How many years of work history should I include on my resume?

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Aug 23, 2018 - 02:44 PM

In general, you should not include more than 15 years of work history on your resume. For most applicants, any work experience before this period of time is probably irrelevant anyways. There are a couple of exceptions. These include if you want to showcase something highly relevant from a past position or if your career exists with only one company over a long span of time.

Because you are only listing up to 15 years of experience, you should be able to fit your whole resume on one page. If you have worked for multiple companies over that span of time, and all of them are extremely relevant to the job you are applying for, your resume may be two pages. Keep in mind recruiters do not spend a lot of time reading each resume, so it is probably in your best interest to keep it to one page.

List your jobs in reverse chronological order and include five to eight bullet points for each job. Use strong action words and quantifiable metrics when describing your accomplishments to help you stand out from other applicants.

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Anita Bruzzese

Sep 28, 2018 - 04:12 PM

You should include around 10 to 15 years of work history on your resume. If you have to reach back into the 1990s, use a previous work experience section, or a qualifications summary section, which does not include dates but highlights your strengths or biggest accomplishments from that time period. Only include this experience if it’s utterly vital to what the employer is looking for with filling the position. Still, it’s best to avoid going back this far—if possible, place the most focus on current work history. Include concise, quantifiable descriptions of accomplishments and duties from your most current jobs. Hopefully, these positions relate to/tie to the types of jobs you’re aiming to apply for.

All that being said, know that you don’t always have to include recent jobs, especially if they’re irrelevant to the position you are now seeking. If you must include jobs that go past 15 years, don’t include the dates employed, as this puts the focus on dates instead of the many skills you have gained. An unconscious age bias may arise when hiring managers and recruiters read your resume and spot that you’ve been working for 15+ years.