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Hi, I am a web developer from NYC with about a year plus of total freelance experience (and a few years comp sci major).

I am looking to get a full time role now, but am not sure how to list short term roles without seeming like I switch positions too often (e.g every three months, give or take). The only long term experience I have is as a tutor for 3 years, but that is not directly coding for web development related.

Currently I have many entries (around 5 on my resume and more on my linkedin) that look like this:

Full Stack Dev | Company A 
Sep to Nov 2016

Lead Front End Dev | Company B
Dec 2016 to March 2017

I think this might deter employers from seeing me a serious candidate because they might believe I switch around often. How can I write this so I seem like a serious candidate?

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    That's pretty much how I have them listed on my resume right now, except that I also note that I was a contractor at these positions. For freelance, you might be able to say "Freelance 2016-2017" and then list each company as a bullet point. I don't know what's best, so....have a comment.
    – Draco18s no longer trusts SE
    Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 19:02
  • You just write "contract". But what else is there these days?
    – Fattie
    Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 19:23

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If you're worried about the appearance of those items on your resumé you can just add that they were contracts. For example:

Lead Front End Dev | Company B Dec 2016 to March 2017 "(3 month contract)"

That will clarify what they are. A small indication that it is a contract is all you need.

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Just indicate that they're contract or freelance. It's not that you won't seem like a serious candidate, the concern is that you don't "work out" frequently and have to move or that you can't be happy. They just want reassurance that you're not going to bail in a few months. Indicating that the jobs were short-term will help because it immediately says you weren't leaving a full-time job due to dissatisfaction on one side or the other. But your job history is what it is. In my experience, it hasn't precluded me from getting an interview and that's when you can explain the reason for the jobs being short term. Since you're just starting out, it should be fine.

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The answer is simple: They were all project based jobs. Simply focus on the projects you worked on, name some keywords to describe them. Project finished with contractor A, then comes next project with employer B, and so on. No one will ask why you switched after a successful project.

Isn't there also a field on LinkedIn under each job to describe the projects you worked on?

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  • you don't think writing 'project' might cause it to be misconstrued as a personal or school project, rather than production quality sites?
    – mohammad chughtai
    Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 20:32
  • @mohammadchughtai You think project manager sounds like some person who manages some kid's homework in school? Project is an absolutely fine professional term.
    – leymannx
    Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 20:34

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