Self-Employed on LinkedIn? You’re Hired.

As job losses and business closures continue to increase, more and more people are turning to social media to give them a boost – both in the job market and as a tool of self-promotion. There isn’t a place more evident of this trend than on LinkedIn, where the site’s foundation is based on business and other professional connections. Looking through my connections list, for example, I see a sharp decrease in business names under “Company Name” and an increase of more generic terms like “self-employed” or “independent consultant”.

Seems innocent enough, but what you may not know is that labeling yourself this way adds you to the growing number of employees of the “Self Employed” company. I know this sounds like a joke, but it’s not. LinkedIn allows individuals to create company profile pages and then aggregates the information of anyone who lists that same company on their profile. So the unfortunate side effect of the current unemployment rate is that the following companies are thriving.

Let’s take a look at some stats:

Self Employed

Current Employees: 500+
Top Locations:
- Greater New York City Area (105)
- San Francisco Bay Area (89)
- Greater Los Angeles Area (70)
- Washington DC Metro Area (56)
- Greater Chicago Area (52)
Common Job Titles:
- Consultant (20%)
- Information Technology Consultant (7%)
- Manager (3%)
- Web Developer (2%)
- Independent Consultant (2%)
Median Age: 34
Gender:
- Male (78%)
- Female (22%)

Freelance

Current Employees: 500+
Top Locations:
- Greater New York City Area (500+)
- London, United Kingdom (420)
- Greater Los Angeles Area (407)
- San Francisco Bay Area (205)
- Greater Chicago Area (204)
Common Job Titles:
- Editor (15%)
- Writer (14%)
- Freelance Writer (5%)
- Journalist (5%)
- Translator (4%)
Median Age: 29
Gender:
- Male (47%)
- Female (53%)

Independent Consultant

Current Employees: 500+
Top Locations:
- Greater New York City Area (64)
- San Francisco Bay Area (52)
- Washington DC Metro Area (43)
- Greater Chicago Area (29)
- Dallas/Fort Worth Area (23)
- Greater Boston Area (23)
Common Job Titles:
- Consultant (26%)
- Independent Consultant (13%)
- Project Manager (4%)
- Information Technology Consultant (3%)
- Senior Consultant (3%)
Median Age: 38
Gender:
- Male (75%)
- Female (25%)

Given this newfound knowledge, my advice to anyone who has voluntarily taken the independent route or had it forced upon them is to create your own identity. Name your consulting firm or freelance design agency and brand it. This way, you’re setting yourself apart from the thousands of other independents out there and presenting yourself in a more professional manner.

Who would you rather work with – John Smith, Self Employed or John Smith of Smith Consulting? And who knows, you may actually be good at it and turn yourself into a viable business. Stranger things have happened.

On a side note, take a look at the various data points for these various terms. There’s some interesting trends about age, gender and location based on the label a person decides to use.

What do you think? Comment and let’s discuss.