application & resume - who I WORK for vs. who PAYS me?

Question

I'm in a situation which I think must be rather common. My paycheck comes from a very small contracting firm (let's call them company X) which hired me on contract to work for somebody else (company Y). The only interface I have with X is their name on my paycheck. I answer to management in Y, represent Y to outside entities, etc. Over 90% of the people who actually work for Y are on contract like me.

Y is a big dog and I want that on my resume as that name represents the work I do. What is the best way to represent this on my resume and in applications?

I'm torn. Do I just say Y? X for Y?

Any help is much appreciated.

rhyme · Answer

For the sake of argument...

Lets say:

X = Bob's Business Konsulting
Y = Goldman Sachs

Personally, I think it would be pretty deceiving to list: 

 
Goldman Sachs 2002-Present
Senior Manager

When in fact, you don't work for Goldman.

Moreover, how would you then explain a reference from Bob's Business Konsulting? (unless of course you plan to get them from Goldman)....

In any case, you'd be intentionally misrepresenting your background - although a rather simple and "explainable" issue, at best, its on dubious ethical grounds. At worst, its significant enough to possibly get your offer rescinded. (I mean, when you really boil it down, you would be, in effect, lying about who you work for)

Moreover - its just unnecessary to misrepresent like this - you have essays, rec forms and the resume to make it clear that you are effectively working directly for Goldman (or whoever company Y is)

For instance, whats wrong with:

Bobs Bidness Konsulting 2002-Present
Senior Manager
* Managing CDO analysis effort at Goldman Sachs, reporting directly to the Executive Director of MoneyMaking. 
* Assist Goldman with development of CDO, CMO, C3PO ... 
* Provided strategic feedback on new coffee machine flavors
* Work in fast paced sexually charged environment in NYC and London offices.
 

Still makes it pretty clear that you spend your days at Goldman and that you report to Goldman management.... That, plus your essays, plus your recs, should make it abundantly clear who you "report to"...

Now that said....

This is just my personal take on it. You could list the company itself and just take the risk that someone call you on it, but personally, I wouldn't.

riverripper · Answer

I wish I had a job where I could build a C3PO...

My wife's last job was similar to what you are describing. She met her "boss" from her employer maybe 3 times in 2 years. On her resume she put them as her employer but led her job description with who she really worked for much like Rhyme's example. For a recommendation if the supervisor at the place you work at is willing to then I would get a rec from them. They might not be excited about doing that since you don't work for them and it will lead to you leaving the other company. You may have to talk to your employer to get permission for the other person to write your recs. A school wont have an issue with that person being your rec since they get them from all sorts of sources and if it really is your supervisor with the most knowledge of you and your abilities thats what they want.

grad_mba · Answer

sexually charged environment ! umm i wonder ... !!!

lepium · Answer

I've actually seen some Business Cards from people in your situation. Using rhyme's example, the cards would read: Consultant to Goldman Sachs, with the GS logo and no mention whatsoever of Bobs Konsulting.

That sounded to me like a reasonable way of explaining the whole situation in a succint manner.

L.

rhyme · Answer

That works too.

Toploader · Answer

Thanks all. I no way do I wish to misrepresent my situation, but at the same time I want to call attention to what I actually do and who I actually do it for. Sure, that's shown in the bullets of a resume, but the  zing  of a nicely bolded AWESOME COMPANY 2000 is quite appealing.

The employment sections of some applications offer another minor hurdle. I'm tempted to put "Bob's Konsulting for Goldman Sachs" in the one-line field given. Would you guys agree this is fair and accurate?

riverripper · Answer

Your situation sounds like a lot of software jobs people I know have. I am sure its a lot more common than you imagine with all the IT applicants, so schools have probably seen it all. If you have worked for a company on a specific project for years and never done any other projects for them then I think your method may work, especially if you are crunched for space on 1 page. However, if you have worked for that company for years and done more than project I wouldnt say:

Company A for Company B 2004-2005
Company A for Company C 2005-2006
Company A for Company D 2006-present

pelihu · Answer

I guess my question would be, how were you actually placed in the job, and what standards were used in hiring.

One of the key underlying reasons why it looks good to have certain companies on your resume is that they have challenging, well-known hiring procedures. If you can get a job at Goldman Sachs, McKinsey or Google, it means that you have survived a challenging application process and beaten out tons of other candidates. This is really good because a few short months after starting school, you'll be engaging in a similar search with heated competition. Among other things, schools want to admit people who can win (in other words get hired). If you were hired by Bob's Konsulting and then placed as a contractor, you obviously wouldn't have the experience of succeeding in such a job search.

Also, these companies tend to do their own hiring for the most important jobs, and tend to hire contractors and outsource jobs that can be generically handled. It's easier and cheaper to bring in contractors to handle common tasks. So the second important question is, what did you do for the company? If Goldman Sachs hired you as a contractor to help develop some type of new investment instrument, then that's good; but this is the type of thing that they almost certainly wouldn't turn to the outside for. If, on the other hand, Goldman Sachs hired you to install new HR software, then your position is really that of an IT consultant, probably trailing people in similar positions working out of big firms.

So, as I see it you need answer the following questions to gauge the impact of your work experience, and also how you should note it in your appliation:
1) How were you hired? Was the process as demanding as that faced by "normal" employees of the company?

2) Was your work critical to the core business of the company? Did they hire you because they couldn't find someone qualified to handle it, or because they didn't want to waste their core talent & resources on it?

application & resume - who I WORK for vs. who PAYS me?

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