update: should I take my Etsy business off my resume?

by Alison Green on December 15, 2021

It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and all December I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past.

Remember the letter-writer wondering if she should take her Etsy business off her resume? Here’s the update.

First of all, I want to thank you for answering my question! I facepalmed myself when I read your answer because it really, truly, did not occur to me that mentioning my employees (more on that in a moment) was throwing up more red flags rather than assuaging hesitations. I guess just being in the thick of it blinded me and I felt pretty silly for not considering how that was coming across to my interviewers. Secondly, thank you to everyone who commented and was so lovely and gave such great advice! It’s got to be a rare corner of the internet where every response was kind, informative and helpful. I tried to clear it up in the comments on the original post, but classifying my store help as employees was very poor wording on my part as they are essentially freelancers who I’ve fully trained over a weekend or so of how to do what I need them to do. Basically, I send them a text asking if they want to complete 10 tea pots in the next 4 days and if they do, they come pick up the supplies and deliver them to me finished which takes far less time (10 mins versus 3 hours) than making them myself, so that is why I thought that they were actually something that would put potential employers fears to rest rather than exacerbate them. But I was wrong!

In the very next interview I landed after my original post, when I was inevitably asked about my store, I used the advice from commenters RebelwithMouseyHair and Pikachu and explained that the store is very scalable and that I can basically pump the brakes on it anytime I want. I pieced together a lot of the great advice I got in the comments for my answers about my Etsy store and proudly highlighted what strengths I had honed during the pandemic. After an incredibly frustrating job search, hearing all you nice internet strangers say that my skill set was something they would be impressed with if they were hiring me gave me a huge confidence boost for my interview. I reviewed Alison’s guide and practiced common questions in front of the mirror and to my elementary school aged child (a great practice in dealing with distracted interviewers!) The initial phone interview was great, and the recruiter sent me to the next steps within a couple of hours. I completed my testing and pre-recorded video interview and scored high enough on those that they offered me an in person interview the next morning. In what is a separate letter all by itself, I showed up to the in person interview a sweaty mess nearly two hours late due to an ‘act of nature’ scenario completely out of my control. It was not as bad as throwing condoms across an interviewer’s desk, but it was bad. My adrenaline was riding so high after being so late and such a mess that I honestly don’t remember the first 20 mins of the interview. I did end up playing up the strengths that owning my own business could bring to the role without hesitation this time around because I had all the right things to say when they did bring up their hesitations about my full commitment to the new job.

Considering how rough the start of my interview was, I was floored when they called shortly after and offered me the position! This will be a life changing career move for me and a whole new arena of work than I have previously done. I’m still in training, but everything I’ve seen about this company I am super impressed with. PTO in the first month! Having to take an emergency unexpected day off in my first two weeks and matter of factly being told ‘family comes first, keep us posted!’ Having a comprehensive training program that gives avenues for questions and guidance but with managers who reiterate that we’re all adults who don’t need to be micromanaged (a big difference from the restaurant industry where one has to ask to pee!) And so many more positive things.

Alison, thank you for what you do and thank you to all the people who took time out of their day to make comments! I absolutely credit your blog for helping me mold my work history and talents into the marketable skills that landed me this job. To anyone out there who thinks a total 180 career change isn’t possible, don’t give up! I haven’t had a ‘traditional’ job in over 10 years before I found this and I wake up every day not really believing that I have a career path now that is going to provide great things for me and my family in an industry that I hope to retire from someday.

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{ 48 comments }

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  1. The Smiling Pug*

    This is a wonderful update, OP!! Also, reading about your questions about putting your Etsy business on your resume helped me decide whether or not to do so with my podcast.

    1. Raina*

      So glad my questions could help someone else! I wrote a list out of everything I do for my store and then put it side by side with the job descriptions I was applying at and tried to tie the skills together. I don’t know if that makes sense, but it definitely helped me word answers to certain interview questions.

      1. Mockingjay*

        It makes perfect sense! It’s tailoring! You did your homework and sussed out distinct skills and experience applicable to an individual job. Well done!

      2. MCMonkeyBean*

        That is exactly the right way to do it! You clearly put a lot of thought and effort into your job search and I’m glad it sounds like it paid off!

    2. Raina*

      Oh my goodness. It was either the universe totally effing with me or giving me a leg up, still to be determined.

