Reflik

Recruiting & Talent Acquisition Blog

7 Steps to Become Self-Employed

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A common dream of many Americans is to become self-employed with a steady stream of income doing something they love. Although this may seem unattainable to the average individual working a 9 to 5 job, entrepreneurship isn’t nearly as inaccessible as many believe it to be. According to a Pew Research Center report from late-2015, three-in-ten U.S. Jobs are held by the self-employed and the workers they hire. The self-employed often provide employment to others in the economy and encourage innovation in their industries as they provide new ideas and products. Self-employed workers invest a tremendous amount of time building their businesses and finding the right audience for their good or service. Not everyone is cut out to be self-employed, you must be comfortable with risks, creative, independent, and most importantly you must have a support system in place as you set out on your own. But with the right guidance and passion, you can become a successful entrepreneur in a field you love!

Here are seven steps to become self-employed:

  1. Find Your Passion

Many pursue entrepreneurship because they don’t love their current job or because they believe they can do better working on their own. To stay afloat in today’s business world, you’ll have to stay driven and motivated to keep going despite setbacks. For this reason, it’s essential that you’re passionate about your goal of self-employment and the business that you’d like to create. If you have minimal experience in a field you’re passionate about then it’s essential that you gain more familiarity with that activity before translating it into a business plan.

  1. Know the Market

Before rushing into your passion, it’s important to determine how saturated your market is with competition and whether an audience would be available to consume your product. Visit this site for additional informational on surveying markets. You should learn meaningful information about salaries in your particular field, types of consumers, statistics about production and sales of your good, economic indicators, and general business statistics. A thoughtful analysis of your market will help you decide if your entrepreneurial dream is realistic and doable.

  1. Make Money in the Meantime

For many entrepreneurs the most difficult part of setting off on their own is losing their current salary as they work towards being self-employed. Before working on your venture full-time, it may be advisable to continue working at your current job while saving up a nest egg. Another way of earning necessary funds while working on your project is to refer and earn with Reflik. Reflik allows entrepreneurs to refer their friends and connections to open positions posted by companies all over the United States. If your referred candidate is hired, you’ll earn the advertised reward for that position. Of course with the proper amount of referrals, you can earn enough to support yourself while working on your entrepreneurial journey.

  1. Consult Others

To succeed you’ll need a strong support system in place, including friends and family members who you can depend on to assist you with your journey. Consulting others about your self-employment dream will also allow you to find potential partners who can assist you with your goal by providing their own counsel on aspects of the business you may not have as much familiarity. For example, if your uncle is an accountant, it would be worthwhile to speak with him about pertinent IRS rules for small businesses you may not be aware of. If you have limited knowledge of an industry you’re passionate about it would also be helpful to find a mentor who can assist you with advice or guidance.

  1. Write a Business Plan

Writing a great business plan is one of the most important steps to becoming self-employed because it provides a guide for the future and it allows others to better understand your goals. A well-thought out plan also provides revenue projections especially if you truly understand the market you plan to enter. Use this site to build your business plan and get started on your journey to self-employment!

  1. Choose a Business Structure

Determining your business structure is an integral step in becoming self-employed because it will affect your responsibilities, tax structure, and hiring abilities. Each business structure holds its own perks and challenges. For example, if you open a sole proprietorship, you’ll be responsible to pay all of your company’s taxes but you’ll also earn all the profits from your business. If you want to work with someone else, you can create a partnership or if you want to offer stock options you could form a corporation. It’s essential that you carefully research each available option before becoming self-employed because your choice of business structure will affect so many aspects of your business. To learn more about available business structures, visit this site.

  1. Complete the Practical Steps

To finalize your goals, you must perform the necessary financial and legal actions to establish your business. For example, you must determine where your business will be located, which licenses you need, which laws pertain your company, how you will register your business, and how you will finance operations. Luckily many of these steps are laid out here.

Becoming self-employed may be a great struggle but the triumph of achieving independence and working on your passion is well-worth initial difficulties like completing necessary regulatory requirements. As CEO of Reflik, I have achieved my entrepreneurial aspirations by creating a talent recruiting platform like none other available on the market, that rewards recruiters and individuals who successfully refer qualified candidates to exciting open positions. Reflik allows recruiters who previously were dependent on contracts from companies to earn a living by referring candidates in their database to the many open positions on our platform. Nothing has made me happier in my career than seeing others use Reflik in the pursuit of their own independence.

Good luck in your pursuit of self-employment, working at your passion is well-worth the effort!

Sources

Pew Research Center

Small Business Administration

The Simple Dollar

Do Firms Focus Too Much On College Rank?

