When it comes to writing a resume, many struggle with deciding how far back a resume should go, what to include, and what not to include as part of their career history.
You should devote the majority of the “real estate” on your resume to what happened in the past 15 years. Too much work history on your resume can overwhelm the hiring manager and distract from your most relevant experience.
How many years of work experience should you include on a resume?
Remember: your resume shouldn’t be a long chronological list of duties. It’s a highlight reel meant to help you get an interview.
When deciding how far back a resume should go, include no more than 10-15 years of work experience. This ensures relevance and showcases your most recent and significant roles, achievements, and skill sets to potential employers.
How far back should a resume go based on years of experience?
Many job seekers forget that resumes are marketing materials, not a whole biography. The hiring manager doesn’t need (or want) to know where you spent every moment of your working life. Instead, they want to see the work experience, skills, and measurable achievements that prove you can do the job.
The depth of your work history should be highly relevant regardless of how advanced you are in your career. Here’s how to navigate your work experience section no matter how long your work experience is.
Students or recent graduates (0-2 years of experience)
New grads and students are often tempted to include all of their work history to make up for a lack of hands-on experience. However, hiring managers expect entry-level resumes to have a short “Work History” section. Including irrelevant part-time jobs, gig work, or extracurriculars can fill a page, but it doesn’t help you stand out as a strong candidate.
If you have highly relevant work history pre-dating the start of your career, you can include it. Highlight the connections between the role you’re applying for and older experience. This history can be a valuable place to emphasize key transferable skills.
Draw on your experience with academics, volunteer work, or projects to show the hiring manager what kind of employee you can be in the role.
Keep Reading: How to Write an Entry-Level Resume
Early or mid-career professionals (2-15 years of experience)
As you gain more work experience, your “Work History” section becomes more robust and you need to be selective about what to include. It’s important to tailor your resume to the job description for each application. This helps ensure you’re emphasizing your best career highlights for the role.
This means you may only have a bullet point or two for previous roles. Use the rest of your resume for the most relevant skills, accomplishments, and positions. At this stage, you can rely on your well-honed hard skills—or job-specific skills—to grab the hiring manager’s attention.
Some job seekers choose to limit their work history to the previous 10 years. Instead, they put their best, older work in their resume summary. It will be front and center for the hiring manager.
Keep Reading: How Long Should a Resume Be?
Late-career professionals (more than 15 years of experience)
Late-career professionals with over 15 years of experience must condense it into a powerful, concise resume. At this stage, it’s crucial to focus on the most recent and relevant positions that align closely with the job you’re applying for.
Highlight your significant achievements and leadership roles, showcasing how your extensive experience can bring value to the prospective employer. Consider summarizing earlier roles. This will make room for your recent, notable accomplishments and promotions.
Remember, your resume should be a strategic tool that highlights your expertise and capabilities. It shouldn’t be an exhaustive list of every role you’ve ever had.
How to handle employment gaps
A negative view of employment gaps is a key justification job seekers use to keep every job on their resume. But resume gaps aren’t bad.
Madelyn Mackie, CEO of Madelyn Mackie & Associates, a boutique career management consulting firm and resume writing agency urges job seekers to embrace employment gaps.
According to Madelyn, resume gaps are nothing to be ashamed of: “There’s no need to hide the gaps; just be honest. You might even get the chance to share your story in your next interview.”
Why you should only go back 15 years on a resume
The majority of experts agree that going back more than 15 years on your resume can have negative consequences for your job search. Instead, by focusing on history over just the last 10 to 15 years, you can fight age discrimination, tailor your resume more effectively, and keep your resume short and sweet.
It combats age discrimination
Whether we like it or not, age discrimination does exist. Limiting your resume to your last 15 years can help mitigate this barrier to hiring, and demonstrate that your most relevant experience is recent and that you’ve kept up with current workplace trends.
