I need suggestions for how to put my consulting history in my resume.

Years ago I worked at company ABC, and towards the end of that job I began consulting for company XYZ on the side. Eventually I left company ABC and focused on my consulting at XYZ, but eventually became employed at XYZ. After that I started consulting for ABC on the side (while working at XYZ). I flipped it around.

Now, after years of working at XYZ (consulting at ABC stopped long ago) I have left and become a consultant at XYZ. Despite my history, I don't really like consulting so I'm looking for full time employment.

My resume before leaving XYZ full time to consult for them grouped my consulting experience at the bottom of my work history. This created a timeline gap in my employment, because my full time employment history had a gap where I consulted. I don't have enough room to put everything in chronological order, and I would like to keep my resume to one page.

Thank you.

Hi ThisIsMyAlias,

Have you tried combining your consulting and employment with each company under one heading, like this?:

XYZ Company - City, State
Job Title, Dates
Held both consultant and full-time roles as a ___, handling ___ ...

ABC Company - City, State
Job Title, Dates
Description and accomplishments....

You can even include a couple of date ranges in the dates section if there are return engagements/assignments. Would something like that work for you?

That is a thought, and I'll create a resume using it and see how it looks in reality.

I thought about just having a small section with the names of my employer, title (whether it was a consulting job or not), and dates. Then put a section below it that summarizes what I did at each place - regardless of whether it was consulting or full time employment.

How is that idea?

Hi ThisIsMyAlias,

Yes, that could work. The best strategy really depends on a number of factors. How does the work you did as an employee differ from the work you did as a consultant? Are the various dates of work and consulting assignments overlapping? Are there certain experiences that are more relevant to your current goal that should be listed first? What type of position are you targeting now?

If you want to post a draft of your resume, it would give us a better idea of the chronology and potential issues. Just remember to remove your personal information (name, address, contact info, employer names, etc.) before posting.