Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What about someone who worked in some very interesting and relevant places, but then took 17 years break to raise a family and then got a job where they've been employed 5 years now - are they only going to put one job on their resume? That's going to look really bare.
That is obviously a different scenario, which requires a different answer.
In that case I would go back farther because it is marginally relevant. As ahiring manager, I don’t our too much emphasis on a person’s experience from 22 years ago though.
We're trying to decide how many years to keep on my husbands resume when it comes to work. He's been working for 20 years, had 3 jobs (including the one he has now).. One of which he was at for 15 years... I know it doesn't sound like a lot but its two full pages worth of job description/skillsets.
Issue is he just got promoted Friday and so now its a whole new job with a whole new "skills" section.. Should we eliminate anything prior to the 15 year job you think? He actually retired from that job if we're being literal. That would leave his main rolls more or less in his recent adulthood plus the new job. I'm not sure how far back employers tend to look when it comes to jobs.
There isn't a magic number of years. It depends on the industry and how it relates to the job he's applying for. A friend of mine who is 60 years old lists jobs going back over 30 years, because they are all related to the same industry. It is to his credit to list each one of them.
Don't worry about the length, two pages is fine. The people who have 10 page resumes where they list all kinds of nonsense details about their jobs and accomplishments that don't relate to the current job market are the ones who have problems.
Also, only list the skillsets relative to the specific kind of job he is looking for or applying for. Even when you update your resume to the job websites, when contacted by HR they usually ask you for an updated resume. There is your chance to customize your resume for that specific job, which I highly recommend people doing.
What about someone who worked in some very interesting and relevant places, but then took 17 years break to raise a family and then got a job where they've been employed 5 years now - are they only going to put one job on their resume? That's going to look really bare.
From what my recruiters say, if the past jobs (before the gap) are applicable, write them down, if they're not, skip it (applicable doesn't need to mean specific). Also, write something about the 17 year gap, could be as simple as, "2000-2017 Raised a family". They just want to see a gap accounted for and all applicable work history.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,703 posts, read 81,547,262 times
Reputation: 57990
Quote:
Originally Posted by rummage
There isn't a magic number of years. It depends on the industry and how it relates to the job he's applying for. A friend of mine who is 60 years old lists jobs going back over 30 years, because they are all related to the same industry. It is to his credit to list each one of them.
Don't worry about the length, two pages is fine. The people who have 10 page resumes where they list all kinds of nonsense details about their jobs and accomplishments that don't relate to the current job market are the ones who have problems.
Also, only list the skillsets relative to the specific kind of job he is looking for or applying for. Even when you update your resume to the job websites, when contacted by HR they usually ask you for an updated resume. There is your chance to customize your resume for that specific job, which I highly recommend people doing.
I agree. A resume should be tailored to the position being applied for. The number of years to include depends upon the position and relevance of the work back then. In my case, for example, I applied in 2009 and listed work back to 1975 since it was very much related to the position, and I listed work from 1993-2007 because it was also related, though not as much. I got the job, two promotions since.
My Rule of Thumb was always... as many of the jobs that will fit into two pages - that are relevant to the job I am seeking.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