      I live in a suburb of Major City of where the interview was held. There is ONE highway that cuts through a reservation to get to Major City. If there is an accident on this one road, it can be shut down for hours. Usually, it’s only a 35 min trip to get to the office where I had my interview. I was dealing with an in house recruiter for the interview and asked for a morning interview because the AC is broken in my car and I live in the Southwest. It was over 110 degrees out the day of my interview. She was amazing and gave me the exact time I requested (post rush hour so not sitting in traffic, but before it got TOO hot outside.) I decided to leave about 2 hours early and hang out in Major City with a friend who lives less than 10 mins from the office so that I wouldn’t be coming in from my car super hot (it still was nearly 100 degrees at that time of the morning.)

      I leave my house and make it about half way there when all the traffic grinds to a halt about a mile away from the last intersection on the highway. I instantly pull up the traffic Facebook group for my town and someone has already posted that there was a bad accident at the intersection that had occurred about 10 mins prior, but after I had left my house (because I checked the traffic before I did!!) I call the recruiter, explain the situation (she used to live in my suburb and totally understood) and moved the interview back. Then I got the pleasure of watching the live news chopper FB feed where I could literally see the roof of my car sitting about 50 feet back from the accident. I sit for about an hour. Then a police man comes and tells me to turn around in the dirt median. My poor POS car barely made it. I had to go the opposite way by about 40 miles. I call the recruiter and push the interview a second time. She offers to reschedule and my response was “I’ve come this far. This *IS* happening today.” Once re-routed through an entirely different town I speed. A lot. A lot, a lot. Not my proudest moment.

      At this point, my hair is in shambles from the windows being down and my clothes are totally soaked with sweat. I had been in contact with my Major City friend the whole time and at one point we were even tossing around the idea of her four wheeling her Jeep through the open desert to pick me up off the side of the road. I tell her I’m on the freeway en route to her with about 2 mins to spare. She googles my location and tells me that it will take 28 mins to get to her place. It takes me 8. Lots of speeding. I skid into her driveway and she basically does a Nascar pitstop treatment on me. She had new clothes laid out right by her front door and as I’m pulling on non-sweaty pants and a top, she’s combing my hair, spraying me with perfume and handing me a water bottle.

      I walk into the interview 1 min prior to my twice pushed back start time. Greet the receptionist kindly and as I’m waiting for me interviewers to come out I realize that I am sweating profusely from every single pore in my body. The borrowed pants are no help to wipe my sweaty palms on, nor is my purse and I panic about the handshake I know is about to happen. As I hear foot steps approaching I snag some hand sanitizer from the front desk and rub it in. When I do the handshake I said “oh, sorry, I just used hand sanitizer, my hands are a little wet!” while silently thinking, because I’m sweating my current weight in water out all over your conference room right now guys, sorry.

      I decide to take control of the narrative and profusely thank them for accommodating the severely pushed back start time of the interview right off the bat. The first question they ask was “Yeah, do you think you’re going to be able to handle this commute every day?” My response literally started with “Touche, but…” and then gave all the reasons why that particular accident was an anomaly hindering me being on time. I can feel sweat beads rolling down my face for at least the first half of the hour long interview. They were great interviewers though and did grill me on my Etsy store, but in more of a “tell me a time when a customer was difficult…” kind of way. I, of course, asked the Magic Question and felt really good leaving.

      When the recruiter called to offer me the job, she said that my dogged determination to make it to the interview come hell or high water actually was a selling point as the job is in sales and she framed it as “this woman will not give up no matter what obstacles are in her way.” Sooo, showing that I would find a way under, over, or around an obstacle actually worked in my favor in the end for this particular job. They called to offer me the job a few hours after my interview (I knew that I was literally the last interview of that hiring block, which is why I was SO determined to be there.) My poor car overheated on the way home from the interview, but I can’t blame it for what I put it through that day. Once I get my first big commission check, I’m taking my car the mechanic and taking my friend out for drinks!

      2. Rainy Day*

        What a great story! You told it in such an engaging way, and I felt like I was along for the ride with you! Congrats on getting to job too.

      7. Noblepower*

        I can’t tell you how happy I am that you didn’t leave us hanging – and I love that this epic story ends with you getting that job!

      9. HeraTech*

        “I skid into her driveway and she basically does a Nascar pitstop treatment on me. She had new clothes laid out right by her front door and as I’m pulling on non-sweaty pants and a top, she’s combing my hair, spraying me with perfume and handing me a water bottle. ” That’s a great friend right there!
        Also I thought the hand sanitizer bit was *very* clever. Kudos LW, you more than earned this job. So happy for you. Congratulations!!!

