[conductr]

Keep it if the work was interesting and you feel like it bolsters your experience. Sometimes I remove dates from my resume as they’ll always be doing the mental math of assembling your timeline and notice all the concurrent items. Duration is a happy medium for me. That frees you from the linearity that resumes often follow, so maybe consider adding a section entitled “Recent Projects” or something similar with the other section called “Employment”

It’s a white lie but I’ve often explained those periods as “consulting” instead of freelance / “entrepreneur”. Then when I discuss it I always make it about the project and work. I never talk about the client except maybe the industry as a lead in to the problem. This way it sounds temporary or something. If they think you have an active client list you’re maintaining, that is always going to be concerning for them. They don’t know if you’ll be distracted or will make the clients the priority. They want to be your top and ideally only priority (sometimes even over family).

If they really press you they’re probably trying to understand how you managed so much project work while being employed full time. This is when you force a step-back from the details and say, “I do occasionally take on a project outside of work, it helps me work with emerging tech and things I’m interested in. I view it as a form of continuing education that is required in many professions. It’s never effected my performance at my job and I ensure to never causes a conflict of priorities. I find I can be 50%+ more productive due to having less meetings and organization overhead.” Or something with that gist

[jack_codes]

I find this extremely helpful, thank you. Presenting the situation the way you mentioned in the last paragraph is honest and presents it in a very positive way. I also like the idea of project/employment sections. Much appreciated!