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College is increasingly seen as the primary gateway to a successful life in the United States as more bright-eyed students are entering four year universities. Unfortunately, many of these students attending state universities or lesser known colleges will discover after four years that firms give priority to students from “brand name” universities over those from less prestigious institutions regardless of experience, grades, or activities. In Lauren Rivera’s article, Firms Are Wasting Millions Recruiting on Only a Few Campuses, ironically published in Harvard Business Review, she outlines how top firms are actually losing hefty sums by recruiting exclusively from select institutions. According to many firms, they seek candidates from particular schools because they believe students at these institutions have the traits desired by the firm.  Apparently clients of firms also feel more at ease with a consultant or associate with an impressive alma mater on their resume. Clearly hiring managers at top firms have strong feelings about recruiting from top universities but are they right to be prejudiced against lower ranked colleges?

Rivera certainly doesn’t think so as she lays out clear reasons for why top firms should consider recruiting from lesser known schools.

  • Limiting recruitment to top schools can limit your ability to attract highly motivated and skilled students.

    Many top-performing students, especially those from limited means may attend schools that better match their budget, turning down universities with better recognition. By limiting hiring exclusively to the top ten schools in the nation, hiring managers are not exposing themselves to students from diverse backgrounds and means who would provide value to a firm.

  • The current recruiting strategy is broken.

    Top firms attract talent by sending ambassadors to universities to host receptions, info sessions, luncheons, and dinners to find great candidates for future employment. Quotas are allocated for certain schools and before applications are received, jobs are set aside for certain prestigious universities. The whole process is costly and inefficient, qualified candidates are ignored if they’re from the wrong school and the cost of ambassadors/events can quickly add up.

  • “Top Tier” is left to the imagination and isn’t data-based.

    Hiring managers often have an idea of top schools in mind without actually knowing whether these schools produce better employees. For example, a state university’s engineering department could produce better engineers than a lower-ranked Ivy League department but a hiring manager will still pick the Ivy-League student over the better prepared state university student. Researchers even found that students from top-tier schools are significantly less satisfied at large law firms than those with a less prestigious institution on their resume. A portion will even leave the job within two years after being hired from dissatisfaction, not allowing firms to recoup the amount they spent on recruitment or training.

  • Training fees just aren’t worth it.

    Rivera found that many of the top universities, regardless of focus, are less likely to offer adequate instruction of the skills necessary to work at positions provided by firms. Companies are forced to provide training that can last up to a year for graduates, a huge cost added to recruiting fees. For example, students from higher-ranked universities are not usually the best performers on skill exams like the Bloomberg Aptitude Test.

Rivera ends her article by encouraging firms to look beyond status-quo recruiting strategies to find un-tapped talent from lower-ranked universities, who likely have better skills and will cost less in the long term. Change is certainly necessary if top firms wish to remain competitive and acquire the most qualified candidates. A vital tool that employers can utilize to acquire the best talent possible is the Reflik platform. Rather than spending large sums on college ambassador programs, where thousands are spent on travel, lodging, and lavish food spreads, firms could post open positions on the Reflik platform, where independent recruiters and individuals refer highly qualified candidates directly at no cost unless a candidate is hired. Referrals are analyzed and the most qualified candidates from the list are passed along to the employer to ensure maximum efficiency. Sometimes traditions have to be broken and Reflik is leading the charge in radically transforming the recruiting industry.

Source: Harvard Business Review

Maximizing LinkedIn

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LinkedIn is the most popular professional network for connecting with colleagues, advertising yourself as a candidate, and sharing content applicable to your trade. With so many people joining LinkedIn daily, it’s important to differentiate yourself with a well-organized and informative profile. The best LinkedIn profiles effectively summarize the key aspects of a user’s career and are interesting to read without providing unnecessary details. As LinkedIn becomes increasingly more important in the professional world, here are some of the most important ways you can maximize your LinkedIn profile.

Personalization

While populating your account with pertinent career information should be your primary goal when editing your LinkedIn account, select personal details make all the difference in making yourself appear more personable and interesting. For example, adding a few personal interests in your summary can serve as an easy ice-breaker for new connections eager to learn more about you.

  • A background photo to replace the dull blue stock background that we all started with can inform viewers of your current city if you post a skyline or your favorite sports team if you choose an applicable background.
  • Many companies provide free headshots to staff specifically for LinkedIn, but even if that’s not your circumstance, a headshot is worth the investment to land your profile more attention.
  • Another key detail on LinkedIn is the personal URL. On your personal page under your picture, name, and education there should be a small bar that allows you to change your stock URL to something more personable for a business card or email signature.

