I have attended conferences on my own dime. I work in IT so I always listed IT Integrator. Company Name: Independent Contractor.
this post was submitted on 20 May 2026
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Yeah, that's pretty much a no-brainer.
A former coworker of mine was basically pushed out of the company we worked for, despite having basically written most of the software stack. He started doing independent consultant work for the customers, as the company's management was such a disaster that they were unable to support deployments. He operated under the company name "MMI", which stood for "Me, Myself and I". I've stolen this name to describe working for myself on more than one occasion.
I have an address modifier for my physical home address (a description to help delivery people find it) and always just use that when there is a 'company' field on anything not related to my job. So basically, I make something up, say my home is my business.
But I like the idea of "Independent" a lot. I'm sure they aren't trying to keep you out, just trying to help you network.
I put down SparkleChicken Heavy Industries, Chief Engineer. We manufacture motorcycle parts and satellite guidance systems.
The SparkleChicken thing existed long before, but I used SCHI so many times that I designed a logo and bought the domain name. Every time I spin up a circuit board for a personal project, I get the logo silk screened on it. Been pretty fun over the years.
It's probably too expensive for a joke but you should make a circuit board in the shape of a chicken, one side a bunch of leds on the other a control circuit to randomly light them so the chicken circuit hoard looks like it's sparkling.
You may have just spoken it into existence. It's a great idea, but it's been a bit since I looked into circuit boards with custom shapes.
Can you just have the board made as a square and then just cut it out with a jig saw?
Probably? But then we're entering into the land of Effort That Isn't Fun*. The corpses of too many of my unfinished projects litter its plains.
*For me. I'm not disparaging jigsaws.
Senior fediverse aficionado
I often put none or NA. I don't put personal contractor or freelance or independent contractor unless I have been doing that work at least recently. I think one thing that is making unemployment especially bad for me this time around is I have a real problem with being dishonest and we are literally running on an economy that runs on bullshit. Sometimes I can talk with head hunters in a real way which is nice but I don't think they can seel me. Its like dude I am mentioned in papers. I have been involved in many solutions but none of them are very code heavy and we were not looking for them to be. I have done day to day loads. Im not sure im employable unless places start hiring based on people having done stuff over particular skills they want.
"Consultant, Independent."
"$20 BJs, not gay, but $20 is $20".
Whatever you feel like.
Ebaumsworld
You have now, officially, crossed the line.
Self employed, Independent Contractor, or spend $25-50 (or whatever it is in your county) to file a DBA (Doing Business As) and you've got an official company name to use.
"Bum"
I would just put your generic title and skip the company name. For example, Cloud Infrastructure Engineer (or) Professional if your skills revolve around working on AWS/Azure/GCP deployments.
I will often not mention my company in conversations, as it's well-known and I don't want anything I say or do associated with the company, just in case (risk management is a primary driver of the business).
So "Independent Contractor" is good enough, and vague enough.