How to include online business and few other things as work experience in resume for a fresher?

Question

I'm in a college. Two years ago while I was still in college, I used to build online businesses for myself and brainstorm different ideas to generate revenue for me. I also used to help people with managing their social media, program bots to automate work, affiliate marketing. I would like to include this as work experience in my resume. I had two questions:

1. The current job I am applying for as a fresher is not relevant to online business etc. Should I still include the said experience in my resume? I personally feel I should, as it would tell employer that I have done something. Maybe when I'm an experienced professional I won't include it.

2. Since I'm fresher I haven't seen much resumes, and have no idea how to include this in resume. I don't think freelancer would be right word to use, because I was doing online business, programming bots to automate stuff all for myself and only managed someone else's social media handle one or two times so managing social media was not the primary thing.

I would really like to get experienced professionals input.

Answer 1

If your work was done more like a job, add it to the jobs section of the CV.

If it was done more like a hobby, you might want to create a section like "Other work experience" and add everything else there.

For general info about what a CV should contain, the internet is full of tutorials and ideas.

Answer 2

Welcome to the professional world. A common beginner assumption is that one resume would fit all kinds of job application. Such line of thinking is natural as you are viewing the professional world from the lens of academic skills and major.

A good piece of advise would be to tweak your resume depending on the job/position you are applying for. One resume doesn't and shouldn't fit all.

It could help to think from the perspective of a potential employer. If academic credentials and any relevant projects worked on is all that you mention on your resume, you risk appearing not standing out from other candidates coming from a similar background.

But again, that simply doesn't mean that you should put any skills on your resume. Depending on the employer and the job description, your specific experiences could be highly relevant or may not be relevant at all.

The current job I am applying for as a fresher is not relevant to online business etc. Should I still include the said experience in my resume?

You may not want to mention the said work experience, as it's likely that including it won't increase the chance of you getting hired. It may still be okay to include it under other/additional experiences, but it shouldn't appear like filler text.

Since I'm fresher I haven't seen much resumes, and have no idea how to include this in resume. I don't think freelancer would be right word to use, because I was doing online business, programming bots to automate stuff all for myself and only managed someone else's social media handle one or two times so managing social media was not the primary thing.

You can mention the experience under other experiences section. It generally helps if you present it as an extra-activity/achievement. While the exact skills gained from the work may not be relevant, you make your appear as a soft skill that you value learning and are driven.