
Objective Section: Just what mine is as a VA/biz owner
Experience Section: (ETA - of course I also list my company at the top with a list of services offered too.) I modified this to just show what type of businesses I worked for, how long, & what I did. So I removed all company names & just say "Commercial Architecture Firm - Office Manager - 4 years - List of tasks", etc. I just went down the line of my resume & changed it all over to that format.

So I guess I hand over something like a resume, but I call it "Qualifications" instead - & potential clients do not see the actual company names, they just see what I did for people. My "Recommendations" still say "upon request" too. (lol ETA again: also under "recos" I say or visit my testimonials page.)
I'm not sure I'll keep it this way though, but for now, it works. I may even just create more of a portfolio eventually to include these "quals", along with actual work samples too.... we'll see.

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shana
www.shanafore.com

I think it's really interesting and quite telling that this conversation turned into a discussion on how each of you has updated your resume.

It just goes to show you that while we expect clients to treat us as business owners, it's not shocking that many don't when the example isn't being set for them.

Honestly, when I posted the thread I expected all kinds of replies illustrating how a VA would reply tactfully to a request for a resume without sacrificing the business owner mentality.

Thanks so much for the replies thus far!
Looking forward to seeing where this thread goes...

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Originally Posted by RebeccaT

For those that are new and don't know what a portfolio is or why you should use it instead of a resume...read my article I wrote...you can find it here. I would be happy to assist if you need help.

Hi Rebecca,

If you could take a minute to add your reply to the thread, I'd love to see this conversation develop as a resource in and of itself - how do you handle that conversation with a potential client? Do you just send them your portfolio instead, or do you explain why they're not getting a resume? Thanks for your input

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It really is a different mindset going from an employee to a business owner, isn't it?

I explain that I don't provide a resume as I operate as a business, not as an employee. I then give them my business references (some of whom are also listed on my website under testimonials). In order to maintain a current business reference list, I ask each of my current clients (after 3 months of work) if I can use them as a reference and/or get a testimonial from them. This has worked well so far.

When starting out, I asked family members and friends for whom I had done work if I could use them as a reference. This gave me a starting point.

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

Great article, thanks for sharing!

Originally Posted by RebeccaT

For those that are new and don't know what a portfolio is or why you should use it instead of a resume...read my article I wrote...you can find it here. I would be happy to assist if you need help.

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shana
www.shanafore.com

Originally Posted by Tess

Hi Rebecca, If you could take a minute to add your reply to the thread, I'd love to see this conversation develop as a resource in and of itself - how do you handle that conversation with a potential client? Do you just send them your portfolio instead, or do you explain why they're not getting a resume? Thanks for your input

I am sorry Tess ...I inform them that I am a business owner and suggest that if they want to see my experience, I would be happy to send them my portfolio and let them know that testimonials about my work can be found on my testimonials page (I have a page in my portfolio that has testimonials on it in case they "don't have time to go look or don't want to"). I substitute the words portfolio and testimonials when they mention resume or references, when I talk about them. I figure it is us that must teach them those words......HTH

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Rebecca Thompson
CLR Virtual Connection * fanTABulous fan pages