It’s All About The Details

In your summary, you should give an overview of your professional career complete with what you do at your current position, career ambitions, any pertinent skills, and as mentioned previously a few personal details to liven up your profile.

  • For experience, you should summarize your current position and past positions with important accomplishments, an overview of tasks performed, and whenever possible a record of quantifiable achievements (ex. annual sales total). There’s even a section for volunteer activities, which can allow you to connect with other volunteers at organizations all over the world.
  • The Education section on LinkedIn is pertinent especially to college students or recent graduates but visitors to your account will certainly pay attention to important details like your Alma Mater, activities you took part in at school, pertinent courses you took, and your GPA.

Posting and Interacting

A personalized LinkedIn account isn’t complete without regular interactions with connections.

  • Posting regularly puts your profile at the forefront of your connections’ minds and allows you to show some of your personal interests. Liking and sharing connections’ posts also shows them that you’re interested in their content.
  • You can post articles associated with your industry or you could even post open positions from Reflik, if a connection applies to the position from your link and is hired, you’ll be sent the referral reward for the hire.
  • Endorsing a connection’s skills similarly demonstrates interest and encourages them to in turn endorse you for a skill.
  • Make sure to join groups that have to do with your interests or career on LinkedIn. Type a few key words into LinkedIn search to see what’s out there and check out what your colleagues or college friends belong to on LinkedIn. Groups are a great way to show off your interests as well as find valuable new connections.

Leveraging LinkedIn

After following some of our tips for maximizing your LinkedIn, you can get started making the most of your newly edited profiled! Here are a few ways you can leverage LinkedIn to your benefit.

  • With an edited profile it will be far easier for connections to find you online or recruiters to reach out to you with new job opportunities.
  • Export your LinkedIn information into resume format or at the very least utilize it as a resource when editing your resume.
  • Post open positions from Reflik on LinkedIn and earn money when candidates that use your links are hired!
  • Advertise your business or work by posting content on LinkedIn.

How Reflik is Disrupting the Recruiting Industry

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Since the dawn of the 21st century, technology has drastically improved healthcare, transportation, and communication but certain industries like recruiting have remained relatively untouched. Mobile connectivity and more accessible job boards have certainly helped but they haven’t opened up recruiting fully to the general public. With the introduction of Reflik to the recruiting world, anyone now has the ability to refer qualified candidates to exciting positions in exchange for referral rewards. Reflik’s disruption of recruiting benefits employers, recruiters, job seekers, and the general public!

For Employers

Most employers know that the best new hires come through referrals.  The problem is that there aren’t enough referrals from in-house recruiting programs.  A company’s employees can refer their friends but they may not know about many of the jobs that are open in the company – particularly in different departments or at different locations.  Company referral programs often don’t offer enough incentive for their employees to “look” very hard for new candidates.  Reflik disrupts the process – providing employees greater incentive and opening up the process to our members – giving the employer an exponential increase in potential candidates for less than the cost of using a recruiter.

For Recruiters

Recruiters are great at recruiting – but they are often limited by the need to manually find job listings – some of which they may not have access to.  Sorting through candidate lists to match known job openings to candidate lists takes time, contacting potential applicants takes time, and tracking the process and progress of the applicant’s progress takes time.  Reflik disrupts the process – providing the recruiter with more job listings and automating the process through our matching algorithm and contact system and by tracking the progress of the applicant at every step of the way.  Recruiters can save time, find more jobs and focus on what they do best – recruiting more applicants.

For Job Seekers and Members

Our members have access to potentially hundreds of job seekers in their social networks.  Reflik is where social media meets recruiting. Some of these are “active” job seekers – but some are “passive” job seekers who might take a better job if they were referred to it.  Our automatic matching algorithm compares social media profiles to our job listings – and identifies matches which can be referred by our members.  The members who refer successful candidates are rewarded with a substantial referral fee.  We are disruptive because our referral reward is “real money” with an average of $5000, and matching and referring is easy.

Reflik is “disrupting” the traditional job search and recruiting industry with new, revolutionary ideas.  The job market will never be the same.

Another incredible perk of Reflik is that it is open to everyone regardless of experience in the recruiting world! Reflik is free for members, job seekers, recruiters, and  employers to sign up and use.  The only time money exchanges hands is when a successful candidate is found and the referral fee is paid.  Employers win by gaining access to exponentially more candidates at a much lower cost than recruiting services or multiple job board postings.  The recruiter wins by gaining access to more job listings and automated time-saving systems.  The job seekers and members win by easily finding jobs and getting paid for referring their friends and contacts.

Check out how Reflik works!

by Ash Geria