How do I navigate career limbo and transition from freelancing back to in-house work?

July 24, 2009 8:32 AM

After a few years of full-time freelancing, I'm exploring a return to in-house work. What I've found in the early days of my search is that I'm in a kind of career limbo, a few years overqualified for the mid-level jobs and a few years underqualified for the senior-level jobs. So: How to deal?

* Go for the lower jobs, swallow the pride, take the paycut, and work like hell in hopes of a promotion before too long?
* Keep doing my freelance gig and aim for the higher jobs in hopes that I can put my resume and my face in front of the kind of person willing to take a chance?

Anybody been in a similar situation? Anybody have sage counsel? Throwaway e-mail for those who, like me, may not wish to advertise their status to current/potential employers: [e-mail]. Thanks in advance!

posted by anonymous to work & money (5 comments total)

The best situation you might find is someplace looking for a senor level person a few years out and they hire and groom you to replace the retiring or whatever senor person. These situations are not that easy to find and if management changes all those promises can easily be broken.
posted by caddis at 8:49 AM on July 24

What size of company are you targeting? A mid-size company may require less experience for a senior-level position than a large company. If you go into a smaller environment you'll probably assume more duties, a bit of mid-level and a bit of senior-level which could be a good bridge for your career.
posted by IanMorr at 9:08 AM on July 24

You may be successful applying for a higher-level job, and offering to do a "trial period" at a lower level first to prove yourself if they seem concerned about your experience level, with the understanding (in writing) that once you have proved yourself you will be promoted to the higher-level position and pay. I would also have in writing what the conditions of "prove yourself" actually entails.

What that trial period will be is negotiable. I have successfully done this twice, once with a 3-month trial period and once with a 6-month trial period.

Some will be open to this, some won't, but it's surely worth offering if you find the right job!
posted by Lafe at 9:13 AM on July 24

I would dispute the assumption that potential employers are assessing your ability in terms of years of experience.

Employers assess in terms of ability, period. You need to better articulate the considerable skills you have developed as a freelancer: marketing and sales, project management, admin/accounting, plus your very real core competencies (your post gives us very little context about what it is you actually do).

The rule in job searching is to look for the job that you actually want to do, for a client or employer whom you actually want to work for. It's all about being a good fit. You conduct this job search not through want ads or online job postings, but through researching potential employers, cold calling, networking, word of mouth, etc.

If you yourself determine that you may not have the skills to escape this "limbo" and work at a higher level, then perhaps you should shoot for lower level jobs that will allow you to develop the skills you need.

But never take job posting requirements (about years of experience) too seriously, as these postings are written by someone from the HR department, and the HR department is never too concerned with finding and nurturing talent, and instead just wants to cover its ass.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:22 AM on July 24 [2 favorites]

In what way are you under-qualified for the senior-level jobs and how quickly could you develop those competencies?

In what particular industries are you currently searching for work?

Job ads are pretty much just a minimal list of the things you need to address in your resume. There will often be a more detailed job description or list in-depth list of selection criteria available - if you ask for these, you may find that you're not over-qualified at all.

What is your "gap"? What is required for the positions you want that you don't currently have? What are your options for demonstrating those competencies (this can often be done by short, intensive learning courses)?
posted by Lolie at 11:13 AM on July 24