You tried it and it didn’t work out. It’s time to go back to a steady salary and benefits and let someone else do all the worrying. The best part is you’ve gotten great experience. The worst part? Every time you interview for a new position, the fact that you were once in charge seems to scare off potential employers. What can you do?

Describe yourself as a general manager rather than founder, owner or CEO. Talk about missing the collegiality and collaboration of working inside an organization. Talk about how you like to be able to brainstorm with colleagues and how much more can be accomplished by reaching a consensus. Mention that you’re eager to take advantage of the company’s resources so you can focus on the job at hand, whether it’s marketing or strategizing or analysis. Stress your interest in working as part of a team.

You can read more about making the transition away from self-employment in

6 Ways To Get A Job After You've Been Your Own Boss (Forbes)

From In Search of the Fun-Forever Job
First, try to avoid the subject for as long as you can. Of course, you will be well prepared when you go into the offer phase because you’ll have carefully researched appropriate compensation levels either via salary surveys or through your personal network.

If you manage to avoid the topic of money early on, chances are you will have more opportunity to build value and increase your negotiating abilities when there is an offer. The hiring manager will have a clearer picture of your true worth. Your objective is to avoid being screened out because of a number and continue the process of selling and demonstrating a great fit so that the number increases the longer the process goes on.

Now comes the tricky part. How do you avoid discussing the subject when the interviewer asks you within, perhaps, the first ten minutes of the first interview what you were earning on the last job, or what you’re “looking for”?

You can’t say, “I’d rather talk about this later.” Some of the people I’ve met over the years internalize the idea that avoiding the subject is always good, and then they feel free to tell the interviewer they’d rather not talk about it. Not a good relationship builder!

You can say, “I’d hate to eliminate myself because of a dollar figure at this point. Right now, the key issue for me is finding a great fit. I figure if the fit is there, then we’ll work out the money part. If it’s okay with you, could we talk about this a little later on in the process?” This frequently works. But, sometimes it doesn’t.

What if the interviewer comes right back with, “That’s very nice and all, but I need to know what your last salary was. I don’t want to waste my time . . . or yours.”

Turning the question around with, “Could you give me an idea of your range?” often works. If the range is anywhere close to where you think you should be, you can say, “Oh, we’ll be able to work this out easily.” If it’s way below your range, then you might want to indicate that by saying, “It’s a little lower than what my current expectations are, but I’d like to continue our conversation. It’s not always strictly about the money for me.” You want to keep the conversation going, unless the numbers are so ridiculously low you know there’s no chance you’ll be able to “work this out.”

What if the hiring manager starts to get a little irritated? “Okay, I understand that you don’t want to talk about it, but I really need to know.”

No matter what the original question was, you might respond with, “I’ll be looking for a total compensation package in the range of . . .” If that doesn’t work, it’s time to give in.

More about giving in another time.

That’s what we at Bacon Press Books asked ourselves before we decided to publish In Search of the Fun-Forever Job by Ellis Chase. After all, if you click on Google and ask for job search, you’ll get  “About 2,590,000,000″ results. Seriously. Do the same on Amazon and you’ll find “34,934 Results.” So another book on job search? Really?

Yes. Because it’s fresh and funny and not like anything else out there. No one-size-fits-all prescriptions for what you must do if you’re ever going to find a new job or make a career move. No exhortations to try to be someone other than yourself in order to network. No rosy-colored picture of how easy it will be if you only follow certain steps.

Ellis Chase knows what he’s talking about, from his own experience as a job seeker, and from the more the 25 years he’s spent helping clients and students find jobs that fit their personal style. So he’s able to cut through all the clueless clutter and write about what really works.

Will reading the book guarantee you can move into the job of your dreams? In this tough economic climate, can anyone or anything make that kind of guarantee? Probably not.  But his engaging, informal style and his common sense suggestions make ISO The Fun-Forever Job worth adding to that bulging bookshelf.

Plus it’s got a really great cover.