  2. Thin Mints didn't make me thin*

    That’s great! Although I think I speak for the commentariat when I say we want the full story of the act of nature.

    4. Raina*

      I typed this out in response to the wrong comment, whoops! I’ll put it here as well. :)

      Oh my goodness. It was either the universe totally effing with me or giving me a leg up, still to be determined.

      I live in a suburb of Major City of where the interview was held. There is ONE highway that cuts through a reservation to get to Major City. If there is an accident on this one road, it can be shut down for hours. Usually, it’s only a 35 min trip to get to the office where I had my interview. I was dealing with an in house recruiter for the interview and asked for a morning interview because the AC is broken in my car and I live in the Southwest. It was over 110 degrees out the day of my interview. She was amazing and gave me the exact time I requested (post rush hour so not sitting in traffic, but before it got TOO hot outside.) I decided to leave about 2 hours early and hang out in Major City with a friend who lives less than 10 mins from the office so that I wouldn’t be coming in from my car super hot (it still was nearly 100 degrees at that time of the morning.)

      I leave my house and make it about half way there when all the traffic grinds to a halt about a mile away from the last intersection on the highway. I instantly pull up the traffic Facebook group for my town and someone has already posted that there was a bad accident at the intersection that had occurred about 10 mins prior, but after I had left my house (because I checked the traffic before I did!!) I call the recruiter, explain the situation (she used to live in my suburb and totally understood) and moved the interview back. Then I got the pleasure of watching the live news chopper FB feed where I could literally see the roof of my car sitting about 50 feet back from the accident. I sit for about an hour. Then a police man comes and tells me to turn around in the dirt median. My poor POS car barely made it. I had to go the opposite way by about 40 miles. I call the recruiter and push the interview a second time. She offers to reschedule and my response was “I’ve come this far. This *IS* happening today.” Once re-routed through an entirely different town I speed. A lot. A lot, a lot. Not my proudest moment.

      At this point, my hair is in shambles from the windows being down and my clothes are totally soaked with sweat. I had been in contact with my Major City friend the whole time and at one point we were even tossing around the idea of her four wheeling her Jeep through the open desert to pick me up off the side of the road. I tell her I’m on the freeway en route to her with about 2 mins to spare. She googles my location and tells me that it will take 28 mins to get to her place. It takes me 8. Lots of speeding. I skid into her driveway and she basically does a Nascar pitstop treatment on me. She had new clothes laid out right by her front door and as I’m pulling on non-sweaty pants and a top, she’s combing my hair, spraying me with perfume and handing me a water bottle.

      I walk into the interview 1 min prior to my twice pushed back start time. Greet the receptionist kindly and as I’m waiting for me interviewers to come out I realize that I am sweating profusely from every single pore in my body. The borrowed pants are no help to wipe my sweaty palms on, nor is my purse and I panic about the handshake I know is about to happen. As I hear foot steps approaching I snag some hand sanitizer from the front desk and rub it in. When I do the handshake I said “oh, sorry, I just used hand sanitizer, my hands are a little wet!” while silently thinking, because I’m sweating my current weight in water out all over your conference room right now guys, sorry.

      I decide to take control of the narrative and profusely thank them for accommodating the severely pushed back start time of the interview right off the bat. The first question they ask was “Yeah, do you think you’re going to be able to handle this commute every day?” My response literally started with “Touche, but…” and then gave all the reasons why that particular accident was an anomaly hindering me being on time. I can feel sweat beads rolling down my face for at least the first half of the hour long interview. They were great interviewers though and did grill me on my Etsy store, but in more of a “tell me a time when a customer was difficult…” kind of way. I, of course, asked the Magic Question and felt really good leaving.

      When the recruiter called to offer me the job, she said that my dogged determination to make it to the interview come hell or high water actually was a selling point as the job is in sales and she framed it as “this woman will not give up no matter what obstacles are in her way.” Sooo, showing that I would find a way under, over, or around an obstacle actually worked in my favor in the end for this particular job. They called to offer me the job a few hours after my interview (I knew that I was literally the last interview of that hiring block, which is why I was SO determined to be there.) My poor car overheated on the way home from the interview, but I can’t blame it for what I put it through that day. Once I get my first big commission check, I’m taking my car to the mechanic and taking my friend out for drinks!

