Anyone make the leap from self-employed to employee?

[Psyberbaby]

I've been self-employed for 15 years and about to start seriously job hunting, I'm worried I'm not going to have enough "corporate BS" on my CV compared to other candidates who are moving from employee to employee...

I did during covid times. Hospitality industry so that went well. Honestly it was a struggle because of references but I got a job with local council for which I am overqualified but there is progression and an excellent pension scheme. I sacrifice 7k gross pay a year to buy an additional year of pension for every year I work. So in 2 years I’ve got four years worth of pension am 44 and will do this for next 20 years probably.

I’d look at government jobs/ civil service in the first instance.

@FuckinghellthatsUnbelievable
Well done!

So your job wasn't connected to your SE career?

I have recently done this, after a similarly long stretch of full-time self-employment. I just really needed more security.

I didn’t have a lot of corporate BS on my cv but I did, I think, really luck out in that I saw an opportunity that was a really great match for my skills. So I'm not sure I would be much help to you, but I wish you good luck with it.

That's great @CavalierApproach well done! Totally understand wanting more security. For me it's more just wanting someone else to sort out my tax, pension and health 😅 Tired of doing it all. And would quite like to be "part of something" if that makes sense.
Is your job connected to what you used to do?

Not at all. Needed admin skills but training was a provided for everything else.

You have to rewrite your CV for every job, pulling out the corporate bullshit for all the requirements of every position.

I was freelance for years and then went back to employment (charity sector, then civil service).

I found it really helped to emphasise things about working with people and in teams. People can assume freelancers are lone wolves and not good at cooperating - when in fact we have to cooperate with more people, adapt to different people etc. It really helped to make this clear.

Yes my DH, self-employed all his life, sold his business at the age of about 68, took a job with the company who bought his business and still works for them age 76. Not your usual trajectory by any means!😂

Yes I have, stopped childminding after 10 years during COVID and now work for the LA. Best decision I ever made, I have my home and life back, sick pay, pension and a reliable income. Skills from childminding transferred over plus I had nearly 11 office experience prior to having children so all helped

Yes, I did. The way my work was delivered changed during the pandemic and I realised that lots would stay online, which wasn't for me.

It was possibly my age (early 50s) , as well as 15 years of being self-employed, but it did take me over a year to find a job. I had a few breaks and the endless rejections were too much, and the job I got I was the only person who applied!

I'm just starting to job hunt again and hope that it's not so long this time. It's so time-consuming and morale sapping to be rejected from interview after interview. Best of luck with it OP!