<p>Hi, I graduated from a major university about a year and a half ago with a business degree focusing in information systems. My work history consists of one year of building and renovating my own websites (at the moment I have two that are part of the same venture with a third under development). This experience has taught me a great deal about web development to the point where my resume by itself can rival most small web development firms in terms of skills. The problem I am having is either not getting an interview with my sites on my resume or having to present them after the initial interview before being rejected for reasons other than being unqualified for the job. The rejection usually comes in the form of an email indicating that they care more about philosophical issues irrelevant to the job description than what I can do for their company. I also have difficulty assuring them that what I do is legal and how I can make a full time commitment to them with my ongoing operations.</p>
<p>My story is similar to another post I read where someone was comparing their work history to websites like the now defunct Juicy Campus that ironically a reporter covering my website made a direct comparison to although having never seen Juicy Campus I tend to compare my site to ****ed Consumer, Rip Off Report, and Don't Date Him Girl. What I created was a site in which people can publish complaints about others based on specific criteria. I knew the site would be controversial from the start and used that in effective press release marketing campaigns that generated lots of free advertising in the form of several negative news stories. I don't think there is any way of avoiding the issue since as a shameless self promoter I had, still don't, and would not have a problem appearing on camera. Honesty I enjoyed all the notoriety especially when it came to addressing the rantings of the highly offended.</p>
<p>Unfortunately despite all the free advertising user attrition has been around 85% at all traffic levels. Now that the attention has died down most of my traffic is from search engines related to queries corresponding to user content or some unique article, but not the name of the business.</p>
<p>When presenting my work history to anyone they wonder if it is legal. The answer is yes, but it's complicated and basically boils down to online service providers being immune from liability for user generated content under Title 47, Chapter 5, Sub Chapter II, Section 230 of the United States Code. Basically people sign a contract similar to the Craig's List Terms of Use where they assume full liability for their behavior before publishing a complaint just as easily as you can advertise a used DVD player on Craig's List. If the listing turns out to be fraudulent then you are responsible for it and any subsequent collateral damage.</p>
<p>Companies want to know why you left a place or when you can leave, but in my case the operation is ongoing and does not require my presence. I utilize a fully automated content management system that I built myself to display all active records in real time. This limits operating expenses to just bandwidth and hosting with minor human resource requirements, so I can let the site run itself while pursuing other activities.</p>
<p>Overall I consider my activity to be a low risk operation with the only negative aspect being other people having a negative opinion of my personal character. To sum things up I am engaged in an unpopular yet perfectly legal venture that demonstrates a strong skill set. I believe that my skills combined with my systematic thought process would make an excellent behind the scenes addition to any bottom line oriented organization. </p>
<p>I am thinking my best options until I get my new venture up and running is to market the site's design to companies that don't have a website or have an old out of date one that would be greatly improved by my methods. The best targets I can think of are companies with old static sites that don't allow for automated ordering, but instead provide a 1-800 number where people must talk to a staff member. My proposition would be a more search friendly design that would greatly reduce their human resource requirements by eliminating the need for staffing when it comes to handling orders from people unless they are confused by the online ordering process. The idea is to convince them that hiring me would save them more money then it would cost to hire me.</p>