      2. Miss Curmudgeonly*

        Lol, this is awesome – I can so totally picture you doing the Nascar pit stop at your friend’s house. Though right now I’m not sure if I’m seeing more of the “change all the tires during the race” kind of thing, or a pre-dog-show-prep where the pooch is on the table and the handler is spritzing and fluffing and perfecting the look.

        Either way – congratulations!

        1. Raina*

          Haha, yes, she is an AMAZING friend. Maybe less pitstop and more quick change of an actor backstage. Stripping off all my clothes and changing in her entry way while she tended to my hair and makeup. It takes a real friend to help you put shoes on while you’re using her deodorant on your sweaty-ass armpits, lol. We were both seriously considering the Jeep through the desert angle and at one point she was actually googling private helicopters to come pick me up on the side of the road, lol. She did all of this for me in the middle of her own workday and then took me out for a post interview lunch when I went back to collect everything I’d left scattered when I left.

          1. allathian*

            Wow, what an awesome friend! Here’s hoping for a big commission check for you, so you can take your friend out to a fancy dinner.

    1. Raina*

      Not certain, he was very particular about what he wanted me to bring to the table as a candidate. Which apparently was Robux and unlimited Youtube access. Neither of which I was willing to provide, so I decided to decline the offer, lol!

  6. Michelle Smith*

    So…um…are they hiring for any additional roles? Only half joking!!

    Congratulations, I am really glad that it all worked out for you!

    2. Raina*

      Haha, no I got it! He did decide to go with the other candidate (his dad) because the other person was willing to let him play games on his phone. I was not, so probably a bullet dodged there. XD

  9. brightbetween*

    Another “act of nature” craziness pre-interview, though mine was a miscommunication. Over 15 years ago, I was interviewing for a public library that had multiple branches and a main administrative office. As is often the case in public service hiring, there are multiple positions for the same classification, you apply once and are on the list for any positions that come up. So I had interviewed for three or four positions before this one, and they had all taken place at the branches where the positions were located. Silly me, I assumed that was the case with this position as well and showed up at the branch. Nope! This interview was at the administrative office, a 30 minute drive away. One of the staff called the office to tell them what happened, I raced up there as fast as possible, and was completely scattered for the interview. But I got the job! And I’m still at the same library system (not the same branch) over 15 years later

    1. Raina*

      OMG! Mine is somewhat similar (see above) as to showing up late and so very flustered. Glad that it worked out for both of us!!

  10. X-Man*

    I love this update!

    I also love the mental image of you receiving advice from a rebel with mousey hair and a Pikachu.

    1. Raina*

      LOL, I totally picture user names like this. For the record, you are pictured as Wolverine in my head. I know that’s not all X-Man, but that’s what my brain goes to.

  11. Userper Cranberries*

    I love that throwing condoms across the interviewer’s desk has become a measure of how badly outside factors messed up your interview!

    1. Raina*

      Haha, yeah that letter got published I think shortly after my interview and I remember reading it and thinking….well, at least my hot mess self wasn’t THAT bad. Especially because of the feel good update where everything worked out for the best, just like my situation!!

    2. Struggle Bus Reward Card Holder*

      Ok, I need to know! What on earth is going on? I missed several months of columns due to job stress. :(

  13. The answer is (probably) 42*

    I’m really excited to hear that this is going well for you! I had an Etsy shop (MUCH smaller) that I’ve put on indefinite hiatus since 2018 so I could focus on health issues- I couldn’t juggle my day job and my Etsy store and that all together. I’ve considered mentioning it on my CV because there are some tangentially related aspects to my day job, but I was wary about it for some of the same reasons and some different ones. So it’s really heartening to see a success story!

    I hope you are able to keep the balance between them and continue doing what you love!

  14. quill*

    OP: I got a job after being 30 minutes late to an interview once. There was a certain amount of GPS / road trouble in a rural area so it wasn’t like I could detour a few blocks or backtrack. I’d gotten the interview through a recruiter who had given me no means of contacting the interviewers… so I had to park in a ditch and google it to let them know I was lost and trapped in some road resurfacing. Turns out the place’s official address was on a completely different road from the employee / visitor entrance!

    They were apparently impressed by my honesty and resourcefulness.

  15. Pikachu*

    Omg I made it into an askamanager letter, and it’s not because I decorated my Christmas tree with cheap ass mudslides while playing piano! Could not be happier to be confronted by Thursday of this week.

    Congrats OP :) :) :)

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