Many job searchers often grapple with the question of how far back a resume should go. When you build your document you should take care to give this some thought before getting started. Detailing every job in your career could have significant effects on how your resume turns out.
To help you design a better resume and give you some guidance if you get stuck, this article looks closely at how far back to go on your application documents. It details:
- What you should do if you have had a lengthy career
- How many years of experience you should include
- Why it can be beneficial to have a cut off point to your career history
General Rule: Don’t Go Back More than 10 Years
Most employment experts agree that extending back10 years into your career is enough for an effective resume. This rule of thumb works in most cases, although there can be some exceptions.
It is of course possible that you’ve had a longer career than the 10 years you can safely list. However, adding more jobs to your work experience section can be harmful to your prospects. Let’s look at why that is.
Why Your Resume Shouldn’t Include Everything from Your Career
There are many reasons why you shouldn’t add every single job you’ve had to your resume. If you are over 10 years into your career you should consider cutting out older jobs to help you improve your resume in the following ways.
It Won’t Be Too Long
Long resumes normally lose out on positions. Recruiters often won’t have the time to read them through fully and may even simply skip past them. The best length is about 1 – 2 letter pages (8.5” x 11”).
By ensuring your resume never goes back further than 10 years (or less if you’ve had a lot of jobs in that time), you’ll be able to keep the length well proportioned.That way the recruiter will be able to skim read it quickly and can rapidly pick out some of your most hirable features.
It Will Stay Relevant
Recruiters are most interested in learning about your recent experience. They will, of course, glance their eye over your longer-term work history but your latest accolades always get the most attention.
Resumes need to be relevant. Older jobs or jobs that don’t match your current career path may be detrimental rather than helpful. By always focusing instead on fitting the job description perfectly you’ll be more likely to appeal to the hiring manager.
You Won’t Open Yourself up to Age Discrimination
The longer you’ve been working the more you open yourself up to possible age discrimination. This is an unfortunate fact of the job searching process and whilst lawmakers and hiring managers are finding new ways to prevent this it still happens sometimes.
Employers may find that resumes with a longer work history extending decades back into the past less appealing than those for fresher candidates. This is because recruiters often take a long term approach to new hires. If you look like your career is coming to an end you may not fit the bill as well.
When to Extend Further Than 10 Years Back
If you want to add information on a job that extends more than a decade back into your career, there are situations where you can do so, for example if you’ve worked in a job for more than 10 years. You should consider carefully whether to add in an older job if it fits one of the following criteria.
It’s Relevant to the Position You’re Targeting
When a previous role is relevant to the job you’re setting your sights on you could consider adding it. If your career has been varied and your career has taken many different avenues then you will be in a position to consider adding an older job.
You had an Eyecatching Job Title
When you’ve had a prestigious job title or worked for an important company, it may be able to help your chances. Companies will look upon this kind of experience with interest and if it could boost your chances it may warrant inclusion.
A longer career can often be advantageous. However, there are some ways that representing this on your resume could harm or help your document. As always, make sure your resume plays to your biggest strengths by selecting the information you include carefully.
ResumeCoach can help you design a job-winning document in minutes. Our resume editor will guide you step-by-step through each of the core ingredients of an effective application that lets you get hired in style.
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