Hi all,
I’m seeking advice on which pieces of evidence (or combination of evidence) would best demonstrate my work as an external contractor in the role of a product manager, where I led a team to develop two custom software applications for insurance companies.
Here are the two cases:
Project 1:
I modeled calculations and estimations, designed the system, processes, and procedures, and successfully closed a contract with an insurance company to sell the software license.
Which of the following would best demonstrate this work?
- A reference letter from the buyer company
- A snapshot of the code and its interface
- The signed contract for the sale
Project 2:
I modeled calculations and estimations, designed the system, processes, and procedures, contributed to coding the backend using Python, and ultimately closed a contract for the sale of the software.
Which of the following would serve as the best evidence in this case?
- A reference letter from the buyer company
- A snapshot of the code and its interface
- The signed contract for the sale
Additionally, would a reference letter from the IT Manager or the CEO of the buyer company carry more weight? Which combination of evidence would be most effective?
Your evidence as a contractor may not be eligible. You ignored the point made by Maya, that’s the first step to address before talking about the actual evidence.
Work that you did on a contract basis to create and deliver a software product is outsourcing and as such isn’t valid evidence.
Adding support letters won’t work around the basic fact that you can’t use it.
To clarify my situation: I currently work full-time with Company X in a field supposedly not related strongly to the digital technology sector. Separately and independently, as a contractor (freelancer, part-time work), I secured a project with Company Y to develop software. In this project, I served as the Product Manager, led the team, contributed to the backend coding, and successfully delivered a customized software solution to Company Y.
My question is: How should I present this work? What evidence would be most effective in showcasing it (e.g., a certificate from Company Y, screenshots, or other documentation)? Additionally, would it be better not mentioning and ignoring my full-time position with Company X and focus solely on my work and contract with Company Y when presenting this project?
Does your visa allow you to take part time paid projects?
You can position this as a freelance work outside of your day to day job - you will need relevant support letter indicating your engagement and significant contributions and impact.
If it’s an outsourced project as a contractor it will not be accepted.
I am currently outside the UK and do not hold a UK visa.
Your response is exactly what I needed to make confident about: “You can position this as freelance work “outside” of your day-to-day job—you will need a relevant support letter highlighting your engagement, significant contributions, and impact”.
Do you think mentioning my full-time job (which is unrelated to digital technology) alongside my “freelance” work potentially weaken this freelance work or negatively impact my overall application?
Thank you again for your detailed and informative response.
In that case you will also have to remove it from your Linkedin, your CV, any evidence or letter you maybe providing from this job. Will it negatively impact your application is also a lot to do with the strength of your application standing as per TN guidelines without showing this job or work from here. If your overall application is strong enough to meet the criterias and LORs and doesn’t impact your last 5 years of work demonstration, then you can take a call to show or skip it.
After becoming confident and certain that I am eligible to apply, you’ve now raised the main question of mine.
In general, Reference Letters from my client (Company Y) regarding the software I developed, could serve as strong evidence for the MC criterion, as far as I believe. These letters will be further supported by additional evidence for OC1 and OC3, such as screenshots of the software, portions of the code, interface snapshots, company-approved performance data, and more.
I should also mention that the software is custom-built, not open source, and has been sold exclusively to insurance companies.
OC2 is not suitable because the source code is not open, and there is no need to create a GitHub repository. OC4 doesn’t align with my academic profile, despite obtaining a PhD in Application of ML and having published some strong papers in top-tier, peer-reviewed journals, as these were published more than five years ago.
Here’s my justification for selecting OC1 and OC3:
For OC1:
“Evidence of innovation/product development”
“Evidence of domestic and/or international sales”
For OC3:
“Led the development of high-impact digital products”
“Played a key role in … or delivering major products”
I would appreciate any hints, comments, or recommendations.