When readers (recruiters or hiring managers) see roles over 15 years old, the dates might lead their minds down a rabbit hole. The rabbit hole is filled with questions like “I wonder how old this person is?” or “I wonder how old their kids are?” The rabbit hole is more of a “human nature” idiosyncrasy than an intentional age discrimination issue.
To combat age discrimination, leave out dates when listing your degrees on your resume. Recruiters and hiring managers may assume your age based on your graduation year.
It keeps your information relevant to the job
If your experience is older than 15 years but isn’t vital or relevant to the role you’re targeting, cut it. Your more recent, relevant experience is the priority. Older work experience is dated, whether you used redundant technology or less specialized skills. Experience gained in the last decade is more likely full of desirable skills and qualifications.
Jobscan’s resume scanner tool can help you tailor your resume so you highlight the most vital information. The tool can help you create a pared-down resume that hits every keyword mentioned in the job description. It gives you a list of hard and soft skills, tells you which are missing, and helps you create an optimized resume that’s concise and impactful.
The scanner will score your resume, ensure it’s in ATS-friendly formatting, and give you actionable steps to improve your resume to get in front of the hiring team.
It keeps your resume at two pages
Hiring managers don’t want to read a novel, so keep your resume to two pages at most. When crafting a resume, it’s crucial to focus on relevance and conciseness. This approach keeps your resume to two pages. It makes it easy to read and highlights your most relevant experiences. By listing only recent, relevant jobs, you can highlight skills and achievements that fit today’s job market demands.
Focusing on the last 15 years shows your most recent skills and wins. They will likely resonate with employers and hiring managers. A brief, focused resume makes a strong impression and boosts your chances of getting an interview.
How to show more than 15 years experience on a resume
For many, the idea of not including earlier experience, particularly when they perceive it as critical to who they are today, is a tough pill to swallow. Especially because earlier roles can sometimes boost a candidate’s credibility or reveal unknown, diverse skills.
There is a workaround. You can include an “Earlier Experience” category when the experience from prior to 15 years enhances the narrative or story you’re creating. Thus, allowing you to leave jobs off your resume without sacrificing the skills and accomplishments you earned.
How an earlier experience section works
- Identify: Determine which roles, if any, advance or reinforce the story you’re trying to tell.
- Synopsize: Sometimes, you only need to include the name and job title. If there is a noteworthy achievement, a one-line explanation is enough.
- Remove Dates: Removing the dates helps the reader bypass the previously discussed rabbit hole.
If a point in “Earlier Experience” is noteworthy, reference it in the resume summary. This informs the reader while also offering a “tease” to entice them to continue to the bottom of page two.
FAQs
No, you should not include your entire work history on your resume. Instead, focus on listing the most relevant and recent experiences that align with the job you are applying for. Generally, include positions that showcase your skills and accomplishments related to the role. Tailoring your resume to the job description is key, as it helps highlight your qualifications and makes your application more appealing to employers. Including every job can make your resume too long and unfocused.
In most cases, it’s best not to go back more than 10–15 years on a resume. Older experiences are often less relevant and can make your resume appear outdated. Yet, there are exceptions, like if the older experience is directly relevant to the position or highlights significant accomplishments. For seasoned professionals, focus on the most recent, relevant roles. It will make your resume more concise and impactful.
The number of past jobs to include on a resume depends on your career stage and the relevance of each position to the job you’re applying for. Generally, 3–5 recent and relevant positions are sufficient. Prioritize roles that demonstrate skills and achievements aligned with the job description. For entry-level candidates, internships and volunteer work can be included. The goal is to present a clear and concise snapshot of your career that emphasizes your qualifications for the target role.
A 2-page resume is acceptable, especially for professionals with extensive experience or for those applying to senior or specialized roles. A 2-page resume allows you to provide more detail about your accomplishments, skills, and relevant experiences. However, ensure that every piece of information adds value and is tailored to the job you are applying for. For less experienced candidates, keeping the resume to one page is typically sufficient. Always aim for clarity and relevance, regardless of the length.
